Are pet monkeys legal in New England?

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As a former zoo keeper I would never ever, ever, ever, ever suggest anyone to get a monkey of any type as a pet. I have worked with many of the smaller species including capuchin, squirrel and spider monkeys. Yes they are cute but they do not make good pets. Some of the ones I worked with were great but not so much that I would have ever wanted to bring one home.
They are messy beyond belief and can be very unpredictable. Not to mention that many of the diseases they can carry are easily transmitted to humans and vice versa. I won't even comment on keeping any of the great apes as pets. They are dangerous enough in a well run zoo setting let alone a home situation.
This is one animal that people really need to do their research on before even thinking of getting one.

 

[RiverOtter]

I was lucky enough when in ag school we got to care for a pair of monkeys for a zoo for a few months.

That cured me of ever liking monkeys. Ever.
The only place I like monkeys is on the Discovery Channel where they belong.

I did get to deal with them again later in life as a pet sitter.
To say that monkeys bite and are destructive ... is like saying rock concerts are loud, or elephants are big. You can hear the words - but they don't come close to describing the reality.

And the smaller species of monkey don't have to fling poo. They can just squirt it. About 6 feet. With amazing aim.

 

[bagendhens]

lmao river, tooo true, i worked with some squirrel monkeys who i swear made it a game, see who could poop the furthest.

the worst though was having to scrub down the semared poop all over the enclosure walls twice daily...
ive worked with lots of poop in my life and the only thing more gross as fresh monkey poop finger paintings is getting covered in fresh monkey squirt poop!

 

[sourland]

You could take in Mississippifarmboy. It would be sort of like having that upright walking gorilla that's been on the news. Just remember the celery cupcakes (thank you Imp). We'll have those without sprinkles thank you.

 

[MrsPinkKitty]

monkeys throw poo?

 

[Imp]

Hey Redhen,
Consider adopting an imp. We do all the things a monkey can do- squirt poo for meters & finger paint

, bite off fingers and faces

, pass on diseases that you don't even have tests for yet, and we can fly away, so you can't catch us.

Imp- Sounds good doesn't it?

 

[bagendhens]

lol mrs pink kitty...

not only do monkeys THROW poop, they like to play with it, hold it, smear it over things, smell it, eat it...
urine too...they will pee in their hands and drink it, play in it, smear it, and will often pee on eachother (and their handlers)

i dont know WHY they do it or what the facination with it is...but they play with it like a kid plays with play-doh!

and because in smaller primates they drink alot for their size and heir diet is made primarily of soft fruits, the poop is very soft, often liquid like (and can be squirted fairly long distances) and has a strong odor. its also very sticky!

theres a certain art and science behind monkey/primate poop!

 

[RiverOtter]

Quote:
And you will NEVER get that stain out of a sweater. Not even the cheap wash-and-wear ones.



And dry-cleaners won't touch it.

 

[arabianequine]

they eat poop too

Just seen the above already mentioned.....I think they do it for several reasons...but primarily cause they are bored, to show off, and get negative attention. They way too smart.

 

[Widget]

Quote:
If you think smeared monkey poop is bad try Pygmy Hippo poop. That is just a smelly liquid mess that covers the walls about 3 ft off the ground. It also does not like to come off. Even the Mr. Clean Eraser would be useless. Boy did I hate it when the Lg Mammal department asked for help from my department. We all knew what was in store if we were lucky enough to be assigned there.

And for the other poster yes monkeys throw poop. Great Apes are even worse. They eat theirs. And they seem to know it really disgusts humans. And they will throw other things. Once in Chicago a Japanese film crew was behind the scenes at the Great Ape House filming the gorillas. The keepers had to make sure anything that was a potential missile was removed from the cage. With one gorilla they forgot to check the tire that was hanging from the ceiling. Big mistake. The camera man was knocked out by a head of cabbage that the gorilla had stored in the tire. The cabbage was thrown with such force it exploded when it went through the bars. The gorilla also had perfect aim.