TSKA Exotics The Specialist Keepers Association

Care Guide Reference

Black Cap Capuchin
Cebus apella
South America

Introduction
 
 
Deciding to become a Capuchin keeper is a decision not to be taken lightly – some capuchin sub-species can have a life span of 35 years in captivity and so clearly this is not a ‘fad’ animal to keep. This is not a cute animal one can use as a status symbol, nor is it an animal that can be kennelled if you go on holiday. Capuchins are extremely intelligent, sensitive, and entertaining but they are very very messy, time consuming, dangerous and very expensive. Above all it is vital to remember they are dangerous wild animals. Just the process of being able to source a capuchin can take months, and before you do you will have to have all your insurances, licenses and enclosures in place – and most importantly you will have to be prepared!
 
 
First lets give a few ‘cannots’ to dispel some myths:
 
You cannot dress a capuchin, nor make him/her wear nappies. They are neither ‘cute’ ‘ huggable’ or cuddly.

You cannot realistically allow him/her unrestricted access to your home. It would be dangerous to you and your primate.

You cannot put a collar and lead on a capuchin.

You cannot lower your guard in a capuchins presence.

You cannot ‘trust’ a Capuchin.
 
 
Now what you can do:
 

You can be viciously attacked unless you follow some standard procedures.

You can easily harm a capuchin unless you have a good understanding of their needs both in the physiological and psychological sense.

You can spend an awful lot of money just feeding your capuchin.

You can spend as much time as you possibly can with your capuchin.

You can sometimes develop a wonderful friendship with your capuchin IF you remember the cannots above!
 
I will not bore you with the different sub-species as in the UK the most common is Black Cap Capuchins, so the following guidelines are specific to Black Cap Capuchins. The adult males have an ‘Elvis like’ appearance with black flat top fur on their heads, growing down the sides of their faces like sideburns. Females have a similar appearance with ‘tufts’ on the crowns As with all primate species, females are (usually) less aggressive than males, can form stronger bonds with their keepers, and show less dominance issues. However, a male will likely not allow a female to interact with you as she will be deemed as ‘his’
 

Ideally all primates (and all animal species for that matter) should be kept in pairs, this does not have to be a male/female pairing, but it’s important to remember companionship is very, very important for a healthy and contented primate. Should you only have a single capuchin they will need much, much more time from you in the way of personal company and enrichment (Capuchins being so intelligent NEED to be kept busy and contented)

Capuchins kept in the UK need to be covered by public liability insurance (varied cost depending on where in the UK you live, lowest cost approx £250 per year) You will also need to hold a DWAL (Dangerous Wild Animal Licence) obtained by your local authority, which is renewed annually and you will be inspected at the time of renewal/application (and sometimes with spot-checks too) by an Environmental Health Officer and a Veterinary Surgeon. The licence and vets fees will be due annually in addition to the fees required to apply for a licence. (fee’s differ according to which county you live in).
 
You will also need to have sourced a vet who can treat a capuchin should it be needed, (part of the licence requirement is for you to state both your knowledge of the species and also give confirmation that you have found a suitable vet.) It’s no good for you to have a poorly capuchins and then try and find a vet who has the specialist knowledge… and your usual cat and dog vet will just not do.
 
Research
Before contemplating purchase or ownership of a capuchin you really do need to do as much research as you can, before even thinking about enclosures etc, you should know as much about the capuchins needs as possible so that you can incorporate that into your plans. Whilst researching you will probably find much scientific information which you may feel is not relevant but I can assure you – it all is relevant to some degree! Some material from the USA, where capuchin keepers are more abundant may ‘seem’ more relevant to you, but please don’t be fooled, many USA keepers keep capuchins as if they are babies, but if you search long enough you will also find USA capuchin keepers who have photographed the massive injuries they have received from their ‘babies’.
 
If possible speak with current UK capuchin keepers and speak with as many as you can as each keeper will not have the same views or advice. The genuine keeper will be happy to give advice and will endeavour to help you make decisions that are right for both you and your primate.
 
Enclosures
If you have researched and still feel that you want to become a capuchin keeper then you will need to consider the following:
 
You should note that I do not use the word cage’ as this is not a politically correct word in any animal keeping and in primate keeping you will soon understand that ‘political correctness’ is a must. The current climate is pushing for private primate keepers to be discouraged so many people are against the very thing you are considering.
 
You will need to take into account, space for exercise, heated and sheltered accommodation for sleeping and most of all, safety features (for you, the general public and the primate). So, enclosures need to be as large as possible, with enough room for the capuchin to be able to run at a decent speed for some exercise (a very minimum of 15 feet)
 
I do not personally believe that an enclosure should be above 9 foot high as in the event of an emergency where you have to catch your capuchin anything higher than that will be too high for you to easily reach without standing on higher ladders (not a good idea with a frightened capuchin leaping round the enclosure)
 
I cannot emphasis enough that size is important but it’s not expected for you to have a 30’x30’x8’ enclosure (indeed my enclosures are nowhere near that size) but it is important for you to realise that the bigger the better and I would say a 15x10x8 is the minimum ‘free-space’ a single capuchin needs. When I say free space what I mean is that you can’t have a minimum sized outside enclosure and then stick a 6x6 shed in it for the heated house part of the enclosure, as this will reduce the ‘free space’
 
You MUST use your common sense in deciding the size of your enclosures but bear in mind, the bigger the better!
I feel it is essential to have an outside enclosure, as capuchins need sunlight to maintain health. Depending on the proposed site of your enclosures you will need either an ‘in your own house’ enclosure and an outside enclosure with a secure run in-between, or a large outside only enclosure which will need a ‘ heated primate house’ within it. For a rough guide, a capuchin will need heat to about 22degrees to be comfortable. You will need double door enclosures - this basically means that you will have to enter one door and close it behind you before you open a second door. This is to ensure that the capuchin does not leap over your shoulder and escape as is likely to happen if you have a single door entry. (and this is also a requirement of your DWAL licence).
 
It is also essential for you to incorporate a separation device, so that you have a way of (without stressing the capuchin) containing the capuchin in one area while you clean the other and vice-a-versa. For example, I have two enclosures which are linked together with a wire ‘tunnel’. I have a sliding metal door which shuts at one end of the tunnel (and had a safety chain bolt system to secure it shut) thus I can shut my capuchin in either the inside or outside enclosures while I clean one or the other.

Also you will need to think about how you will ‘catch’ your capuchin in the event that you need to. For us, we would attach a smaller pet carrier sized enclosure at the end of the ‘tunnel’ and our capuchin would be caught that way.

Materials - please remember that capuchins are very, very powerful primates, they might appear sweet but they are very strong. They can easily tear chunks out of a thick tree trunk and so the enclosure needs to be very strong, I do not recommend wooden frames because of the above. The wire used for the construction should ideally be 1inch x1inch galvanised steel in 12guage. You can use 2inch x 2 inch but it should then be double wired with a 12inch gap between the two. The double wire is used to ensure that your primate can’t reach through the single layer and grab anything.
 

Other points to remember, if you have other pets, capuchins are not usually friendly towards your ‘pets’ and so you will need to ensure that the bottom of the enclosure is such that your capuchin cannot reach through the wire mesh and grab a passing dog or cat (or worse, a visiting grandchild, son or daughter) so you would need at least the double mesh for say the lower 4 foot of the enclosures or have a solid panel bottom

You will also need to consider exactly where the enclosure will be, remember some plants are toxic and you will have to make sure that your enclosure is not sited near such material. If your enclosure is at the top of a very large garden remember you’ll be traipsing up there at least twice a day! The enclosure should be in an area that receives sunshine, and you should also incorporate a partly roofed outside enclosure so that your capuchin can stay outside for fresh air but be shielded from rain or direct sun.
 

In summary – before you build you enclosure(s) you will need to consider:

The size

The site

The materials

How you will clean it and how you will dispose of the waste.

How will you ‘lock your ‘capuchin’ away when you clean.

What you will use inside (branches, logs, ropes, toys etc)

Where to position the food and water and how to make your life easier by positioning the bowls within easy reach of the door. - Or buy specialist feeding bowls that you can attach outside the enclosure but which the capuchin can still easily reach food through a custom made ‘hatch’.

How you will cappy proof the enclosure to keep your cappy safe and also to keep those pets/persons who stray too close to the enclosure safe.

 

What you will use as the floor or base– grass, paving etc.

The items you put into the enclosure are also important to consider. Capuchins (as all primates) Poo and pee over everything. They are not worried about using their bed as a toilet and everything will need thoroughly cleaning very regularly. (And a through clean can take a full day if done properly) Additionally they are very, very messy with food. It might seem funny to see a capuchin suck the juice from a grape and once drained toss the skin away, but it’s not fun trying to scrape dried grape skin off anything!

The ‘perches’ used will get covered in excrement urine and food and although we have tried using prepared poles/fencing poles we found that this seemed to resist cleaning, we now use natural branches (be careful some trees are toxic - it is best to use branches from fruit trees to be safe) and once a month we remove the branches and pressure wash them.

Toys to keep your capuchin busy will be needed and will need to be strong and not easily breakable. You will need a good supply of toys as it’s best to rotate then so that your capuchin does not become bored. You will also need to consider cleaning these, as once they’ve been in the enclosure just a short time they will not escape the poo, pee and discarded food.

One final thing – padlocks - you will need secure (and waterproof) padlocks to secure all openings!

You will also have to think very hard about the floor of your enclosure, rats are drawn to all the dropped food! We use a solid paved flooring, which we can pressure wash weekly to avoid this issue.
 

Diet

Please bear in mind that fresh fruit, fresh vegetables and other mainstay foods which a capuchin will need daily will cost you a small fortune every week. I would say to allocate at least £15-£20 per week on dietary needs to give a varied diet.

Although dried monkey pellets area available to buy on the Internet, in my experience they are not liked at all. My capuchin eats these rarely and prefers fresh fruit and veg.

The foods you present to your capuchin needs to be fresh, varied and palatable to your individual capuchin. (I was once told that capuchins love prawns in shells and would spent ages sitting and peeling the prawns before eating them, so off I went in search of fresh unpeeled prawns, what a disappointment when my capuchin sniffed it and threw it on the floor!)

I am a firm believer that there should never be an empty food bowl, primates are very similar to us biologically and their natural habitat supplies ample food so I feel that it is not necessary for captive primates have to scrabble about for morsels of food. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that hiding food for them to find is wrong, on the contrary it’s a great enrichment motivation, but I do not like to have a bare fridge in my kitchen and I don’t like primates to have an empty bowl.

There is not much that a capuchin can’t (or shouldn’t) eat and the only thing my research showed was that it maybe avocado was toxic to capuchins (as it is to parrots) and to be honest I’m not willing to take the chance and so I don’t. Foods with high sugars and salts should be used very sparingly as treats.. The best advice I was given by a very very experienced capuchin keeper was " be as varied as possible as often as possible’ I took this to mean that just because apples are cheaper this week doesn’t mean feed only apples! My capuchin has at least 8 different items every day and never the same 8 the next day.

Vitamins- I cannot stress enough how important it is to maintain a regular vitamin and supplement intake for capuchins. Many captive capuchins lose fur and develop ill-health simply due to not having the correct supplements added to their diet. In the wild these primates eat a very varied diet and the foodstuffs we prepare just do not contain all the supplements needed.

It only takes a few weeks of an incorrect diet and you can see their fur getting sparser and sparser, but as soon as supplements are commenced the turnaround to a full and shiny fur coat is amazing!

As a rule for one capuchin you will need:

½ teaspoon - Oily D3 - oil based D3 vitamin.

¼ teaspoon SA37- a powered multivitamin used for birds and available from any good pet shop.

¼ teaspoon Calcium Sandoz – Calcium supplement in liquid form available from Boots the Chemist

¼ teaspoon Cytacon - Vitamin B12 supplement

½ teaspoon Complan - a dietary supplement available from Boots the Chemist

The above are usually mixed with Milupa or Cow and Gate powdered baby food (watch your variety, my capuchin only likes sunshine banana) added to warm water to make about ½ mug full and fed twice a week

Hard boiled egg – 2 a week - for protein.( in the shell, capuchins love to roll the egg to break the shell – don’t worry if they throw away the white of the egg, it’s the yolk they need for protein.

½ a baby Rusk a day

4-6 Locusts, crickets and meal worms – this is a real treat food. Fed live sparsely!

Offering dried or fresh chillies, garlic, onions or other strongly smelling foods may initiate a fur rubbing episode. This is where the capuchin will ‘spit’ on the item, and then proceed to wash them selves in the resulting goo. In the wild this is a way for capuchins to rid themselves or parasites, but obviously a behaviour still with captive capuchins.

ALWAYS REMEMBER FRESH WATER!

Other foods

As well as the above you will need to prepare food daily (I fill the food bowl twice a day) you can use all the usual and exotic fruits (apples, bananas, plums, kiwi, passion fruit, pomegranate etc) please be sparing with coconut and oranges (both natural laxatives!) plus remember the following, tomatoes, lettuce, cucumber, beetroot, dates, cooked chicken, cooked salmon, cornflakes, melon, honey sandwiches (as a treat) corn on the cob (in the husk if you can get it) lychees (they love em!) all kids of nuts (but not salted ones!) seeds etc.
 

Behaviour

First to dispel a few myths – capuchins do not really enjoy human contact, they may like our company but they do not really enjoy being touched, if they want touching they will offer.

Female capuchins as I have mentioned before are usually less aggressive than males. (This does not mean they are any less dangerous or that they can be trusted) Females come into cycle once every three weeks – this is actually the opposite meaning of a human females cycle. Your female capuchin will be rampant for about 3 days every 3 weeks - please remember that during the days leading up to the cycle, during and for a day after, the capuchin is very, very unpredictable and it is not advisable to participate in nor encourage her as this can be a time where the female can be dangerously unpredictable.

A day before the cycle proper the female capuchin will avoid eye contact. Infact the avoidance is so strong that as you approach even to offer food she will run away. This ‘teasing’ progresses to the stage where the capuchin will run up to and attempt to slap a person. Usually this means whoever is standing outside the enclosure will be scared witless by the capuchin banging on the enclosure as if to attack. However, the female will run away after the attention has been gained. This behaviour has been seen in both wild and captive capuchins.

It is also at this time that unusual behaviour such as tipping over food bowls or throwing things can be seen, I believe that it’s basically a way of the capuchin saying I’M HERE !!!

After a few hours of the ‘hit and run syndrome’ the female will actively seek to look into the ‘mates’ eyes and will hold the gaze whilst drawing her lips back over her teeth and making tiss-tiss sucking noises through her clenched teeth. Her eyebrows will raise up and down and she will have a ‘blush’ on her forehead.

Once this behaviour is reciprocated by any positive action the female will approach the potential mate and turn her back thus offering herself to be mated. It’s a very sad sight to see a lonely female so obviously desperate for male company and very tempting to at least stroke her back or hold her hand. (Although I do take this time to give my Capuchin a wash (by soaking my hands in baby bath and stroking her) this is not a practice that I would suggest anyone else try, my Capuchin is extremely docile and I believe I know her ‘moods’ and if I don’t I fully understand it will be my own fault if she rips my face off!

As mentioned numerous times before, male capuchins can be very dominant, very aggressive, and very territorial. I have been told by a very trustworthy source that a male Capuchin was raised from very young. Each time the enclosure was cleaned the secured area was used, thereby the Capuchin was locked out of the enclosure to enable cleaning. At aged 10 years his keeper went to perform the usual cleaning and this time forgot to check the padlock securing the sliding door. The Capuchin male attacked the keeper leading to operations and a long hospital stay. This clearly shows how territorial male Capuchins can be.

For either a male or female Capuchin you can never really trust that they will be docile, even if you have seen no signs of aggression that does not guarantee your safety. Capuchins are intelligent enough to wait, with patience, and attack when you least expect. They are not listed in the UK as a Dangerous Wild Animal for nothing, hence the licence required to keep them.
 
Enrichment
It’s very difficult to continually think of new things to entertain a capuchin, but that is indeed what capuchin keepers have to do. Putting a few tennis balls or ping pong balls into the enclosure and expecting a capuchin to be happy is no-where near enough. Playing catch with a ping pong ball is good, but remember to take time to show them what to do before you go hurling a ball at them and expecting them to catch!

Young children’s toys are good as they are colourful and noisy but remember to change them often. Now and again you can use a magazine strung with string and hung in the enclosure and you will find your capuchins merrily sitting and looking at all the pictures, but use this to often and it’s boring to them. Capuchins love wrecking things and love nothing better than to be given the inside of a tin foil or cling film roll (toilet roll tubes are too thin) they sit for ages ripping the tube into little bits. And as an added bonus if you can poke a bit of paper towel inside each end and fill the middle with raisins or nuts its twice then fun for them.

I also like to use a small piece of hosepipe and put inside it peanut butter or honey. Pop the hose into the freezer and when frozen a capuchin will spend ages picking out the hose. (Not too much peanut butter as it’s high cholesterol)

Capuchins being so intelligent can easily learn a new game, and if you’ve got the patience once they have learned a game they will not forget it. Try hide and seek, just move your head out of view and then pop your head up, they will start doing the same and ‘hiding’

The most important enrichment you can give your Capuchin is time, your time! Never ever think you can leave a capuchin all day without company. Even if I am popping to the shops I leave a radio on (or the TV!) for my capuchin to listen to. You can tell how much you are missed when on your return you capuchin will make purring/tweeting noises to welcome you home and remind you they are there.

Body language and facial grimaces and sounds.

Its very important for you to know a few simple signs so that you can know when to and more importantly when NOT to approach your capuchin.(and a few for when you can)

If your capuchin is showing teeth with the mouth wide open and it’s tail is straight – get away NOW !! This is a warning basically they’re saying, I feel threatened and I’m not happy. This is an attack stance.

Sounds they make which are also warning signs are a high pitched scream in short bursts (my capuchin used this once when she saw a stray dog on my driveway and I believe she was warning me.) Once you hear this sound you will recognise it instantly and you should act accordingly to reassure your capuchin that all is well.

Capuchins also make a noise like a deep ‘grump’, again in short bursts, and this basically means I don’t like you, I’m not happy, leave me alone. – take heed always!

If your capuchin is keeping it’s teeth together but has lips parted and slightly drawn back over the closed teeth, this is a friendly gesture, it’s basically saying, I would like to make friends, I think I like you. This action may be followed by the capuchin sitting down with their hands folded in their laps – this again is a sign of friendship.

Friendly noises are a purring like tweeting noise (it’s very hard to explain but when heard it’s obvious what it means---- I’m so happy!)

My Capuchin also makes a similar noise to above but it is used as a greeting when we have called her to come to us, and I’m the only one of our family who can recognise the difference.

Finally, when scared, they will make a loud high pitched in very short bursts scream which is similar to the warning noise. This is used when scared, although whenever I have witnessed my Capuchin being scared she is usually silent, but moves like the wind to get away from whatever is scaring her!

There are many facial movements and calls which Capuchins also make but the above are the most common.

Written by Nicky White