Spider Monkey Pet (Everything You Need To Know)

ByThePetster Team

Spider monkeys are Central and South American rainforest primates. Some spider monkeys are imported to and/or bred in the U.S. by medical research labs and zoos. Some individuals even keep spider monkeys as pets. However, in the U.S., laws exist that prohibit or regulate owning a spider monkey and many organizations work rigorously to discourage keeping such exotic pets.

Are Spider Monkeys Good House Pets?

Wild animals like spider monkeys aren’t meant to be kept as pets. They belong in the wild and will never truly be tamed like domestic animals. Here are some more specific reasons why you shouldn’t keep spider monkeys as pets.


Spider monkeys are strong, wild animals who can cause serious damage if taken away from their natural environment. They can become very scared, and very aggressive towards other animals and human beings, and often, they end up in very poor health. Keeping primates as pets is wrong and cruel for the animal.

Can Monkeys Love Humans?

Spider monkeys are strong, wild animals who can cause serious damage if taken away from their natural environment. They can become very scared, and very aggressive towards other animals and human beings, and often, they end up in very poor health. Keeping primates as pets is wrong and cruel for the animal.

Can I Legally Own a Monkey?

If you think of getting a highly intelligent monkey as a pet, first find out if it is illegal in your state. It is illegal to own a monkey in 19 states, including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, and Wyoming.

Other states have a partial ban on owning a monkey as a pet, while others, like Florida, require you to volunteer with monkeys before purchasing one and passing a written exam.

How much is a Pet Spider Monkey?

Just buying a pet spider monkey is likely to cost a minimum of $10,000 and often more. Adult spider monkeys need a specialized enclosure to live safely, which can be expensive to build.


Capuchin monkeys—the kind you see with organ grinders—are more expensive than most monkeys on account of their remarkable intelligence. But most dealers will sell you a baby capuchin for between $5,000 and $7,000. If the police department in Mesa bought a monkey that had been trained extensively by its breeder, the price might be somewhat higher.

Are Spider Monkeys Friendly to Humans?

Spider monkeys are not suitable pets. Spider monkeys need specialized care and can become extremely aggressive when they reach sexual maturity.

Spider monkeys seem harmless, at first, wildlife experts say the 3-foot-tall primates often become violent toward humans who try to domesticate them. If kept isolated in captivity, the monkey’s developmental problems cause them to bite, choke and maim people.

Are Spider Monkeys Harmful?

They are strong, unpredictable, and often aggressive animals with a mouthful of sharp teeth that can do serious damage if they bite you. Because spider monkeys and humans are closely related, a pet monkey could potentially infect you with several diseases or parasites.

What’s the Lifespan of a Spider Monkey?

In the wild, spider monkeys can live up to 25 years, and in captivity, they can live up to 40 years.

What Food do Spider Monkeys Eat?

Spider monkeys are omnivores, according to the National Geographic Society. They eat a blend of animal and plant-based foods, with the emphasis is definitely on plants. These monkeys are sometimes referred to as frugivores because of their large fruit consumption. Between 80 and 90 percent of a spider monkey’s diet is fruit, according to the Primate Research Center of the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Berries are a major element in this fruity diet.

Other important elements in the typical spider monkey diet are aerial roots, rotting wood, new foliage, flowers, stems, and nuts. The animals tend to scour for sustenance in treetops. Spider monkeys eat “on the run,” and these little multitaskers usually do it at the same time they’re climbing, hanging, or otherwise scampering around.

Animal foods that spider monkeys frequently consume are bird eggs, spiders, bugs, and bug larvae. Once in a while, spider monkeys also feed on smaller reptiles as a major source of protein. Although spider monkeys sometimes eat spiders, that isn’t how their name originated.

How Big Does a Spider Monkey Get?

The spider monkey can be up to 21 inches long, with another 34 inches added for the tail! Both males and females average around 19 pounds in weight.

Do Spider Monkeys Hug?

Spider monkeys hug each other and wrap their tails around each other. They were named spider monkeys because they look like spiders as they hang upside down from their tails with their arms and legs dangling. Their genus name is Ateles, which means “imperfect.” This refers to the fact that they don’t have thumbs.

What do Monkeys do When it Rains?

Like many of our other animals, they also have the option to retreat to an enclosure. Most terrestrial animals do seek shelter. In nature, that can happen in trees or log holes, under rocks or leaves, or underground.

How Do You Take Care For Spider Monkey?

In zoos, spider monkeys live in groups similar to their living environment in the wild. They receive a varied diet, consisting mainly of fruit, and a veterinarian monitors their nutrition. Enclosures for spider monkeys have a huge variety of climbing and jumping opportunities. These are usually a combination of natural branches and vegetation, as well as ropes and other man-made obstacles.

In addition to climbing opportunities, zookeepers use a huge variety of toys and other environmental enrichment to keep these primates entertained.

Can Monkeys Be Potty Trained?

No. Most monkeys cannot be effectively toilet trained. Sometimes, younger monkeys can be partially potty trained, but they lose that ability as they mature.

In addition, as they’re attempting to potty train, they tend to throw their poop and play with their pee. Because of this, pet monkeys have to wear diapers throughout their lives.

What Kind of Enclosure Should Monkeys Live in?

Monkeys need a lot of room to move around and play. They like to roam outdoors as much as possible. If they’re not in the wild, then they need a secure enclosure that is huge and expensive.

Certain states require certain types of enclosures in order to obtain a permit to have a pet monkey. Most of these enclosures have to be a minimum of 30 square feet or more, but the truth is that monkeys never truly acclimate well to living their life in an enclosure of any kind.

Is it Cruel to have a Pet Monkey?

Overall, monkeys are not good pets. Yes, some can be quite sweet for a time.

But the reality is monkeys are capable of causing too much harm and need too much care and attention to thrive in a human household. These issues are equally as important when it comes to apes (chimpanzees, orangutans, and gibbons).

Do Pet Spider Monkeys Stink?

In addition to being a pet that has involved care, they are also said to have a smell that is several times stronger than a skunk and can be detected up to 164 feet away in the wild.

Captive monkeys are often seen wearing nappies in an attempt to house train them, but this is controversial for its own reasons. Even if you could get your monkey to wear a nappy (and some quite rightly won’t), then the nappy can restrict their muscle growth, stopping their tails from growing normally.

Is Owning a Monkey Controversial?

The laws around exotic pet ownership aren’t clear-cut, creating opportunities for the large-scale availability of primates for sale online, as well as in some pet shops. So, while owning a monkey (subject to certain conditions) is not illegal in the US, it’s definitely controversial.

Groups such as the RSPCA are calling for the keeping and trade of primates as pets to be banned.

And for good reason.

Pet monkeys have to be taken from their mother at just a few days old, to be ‘tamed’ as pets. This is not just cruel for the baby monkey, but for the mother too, who will likely have to repeat the process over and over again. So even if you can live with that on your conscience, don’t expect others to be so understanding.

Can Monkeys be Dangerous?

A lonely, depressed primate easily becomes aggressive. Monkeys may attack their owners, or if not their owners, then other humans. That’s because they want to assert their dominance in the hierarchy. So, even if they’ve forged some kind of bond with you, they sure aren’t going to let another human take their perceived place in the pecking order. Do you really want to be the only person that the monkey trusts, leaving your friends, family, and visitors open to vicious attacks?

And if that’s not enough, pet monkeys can be disease carriers. Diseases that exist happily dormant within your pet can easily be passed through a single scratch or bite. This can result in nasty conditions such as herpes to more serious health issues that we have never seen before.

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