Living With a Young Lemur – by
Courtney Pineda
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We adopted our Oliver at 4 months of age and he is a very inquisitive and playful
creature! He wants to know everything you are
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doing and has to be in the
middle of it, or at least watching you, as if to make sure you are “doing it right.” He is an
absolute joy to have around the house.
He is always doing something comical or giving us kisses and purring. Once he
bonded to us he would not leave our side. He runs from room to room with me: yes, even when I take
a shower he will hang on the shower rod. Oliver will try to “taste” my makeup when putting it on.
My favorite part is when he curls up and watches TV with me at night or takes a nap in the middle
of the day in my lap. If he can not find me he will "Call" for me and wait for me to respond. They
do learn their names. Because of their playfulness it is wise to play with them with toys instead
of your hands so they do not learn to bite you.
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If you are eating
something, he wants a piece of it so it is very important to establish manners when they are
young. They can eat your food “if” you give it to them and not from your plate. If they don’t
follow the rules, place them in their cage during dinner times. They will steal food from you,
if you allow it. I think this is a way to get your attention and a reaction from you which they
love! Oliver is very well mannered and waits until I hand him food. His favorite treat is
marshmallows or
Gummy Bears. He will come to you from anywhere for one of
those. This is Oliver and my husband sharing a piece of bread with caramel on
it.
Lemurs are very intelligent and agile animals and usually do not
knock things over, destroy things, or hurt themselves but there are a few precautions; ceiling
fans are a huge NO, NO when your lemur is loose in the room as they can misjudge a jump and
land in the middle of the fan blades. I know of a lemur that was injured from this very
incident! Also, they can excite very easily at loud sudden noises so you need to take caution
when cooking in the kitchen and choose the times you are going to let them
loose.
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When it's time to catch
them and place them back in their cage make sure you have "time" to do this as our Oliver knows
when I "want him" verses to just "love on him" and he sometimes makes it
difficult to catch him. Don't chase them as
this can lead to broken
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things in the house, a
scared lemur, and future behavioral problems with catching. Use treats to lour them into the
cage or place a favorite food in the cage and walk away and then slowly close the cage door
once they enter and start eating. Leave the cage door open so they can enter and leave as they
wish when it's play time. You can also use treats to bring them in for loving and then gently
capture them.
Unfortunately lemurs do not “potty train” so when they are out of
their cage they need to wear a diaper or be in a room where you don’t mind cleaning up any
messes. Our young lemur wears Pampers Swaddlers P-XS and has graduated to the Pampers Small.
The best place we have found these are online at diapers.com.
We figured out that the more fruit we feed them the softer their
stool is so a good rule is to feed them only a few pieces of fruit in the morning for their
breakfast and the rest in the evening when they are in their cage for the night and will not be
wearing a diaper. I don’t recommend diapers at night so they can groom themselves and remain
fresh. By using these techniques we have gone from 3 to 4 diapers daily to 2 to 3 a day but
this is with our Ollie being out of the cage and with us all day.
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Ollie Taking a Nap
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Also by
trial and error we have discovered that by making a V shaped incision horizontally verses
vertical in the diaper for the tail leads to less chances of leakage if they do have a soft
movement. It’s also harder to make a mistake and make the cut too large which creates
leakage.
There are definitely more good things than bad when living with
these guys. You must have patience and an understanding of their personalities before
purchasing one. If you have the time and space they are well worth it and we wouldn't trade our
Oliver for anything. He is very good with the kids, guests, and other animals. People just coo
over him when we take him to family outings and public places, on a leash of course. He gives
kisses to the kids and lets them cradle him in his blanket. He has a "security blanket" that he
hides in when holding him if he is nervous so he isn't climbing all over your
head.
A perfect
example of his loving personality is with my step mom. She likes animals but is not an
"animal lover." She came down and visited us for a few weeks and absolutely fell in love
with Oliver. She wanted to take him home. He would sit in her lap and share crackers with
her and lay back in her arms and drink his treat from a bottle.
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I have recently started mixing baby cereal with mango juice and putting it in
a bottle with a large enough hole for it to come out and Oliver is like putty in your hands
when you give it to him. He just lays there and chews on the nipple and half closes his eyes
like he in heaven.
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Janice at Castleberry Safari
Ltd did an extremely good job taming and adapting him for
our home. She has also been a huge help when ever I have had any questions about him after he came
home. We send her pictures regularly so she can see how much we love him and how well he has fit
into our home.
These pictures are a few of the pics of Oliver growing up in our
home. We have built him a large outdoor cage so this Spring of '09 he can spend the majority of his
time outside with Squeekers, our coatimundi, and come indoors for visits. I am still not sure how I
am going to part with him being in the house with me most of the time but he is going to have
swings, ropes, and perches to play on in his future home outdoors. We built it right in our
backyard by the house so we can see him from the window and visit with him by just stepping out the
back door a few steps. He loves the outdoors and likes to lean back on perches and bask in the
sun.
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Janice at Castleberry Safari
Ltd
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| New Book Just Released: Recommended Reading for
those who have or are wanting to purchase a lemur. |
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I LOVE the book Rocky! It's
short, to the point, great humor, and very informative. It made me laugh and
remember when my critters were little. I also learned a few ways to improve
the health and care of my animals here at home from your book. You can talk
and take notes but it so much easier to understand when you read it all
together and in order. I know this book will help other people starting out
in the industry to make wise and informative
decisions.
Courtney X
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Click here to learn
more.
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