Would you have a monkey as a pet, if you could?

Discussion in Pets started by Serena • Oct 25, 2014.

  1. Serena

    SerenaActive Member

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    Here in Ghana, you can have monkeys as pets. It is nothing out of the normal. Sometimes driving down the road, you will see a monkey hanging out of the window of somebody's truck or car. I have a monkey and for the most part, he likes staying outside in the trees in my yard. He does occasionally come inside The House, but his preferred place is outside. I have had him for 6 years. If you could have a monkey as a pet, would you?
     
  2. Theo

    TheoWell-Known Member

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    I wouldn't mind as I think it would be good company, but I do feel monkeys should be with their own kind. If the monkey visited me then fine, but to keep him/her away from the family or friends is wrong.

    An elephant would be great, but then again it would be the same issue as well as having a field. Pets should need a home and these animals belong in the wild and have no place in a human home.
     
  3. Serena

    SerenaActive Member

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    Hi Theo,

    Thanks for responding. Like other animals, monkeys can adapt to their environments. Would you say that it is wrong to keep a cat or a dog away from their animal families and friends as well? I don't think that animals think of families and friends in the same sense as humans do, although I do believe they have an understanding of these concepts. My monkey doesn't live in a house. He has free range.
     
  4. chiofthenorns

    chiofthenornsActive Member

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    If it's allowed, then why not? All kinds of animals are loyal and sweet.
     
  5. sthrngypsy

    sthrngypsyActive Member

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    Well I live in the states so I'd have to say no way. I love all animals but it is against the law in a lot of places in the US to keep exotic animals as pets and if you do keep them as pets you have to keep them contained, so they would have to be in the house or in a cage, which I would hate. I also hear they can be very destructive when kept in the house. Maybe if I ever move to Ghana I will change my mind:)
     
  6. Serena

    SerenaActive Member

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    Chiofthenorns,

    I agree! He is very loyal and he is more of a guard dog than my actual dog. Ha!

    Sthrngypsy,

    Well, I can understand your situation. I wouldn't want my monkey to be in a cage. He spends most of his time outside and he has lots of trees that he can hang out in. He comes inside for a few hours, on an occasional basis. He also has shelter outside when we have heavy storms. I think he's pretty happy.
     
  7. TuRon Davis

    TuRon DavisActive Member

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    On no no no! this is something I would never even consider let alone have as a pet. Monkeys are simply too wild and can cause havoc amongst the household. I would recommend to anyone that had a pet monkey for it to be trained as well as it gets. Don't get me wrong, I think they are amazing animals, but with the intelligence and athleticism a monkey possesses, that could be a huge problem.
     
  8. insertkittyface

    insertkittyfaceActive Member

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    I personally don't think I would like it just because they seem like a lot of work. When my grandmother was younger, she had a monkey as a pet and a skunk and I always thought it was insane, but she said they were two of the best pets she's ever had.
     
  9. Parker

    ParkerWell-Known Member

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    No, I wouldn't have a monkey as a pet. They are extremely bright creatures. They would deserved better to be stuck in my apartment in the big city. I still don't think I would have one as a pet even if I lived in a rural area.
     
  10. xTinx

    xTinxWell-Known Member

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    I have second thoughts. Monkeys can be too cheeky and unruly. Maybe because they're far more intelligent than your average pets. They also tend to be stubborn (well the monkey pets I know of at least), so I'm not sure if I can handle pets that are quite a handful. I do plan to put up an animal shelter someday so who knows. All animals will be welcome so having monkeys around will liven up the atmosphere in the shelter.
     
  11. kwriter93

    kwriter93Member

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    I'm not sure why, but this makes me think of the little monkey from Planet of the Apes (movie). From the way they are perceived, very young monkeys are extremely sweet and have a cool temper. It would worry me if he got older and became violent or stir crazy from being contained, I've too heard they can wreak havoc on a home if they become antsy. My cat was declawed by his previous owner before I ever got him and now that I've moved to a small one bedroom apartment, he has no room to roam and becomes quite antsy himself. He will run from one end of the apartment to the other and meow really loud, he even starts attacking the walls. It's pitiful because I can't let him outside and I wouldn't want a much larger and even more intelligent animal to be stuck inside and confined to such a small area.

    In your case, this seems fine. The monkey probably gets all of his energy out before he comes inside. That's pretty cool.
     
  12. Denis Hard

    Denis HardWell-Known Member

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    I'd never have monkeys as pets. I've heard some really disturbing stories about them:
    While such incidents are not common, I always prefer safety rather than take the risk of owning such a dangerous animal and regret it [later].
     
  13. pennylane

    pennylaneActive Member

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    I don't have much interest in having a pet monkey. The idea makes me laugh...it might be fun to have a little monkey hanging around. It reminds me of the pet on the show Friends. They taught it to do tricks. I think I'll stick to teaching my dogs :)
     
  14. jaygee

    jaygeeNew Member

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    If I were in a monkey friendly place I would. I wouldn't steal one out of the wild away from his family and force him to live with me.
     
  15. DreekLass

    DreekLassWell-Known Member

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    Hmmm. This is a very interesting question. What I see of monkeys is that they are quite the rambunctious beings. Or at least that is how they seem to me - a person who doesn't and has never spent much time in their company lol. I have only seen them on TV, and encountered them on a school trip when I was in primary school, and a bunch of them were on the buses rood, pounding away as we drove off. I am not sure that I could handle a pet monkey to be honest. But at the same time, I could see them probably being a ball of laughs and fun, and quite loving.
     
  16. Melissast

    MelissastActive Member

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    There was this women who would come into walmarts all the time with a little monkey wrapped up in a blanket. She said that it was her baby. She was allowed to bring it into the store because it was a service monkey. Everyone always ewwed and awwwed over it, and took pictures of the little monkey. I think the monkey liked the attention to.
     
  17. Serena

    SerenaActive Member

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    I think the descriptions of monkeys that I am reading in responses are quite interesting. Maybe it is media hype in other countries or maybe monkeys just act different in other countries. Or perhaps it is because the monkeys being described are in contained environments. None of the situations described are similar to here. I am from Ghana. Monkeys are not contained here. I have never seen any violence out of a monkey.
     
  18. calebmelvern

    calebmelvernActive Member

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    I wouldn't. I know little about them but I imagine they can be really difficult to deal with. Just thinking about taking care of a monkey makes me tired. Haha. But I guess it would be pretty cool to have one, especially because they're really smart.
     
  19. DreekLass

    DreekLassWell-Known Member

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    Really?? That is so cool. I have never heard of or seen anybody bringing a monkey - small or otherwise - into a food store, or general store before lol. In fact I am not sure that I have ever laid my eyes upon a baby monkey in person before. Only the medium sized and adult ones, and they were so rambunctious that they were almost frightening. Even as we were fleeing they were hammering on out bus windows. I suppose, like people, monkey's have different personalities too. So it would be silly to tar them all with the same brush.
     
  20. sidney

    sidneyWell-Known Member

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    I think I would want to just interact with tame monkeys and not have them as pets, because I wouldn't know if they would cause some trouble in the future. I also don't think I have the budget to feed them. They seem to eat a lot of human food. I'd rather have 3 cats instead than 1 monkey, lol.