Marmosets as Pets

The term Marmoset is used to denote about 25 new world monkey species pertaining to the genera Callithrix, Callibella, Mico and Cebuella. They come in a variety of sizes, from small to mouse-sized. Marmosets are generally about 20 inches in length, have claws instead of nails and tactile hair on their wrists. Their brain layout is more of the primitive type and their body temperature usually varies within a range of 4 °C in a day. They lack wisdom teeth, however, possess sharp incisors to chew holes in the tree trunks. These tiny Marmosets or South American monkeys are basically wild animals. However, today marmosets as pets are becoming extremely popular and common. 'You can never get enough of a marmoset' is the phrase that is often heard, however, marmosets as pets is not such a good idea. The simple reason being, these animals are meant to be brought up in the wild. They belong there! Nevertheless, let us know more on how to take care of these tiny creatures.

How to Take Care of a Pet Marmoset?

Marmoset monkeys are cute to the eye and appear really adorable and docile in appearance, however, these little creatures are not that easy to handle. Those that still want to transform these creatures into household pets need to be prepared to meet all their needs. Marmoset monkeys require one's time, attention and financial support (not to mention all the training required). These creatures will depend on you for every need. Do not live in the bubble that they will one day become self-sufficient.

Moreover, these animals do not like to be left on their own or unsupervised. If left alone for too long, they will end up as ill-mannered and destructive pets. They can even end up developing the habit of biting, throwing tantrums and fits, which are very unpleasant habits. They will even pull their hair, slap and scratch themselves to gain one's attention. Marmosets are not mean animals, they have personalities of their own, and are attention seeking creatures. Since they have a wide range of vocalizations, high pitched screams are quite common.

Baby marmosets when bottle-fed are quite lovable, however, their entrance into sexual maturity makes them quite aggressive and unpredictable. They reach maturity in about 18-24 months and can even end up being dangerous to the owners. They react more like human teenagers and have strong instincts and urges. They need constant mental stimulation, thus, if one cannot devote 90% of the animal's waking hours to the pet, then this animal is not the suitable pet.

Marmosets need extreme training and unless one has worked with animals, especially monkeys, training these little ones will prove quite difficult. Usually breeders end up hand-raising marmosets in order to produce better domesticated pets. Hand raising marmosets is no child's play. It's a job that requires diligence and patience. However, no amount of hand-raising can domesticate these animals. Loving these animals and giving them one's undue attention may help make them loving animals. Read more on pet care.

Marmosets are not very messy and their urine does not have a very strong stench. However, marmosets tend to urinate quite often. This is because marmosets scent their area by rubbing their perineum on various locations. However, with a lot of training, the marmosets can be taught to demarcate only specified areas with their urine. These animals are also observed to defecate on their paws, so as to give themselves better grip while climbing.

Marmosets as pets require a large cage embedded with scores of toys, hammocks, plants and tunnels to go through. The cage has to be regularly cleaned and needs to be provided with a heating source (heating pad or infrared lamp). Marmosets can catch diseases like measles, chicken pox, cold sores and even HIV.

As far as the Marmosets' diet is concerned, they need to be given a rotating diet, rich in Vitamin C and D3. Canned marmoset food and biscuits are available, however, since these monkeys get bored of the same food, they need to be given fresh fruits, vegetables, baby cereal, whole grains like pasta, etc. This will keep them busy! What's interesting is that these creatures love sweet treats like jelly, marshmallows, cakes, melted ice-creams and licorice.

One common marmosets as pets is the pygmy marmoset, which is really difficult to get and requires a special permit to keep it as a pet. Pygmy Marmoset as pets are quite difficult to handle as they require feeding every two hours for two weeks straight. This tiny species is known to attack and bite owners. It even throws feces at the owner. Imagine being slapped with marmoset shit!

Keeping marmosets as pets requires legal permission. While seeking a permit to keep this primate, one needs to ensure that there exists a special type of primate veterinarian in the area, not the regular animal veterinarian. Marmosets are social animals and should live among their own kind. It's not a very good idea to keep them in a cage at home.