Monkey Pics for TerryO

[Tom]

Didn't want to hijack jazzywoo's thread, but saw your interest in squirrel monkeys. These pics are from my job on Sunday. The squirrel monkey is Bamboo. He's about 25 years old now and I've been working with him since he was 11. The tortoise belongs to my buddy and I'll be doing a separate post on him as soon as I can get some good pics. He was given to my friend a few months ago and his lower beak is overgrown. I want to post close up pics and get advice before I start hacking away at it. It doesn't seem to bother him.

Hope you aren't too upset that I am one of those evil-exploit-monkeys-for-profit-people. He does have a large indoor/outdoor cage, if that makes it any better.

 

[Stephanie Logan]

I don't get it.

Odd couple out for dinner and a dance?

 

[spikethebest]

Tom, was that the one you were holding infront of me?

 

[dreadyA]

Too funny. Have you ever Sen that video of a small monkey riding a dog like a.cowboy? Hilarious!

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Seen*

 

[terryo]

Hope you aren't too upset that I am one of those evil-exploit-monkeys-for-profit-people. He does have a large indoor/outdoor cage, if that makes it any better.

Great pictures.
I am against breeding houses (something like puppy mills) that take the babies away from their mothers right after birth, put them in incubators, and sell to people who want children but can't have them, and then substitute with a primate. I sat in someone's living room pretending to buy a 1 week old baby. As I sat there you could hear the screams of the mother, coming from the top floor. There was a Spider monkey who chewed off one of her fingers...another pulled at her breast so bad that it wouldn't stop bleeding....and I could go on and on. They are no different than human mothers. And they just keep breeding them, just like in the puppy mills. I am out of that now, but the screams still haunt me.
I will have to post some pictures of our little rescue.

 

[Tom]

I don't get it.

Odd couple out for dinner and a dance?

I didn't get the clothes either, but there will be a whole bunch of animals together when you see the commercial. We just filmed them separately or in pairs and they'll put them all together in post production with computers. There was also a Russian Boar, Toad, cat, dog and a few others.

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Tom, was that the one you were holding infront of me?

Yes. That's my little man.

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Hope you aren't too upset that I am one of those evil-exploit-monkeys-for-profit-people. He does have a large indoor/outdoor cage, if that makes it any better.

Great pictures.
I am against breeding houses (something like puppy mills) that take the babies away from their mothers right after birth, put them in incubators, and sell to people who want children but can't have them, and then substitute with a primate. I sat in someone's living room pretending to buy a 1 week old baby. As I sat there you could hear the screams of the mother, coming from the top floor. There was a Spider monkey who chewed off one of her fingers...another pulled at her breast so bad that it wouldn't stop bleeding....and I could go on and on. They are no different than human mothers. And they just keep breeding them, just like in the puppy mills. I am out of that now, but the screams still haunt me.
I will have to post some pictures of our little rescue.

I understand. When I get new monkeys, which is hardly ever, I like to leave them on the moms for 7-8 months at least. The mom and the troop teach them manners and how to behave like a monkey. Works way better for us that way. The only time I bottle raise babies is when the mother rejects them.

 

[terryo]

Here's my youngest son on Christmas (our Christmas card). We dressed him up as Aladdin, and Abby was Abu. She was about 6 months old here.

 

[Candy]

Terry how cute they both are in that photo. How long did you keep the monkey? Are they very hyper or not? Do they bit at all? Did you have to keep a diaper on it like a baby?

 

[terryo]

We got her when she was three months old and we had her for a long time, but eventually we had to do what was best for her (what we were supposed to do in the first place). We kept rejecting places because we felt they weren't suitable. She was always very calm and tame, and never bit anyone. When it got dark outside, she would go in her cage (7 foot one) and go to bed on her own. Sometimes she would go to bed with my son and sleep with him. When I went out, I would lock her in the cage..the only time she was caged. She didn't wear diapers, but would go into her cage and sit in the corner to do whatever. She was very clean, and if her hands got dirty when she was eating, she would go to the sink in the kitchen, and turn the water on and wash them. At Christmas or birthdays, she would open each present and go put it in her bed before she opened another one. She gave kisses and hugs...she was VERY human like. The first one we fostered was a Marmoset monkey. But after raising Abby and having to give her up, I will never do it again. It was like giving up a child. Very heartbreaking.

 

[Stephanie Logan]

You have had such fascinating life episodes of love and loss, Terry.

Those descriptions of Abby's behavior are preternatural; I would be completely unnerved by having such an intelligent and sensitive creature in my care. If you are able, do you mind telling us where Abby is living now? Do you get to visit her? Does she still miss you?

And your son looks perfectly irresistable in these photos...I want a hug!

 

[terryo]

You have had such fascinating life episodes of love and loss, Terry.

Those descriptions of Abby's behavior are preternatural; I would be completely unnerved by having such an intelligent and sensitive creature in my care. If you are able, do you mind telling us where Abby is living now? Do you get to visit her? Does she still miss you?

And your son looks perfectly irresistable in these photos...I want a hug!

Primates like her can never be rehabilitated and put back into the wild, so she is in a beautiful sanctuary like place, with others of her kind. I have many pictures of her sitting up in a tree eating flowers. It's like a mini rainforest. Very beautiful. No, I don't want to visit her, and they really don't encourage you to visit for at least 6 months.
At one point I was thinking of going into "helping hands", but I don't think I could handle that, so now I just sit in my garden and play with my turts and torts.
Sorry for hijacking your thread....Got any more pictures "Roachman"?

 

[Tom]

This is Dagny. She's owned by a friend of mine and she was the back-up baboon the first time I went to Africa in 1999. I was her first boyfriend.

 

[spikethebest]

awwwww what a cutie!!!

 

[Stephanie Logan]

Now, I want to dwell just a bit on that term you use, "boyfriend".

I would like to bring to your attention that any animal who adopts such an intense expression of antagonism as Dagny does in this photo, cannot be in any way well-disposed toward the creature behind the camera, whom I assume was you.

Usually one associates the term "boyfriend" as one that denotes a pleasant, mutually affectionate relationship, or am I just way off base here?

What kinds of activities did you two do together?

 

[Tom]

She was raised by my friend and didn't ever form any relationships with anyone else. She was 3 or 4 when I came along and that's right around the time they want to start breeding. She used to give me the "come hither" look and try to get me to go off into the bushes with her. She didn't want to breed in front of her Daddy. It was absolutely hilarious.

 

[Maggie Cummings]

I have always thought they were very mean and could get aggressively violent. It is so interesting to read the posts from you and Terry and I hope there will be more posts and more pictures. I think this is a great thread.

 

[Tom]

I have always thought they were very mean and could get aggressively violent. It is so interesting to read the posts from you and Terry and I hope there will be more posts and more pictures. I think this is a great thread.

The old world primates can get very aggressive, but it is only within a certain context. Its as if they all are born with the same rule book and they all follow it to a "T". If you behave and operate according to their "rules" you'll have no trouble at all. The problem is that most normal human behavior violates their most important rules. I've always just "gotten it" with the old world monkeys. They and their behavior just make sense to me.

The new world monkeys, on the other hand, are just randomly aggressive. Fine one minute; attacking the person who raised them (or any one else) the next for no apparent reason. I'm not a big fan of working around the new world monkeys. I've done it a bunch and its always very sketchy. I'm always wondering "when is it coming?"

The squirrel monkeys are an exception. They are usually pretty tractable. Most of them aren't too bitey. On the other hand they aren't as trainable or intelligent as the other new world monkeys.

Here's a pic of my friends other monkey, Azuma. He's a bad dude.

 

[Yvonne G]

He's absolutely BEAUTIFUL!! But OMG!! Those canines!! Is meat a mainstay in their diet?

 

[Tom]

No. Those are just for show......... and fighting.

 

[terryo]

Can you imagine what those canines can do to a person if he ever turned on you? The woman who had the breeding house that was raided, had a male Baboon that she kept as a pet. She was taking him to her other house in another state, and as she walked him to her van, he turned around and grabbed her leg and actually ripped the calf of her leg. She showed me the scar. She had him since he was a week old, and he just turned on her for no reason. IMO, it doesn't matter how long you have them, or how well you treat them, old world, or new world....they are still wild animals and are unpredictable, and can turn on you for no reason and do a lot of damage.