All Available Breeds

Advice

Cleaning

• Clean, hygienic conditions are necessary

• Stale food and excreta need to be removed regularly

• A thorough clean of the enclosure should only be done once every 1-2 months

• Scent marking is important to the monkeys and cleaning should not remove familiar scents completely

How to feed  monkeys?

• In captivity, monkeys need to be provided with a range of appetising and nutritious food

• Monkeys are selective eaters

• Feeding affects growth, disease resistance, lifespan, breeding and susceptibility to stress

• Commercially available dry pellets containing the necessary nutritional components of their diet should be supplemented with a variety of other foods:

o fresh and dried fruit

o vegetables

o seeds and nuts

o animal protein (e.g. insects, mealworms, boiled chicken and hard-boiled eggs)

•monkeys should also have access to as much water as they wish to drink

• They need dietary supplements to avoid metabolic bone disease

• Vitamin D3 should be given as a supplement as the monkeys cannot make it in their own body

• Feed monkeys several times a day to match their natural eating times

• Provide food in several food dishes, and water at several points, to make sure everyone gets some

• Place the food dishes at least a metre above the ground (monkeys prefer to feed and eat higher up where they feel safer, especially if they are carrying infants on their back)

• monkeys are susceptible to other problems related to diet (e.g. problems with their teeth, being underweight or overweight), particularly when kept as pets