Care Guide Reference

Tamarin Species
Genus Sanguinus
South America

Adults can weigh upto 700g, they have a non-prehensile tail, claws instead of nails and they move quadrupedally (on all fours). The average body temperature is between 37-38° C and they can live upto 20 years. They have a duplex retina consisting of both rods and cones, which allows them to see colour.

Tamarins communicate through a number of high-pitched whistles and screeches, some of which are at frequencies above the human range of hearing. Cotton Tops are known to have at least 38 different vocalisations, for food, alarm and levels of danger.

Tamarins have scent glands on the arms, chest, abdomen and genital area, they are used for marking territory, objects and other family members. Females tend to scent more than males.

Housing Requirements

When deciding on housing for your Tamarin, psychological well being is just as important as physical well being and should be kept in mind. Tamarins should preferably have indoor housing with access to outdoors, they need to be kept at a temperature of 25-29° C. The minimum size cage would be 3ft x 3ft x 2ft, but the bigger the better, they need to be able to play, jump and hang from their hind legs. Branches, toys and swings should be added to provide stimulation. Toys and branches can be moved around about every 6 months to give the animals a different routine.

A nest box should be available for sleeping in, with a blanket or towel, some Tams will even cuddle up to a soft toy. My red bellies pull the towel over their head like a blanket! Branches, perches and nest boxes should be at least 1M above the ground to mimic an arboreal environment.

Tamarins are diurnal, so require access to UV in order for them to produce the necessary D3, which enables them to absorb calcium. UV lights are NOT acceptable, their eyes are the same as human eyes, the intense UV light can damage their eyes, It has been likened to using a sunbed without goggles!

For a family group of Tamarins, at least 2 feeding stations should be made available to avoid squabbling, and to ensure each member of the group eats. Water should be available at all times, Tams will become accustomed to using water bottles. To avoid floor foraging the feeding stations should be placed at least 1m above the ground.

Substrate should be absorbent and hygienic, wood shavings, bark, soil are all acceptable, a soft floor is recommended for breeding in case the infant falls.

To ensure the mental well being of these intelligent animals natural behavioural skills should be encouraged. Insect feeders can be used (above floor level) which release insects periodically encouraging the Tamarins to forage. Branches can be smeared with acacia gum as Tams are opportunistic gum feeders. Unlike the Marmoset they do not have the correct dentition to gouge holes into branches, therefore they take advantage of wounds on the tree. Holes can be drilled into branches and insects or acacia gum inserted for the Tam to find. Anything used to provide enrichment should be positioned 1m above the floor, in the wild Tams would rarely descend to the forest floor, as they would be vulnerable to predators.

Breeding Tamarins

Tamarins reach sexual maturity between 15-17 months, in captivity they will breed all year round; in the wild they breed seasonally. Tamarins usually give birth to twins, occasionally a singleton and rarely triplets. The gestation period is about 5 months, after the infant is born the parents will usually mate again, it is common for a nursing mother to also be pregnant. In a successful captive group, the average inter-birth interval is 29 weeks.

At birth infants weigh about 40-50g and the eyes are usually open, but occasionally the eyes will remain closed for the first 3 days. The baby will stay with mum for the first 8-10 days to receive the necessary colostrum and they will nurse throughout the day. After this time the father or an older (usually male) sibling carries the baby on his shoulders. The mother will only nurse the infant at feeding time.

For the first two months the infant cannot thermoregulate and so relies on warmth from the caregiver, he has hairs on his fingers which entwines with the caregivers fur to give the infant a better grip. A curly tail is a good sign of a healthy infant, a limp tail indicates the infant is in some distress.

An infant takes his first steps away from the caregivers between 4-5 weeks, at 6 weeks they start to eat solid food and will beg from family members, and at 14-16 weeks are weaned.

An infant will have his baby teeth at 27-28 days, the adult molars will begin to appear at 16 weeks and the permanent teeth appear at 48 weeks.

Parenting skills amongst Tamarins are not instinctive they are learned, these skills are picked up within family groups. An individual should remain within the family group for at least 2 litters in order to acquire these skills. Inexperienced parents without the necessary skills are more likely to reject, mutilate or kill their own offspring.

Within a family group, only one female reproduces; scent secretions and urine suppress the ovarian cycles of younger females even when sexually mature. Once the young female is removed and introduced to a new male normal cycles will be established, once this happens they cannot be re - suppressed by reintroducing the family group.

At the age of approximately 17 years, a female Tamarin will go through a ‘menopause’ called Reproductive Senescence, the males however remain fertile and are capable of siring offspring throughout their whole lifetime.

Nutrition and Diet

The diet needs to be kept interesting as well as nutritional. In the wild Tams will feed on gums and saps and small mammals. In captivity, they should be fed a high quality dry monkey pellet such as Mazuri Primate, or Exotic Nutrition’s New World Primate Diet; fruits, vegetables, insects and small vertebrates, they can also be offered the occasional treat.

They should be fed twice a day, in the morning and in the evening. It is advisable to feed fruit and dried food at different times of the day as fruit will usually be preferred over the more nutritious dry matter. Extra protein should be given to lactating females.

Cooked pasta, cooked oatmeal, cooked eggs (boiled or scrambled), dry cat or dog food, cheese and cooked chicken can all be included in the diet. Onion should be avoided at all costs as it can cause a type of anaemia in animals.

The diet should be supplemented with vitamin C, pediatric liquid vitamins (Abidec), ZolcalD (made by VetArk) which is calcium and liquid D3 combined and a Multi vitamin powder. A monkey suffering tail alopecia is lacking calcium. D3 is very important in the captive Tamarin’s diet, even exposure to UK sunshine will not allow the body to synthesise sufficient amounts of D3 for maximum calcium intake.

Treats can be given to Tams - but in small amounts. A small piece of cake or biscuit is often relished and can be useful before bedtime to ensure they have sugar in their system to sustain them overnight. Milk chocolate can even be given in very small amounts with no apparent ill effects. In fact some research facilities use Mars M&M’s as treats. It is also a good way to make friends and administer medication - liquid meds will be quickly absorbed into a piece of cake.

Insects and acacia gum should be fed as previously described to provide enrichment, extra protein and calcium.

A daily feed should include:

AM: A mixture of 7 or 8 different fruits, for example (in terms of amount) 1/4 apple each, 1/4 pear each, 1/2 plum each, 1/4 nectarine, a chunk of melon etc, mammal vitamins, D3 powder, 1 drop pediatric vitamins.

During the day: Insect distribution via feeder, acacia gum spread on branches or from gum feeders.

PM: Cooked pasta, dried Primate diet which can be soaked in orange juice to make it more palatable, small piece of cooked chicken or 1/4 boiled egg per animal or a few dried cat/dog biscuits. Tamarin cake is preferred by mine over the dried pelleted food, it contains all the vitamins and minerals but can be mixed with fruit juice, it makes a firm but soft paste that the Tams seem to love.

Before Bed: A marshmallow or small piece of biscuit.

As previously described, natural behaviour should be encouraged to ensure psychological soundness.

Illness

Unfortunately Tams are susceptible to many illness’ and viruses found in humans, including the common cold, the Herpes Simplex virus (virus that causes cold sores), Salmonella, E coli, Giardia, Tuberculosis (although rare), Measles; all of which can prove fatal to a Tamarin; they can also be affected by internal parasites. Be aware of any change in physical condition, or stool consistency. Ideally an annual health check should be carried out and stool samples taken and studied for bacteria that can affect both primate and human health. The list of illnesses is far too extensive to go into here, so one should be very cautious when dealing with these animals if you are ill!