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Blue monkey, orDiademed monkey(Cercopithecus mitis)
Phylum —chordata
Class — mammalia
Order — primates
Family — cercopithecidae
Genus –cercopithecus
Appearance
Despite its name, the Blue monkey is not noticeably blue; it has little hair on its face, and this does sometimes give a blue appearance, but it never has the vivid blue appearance of a mandrill, for example. It is mainly olive or grey apart from the face (which is dark with a pale or yellowish patch on the forehead - the "diadem" from which the species derives its common name), the blackish cap, feet, and front legs, and the mantle, which is brown, olive, or grey depending on the subspecies.
Typical sizes range from 50 to 65 cm in length, (not including the tail, which is almost as long as the rest of the animal), with females weighing a little over 4 kg and males up to 8 kg.
Habitat
The Blue monkeys have a rather large natural range, covering central, eastern, and southern Africa as well as the Congo basin.
Behavior
Blue monkeys are diurnal animals that are active during the daytime hours. They are highly social creatures, forming groups of 10 - 40 individuals. This is a female-dominated society, consisting of a single male and multiple females with their young. This kind of social structure prevents interbreeding within the group. When reaching maturity, females continue living with their natal groups, whereas males have to leave in order to join another group. However, sometimes it takes too long for them to find a group, hence some of these males may live solitarily. Blue monkeys are arboreal animals, living in trees. Group members spend a lot of their active time playing and grooming. These primates are known to be highly territorial. If an individual wants to join a given group, it has to challenge and overcome the dominant male of the group.
Diet
These omnivorous monkeys feed mainly on fruit and insects, but also take flowers, young leaves, and invertebrates.
Reproduction
Blue monkeys are generally polygynous, which means that one male mates with numerous females. However, this species also exhibits polygynandrous (promiscuous) mating system, where individuals of both sexes have multiple mates. Although they breed year-round, females yield offspring every two years. A single infant is born after a gestation of 5 months. Babies are usually born with intervals of a few days. Newborn young live in groups of up to 40 individuals, where females care for each other's young. Weaning occurs at 6 months old and the age of sexual maturity is 3 years old.
Maximum lifespan in the wild is 20 years; it is about 30 years in captivity.
In captivity
Monkeys are very smart and sociable creatures, they have a lot in common with humans, but in no case should such a pet be allowed to walk around the house or apartment without human supervision. He is interested in everything, wants to touch everything and even see what is inside, so he breaks everything that comes to hand.
First of all, it is necessary to provide a fairly spacious and strong cage for the monkey, which is recommended to be made of strong wood, the front wall is usually made of metal rods. Connections bolts or screws are not allowed.
Suitable cell size 2x1, 5x1, 5 m. Monkeys usually lead a very active lifestyle, so the cage should have different devices for climbing. Most often, a trapeze is installed for monkeys, which is a wooden shelf attached with strong ropes or chains. You can install a pole with a movable wheel or hang a large ring made of metal or ebony from the ceiling. The best entertainment for your pet will be a mirror that is well nailed or glued, the frame for it must be made of solid wood. The mirror must be fixed motionless, otherwise a curious monkey can break it, and then swallow the fragments.
A monkey is not a very clean animal. Therefore, the bottom of the cage should be covered with a layer of dry sawdust, preferably spruce. For feeding monkeys, feeders are usually used, water is given in drinkers. These devices should not be kept in the cage all the time.
For keeping monkeys, in addition to cages, sometimes use aviaries or keep them in poles. This device is a pole where there is a horizontal platform used for walking and feeding the animal, as well as a place to sleep. This is probably the most cruel keeping of an animal, because in this case the monkey must always be on a leash. We recommend not to torment your pet, but still provide it with a good home. For example, aviaries are much more suitable for keeping monkeys. They are much more spacious than cells and they can have conditions that are closest to nature. To do this, the keeper should have the aviary with tree branches or plant various types of vegetation.
Periodically, your pet should be walked. To do this, they need to wear a belt with a leash. It can be made from a soft but strong leather belt that will wrap around the animal's body slightly below the shoulders. It is necessary to train the monkey to this belt since the very childhood and not to remove it even in the apartment.
Feed the monkeys twice a day, sometimes you can give them various fruits as rewards, but do not overuse this. Monkeys, like all primates, eat mainly plant food, preferring plant shoots, fruits, flowers and nuts. In addition to plant food, you can add small insects, worms, sometimes even shellfish and crabs. It is recommended to give them boiled rice with milk and a white bun soaked in milk, and you should also add fruit; some favor boiled potatoes and vegetables in general (tomatoes, carrots, cabbage, beets, boiled corn). For almost all monkeys, watermelon is a treat. Very quickly, monkeys get used to various exotic fruits, and if you give them often, they completely refuse other food, so bananas and oranges are recommended to be given quite rarely. Onions (contain vitamin C) are very useful for monkeys, but since it is very corrosive to the eyes, they make interesting grimaces before using it. Sometimes they should be given cereal and legume seeds.
The amount of feed is important. Monkeys are very fond of eating, often overeating. If the stomach is already full, they will fill the cheek bags, and if there is anything left, they will hide it in the most unpredictable places, and if there is no place to keep food it can be scattered in a cage or in an apartment.
