Lately, lemurs have become increasingly popular among exotic pets. These animals are native to Madagascar and the Comoros Islands. These cute fluffy animals with big eyes will not leave anyone indifferent. We’ll talk about keeping a lemur at home in this article.
Lemurs do not require special conditions - an ordinary apartment is quite suitable for a long life with proper care. They grow small - the average lemur reaches the size of a cat. The most common pet species is the ring-tailed lemur. He is very beautiful and graceful - which is why he got his name. A distinctive feature of these good-natured animals is their large expressive eyes and a long tail, which in many ways replaces their hand. It is better to buy young lemurs - they get used to life in captivity more easily; an adult may have problems getting used to life in a cage; they are more aggressive.
Description and photo
A cute exotic representative of the animal world with large expressive eyes under the interesting name of the lemur came to us from the Comoros Islands, located in the northern part of the Mozambique Channel between Madagascar and Africa. He is a native of the infraorder Lemuridae, the order of primates, and the class of mammals.
Did you know? In ancient Greek mythology, lemurs were called night spirits. Subsequently, the inhabitants of Madagascar began to call this peculiar animal with unusual eyes, which, due to superstition, caused anxiety. The word "lemures" has Latin roots and means "ghost of the night."
Today, this species is most common in the forested areas of Madagascar, Africa, India and the Sunda Islands of Southeast Asia. The Lemuridae family includes representatives that are very diverse in appearance and weight, habits and lifestyle. The color varies in a variety of shades: from ash-gray to white and brownish-brown.
The peculiar frame of the eyes on the muzzle and the long fluffy tail of most of them are the distinctive features of these wet-nosed primates. In terms of weight, they can be very small (30 g) or reach large sizes (about 10 kg).
Important! Lemurs are very afraid of daylight, so they conduct their life activities at night. Depending on the specific species to which they belong, they announce their activity with eerie loud cries, reminiscent of the roar of a lion, or, on the contrary, they purr or remain silent.
Classification
The internal taxonomy of the taxon is as follows. The lemur-like infraorder includes six families:
- hand-footed;
- dwarf lemurs;
- Lepilemuraceae;
- lemurs;
- megaladapids (an extinct group of animals);
- indriaceae.
The lemur family, in turn, is divided into five genera:
- common lemurs (includes species such as crowned lemur, white lemur, mongoose lemur);
- gentle lemurs (which includes the golden lemur, the gentle lemur);
- lemur (ring-tailed lemur);
- prolemur (includes the broad-nosed lemur);
- ruffed lemurs (including species such as ruffed lemur and rufous ruffed lemur);
- pachylemur (extinct).
Lemur with his child
Features of life in nature
These creatures spend most of their lives in motion: they jump from branch to branch, thus covering a long distance. The long tail, which sometimes exceeds the length of the entire body, acts as a kind of means of balance and coordination when moving.
Most species of lemurs live in packs with a certain hierarchy. They communicate with each other using sounds reminiscent of purring or grunting, and sometimes even a piercing scream.
Did you know? Almost all species of these primates have a matriarchy. The female has food advantages and chooses the male during the mating season.
In their natural habitat, where wild representatives live, the vast majority of lemurs are active only at night, sleeping during the day in the darkest corners of the forest, taking strange poses (clinging with their paws to a branch and wrapping their tail around their head; sometimes they sleep in pairs, forming a ball of fur) . They feed on fruits, grass, leaves, flowers, insects, and practically do not need water.
Today, these interesting animals thrive in zoos because they are very friendly and only show aggression in cases of great stress.
About how they saved the kukang Mishutka
- Published in Health
- Author Natalya Sakh
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In the summer of 2013 we bought a baby, according to the documents we were 7 months old. Bought in the city of Anapa. We bought it as a girl. First he was Martisha, then he became Misha. We bought a loris from an ad on Avito.
The baby was biting and there was no way to pick him up. Upon arrival home, I noticed a wound on my elbow and a pimple on my chin. The wound on my elbow began to grow rapidly. We live near the city of Taganrog and there are not many decent doctors in the city, but we were lucky, we found our only and favorite doctor. I won’t say how many doctors we visited and what we heard. We had a fungus and staphylococcus on our paw, we treated it with ordermil ointment and took the antibiotic ofloxacin. Our doctor treated him in consultation with the veterinarian Timerin.
Lemur at home: pros and cons
Among the representatives of this species of animals, the most popular lemurs that take root at home are the following species: black, red-bellied, Mongots, ring-tailed lemur, loris.
There are nuances in caring for each of them, but in general they are very easy to care for, so they won’t cause you much trouble, but you are guaranteed a good mood and the affection of a new friend. The smallest lemur that can be kept at home is the loris lemur.
Did you know? The sworn enemies of these representatives of the animal world are fossas - predatory mammals from the cat family that live only in Madagascar.
The advantages of keeping this amazing animal in the house:
- calm;
- non-aggressive (if you don’t show anger towards him);
- careful;
- easily adaptable;
- attached to the owners;
- does not break or throw things around.
But, just like a coin has two sides, in this case, in addition to the advantages, there are some disadvantages:
- inability to toilet train;
- touchy;
- uncontrollable against his will.
Flaws
The ring-tailed lemur is a wild animal and does not know how to clean up after itself. It will not be possible to train a lemur to recover like a cat in one specific place. The cage should be cleaned daily, and the cage should be wet and replaced with bedding at least once a month.
Animals in captivity can live up to 30 years, which is a long enough period to think about the advisability of purchasing such a pet. Lemurs know how to take offense; it is impossible to teach them anything against their will. They become attached to their owners and require attention and affection. They get bored and worried when they are absent for a long time.
Conditions of detention
A tamed wild animal requires special conditions for normal development and growth, one of which is a climate appropriate to its natural habitat, as well as reliable and quiet housing.
At home, it is now increasingly common to keep exotic animals rather than cats and dogs: raccoon, crocodile, chamaleon, iguana, leopard gecko, squirrels, jerboas, mini-pigs, snails.
Climate in the apartment
Since the ancestors of this animal come from hot countries, the lemur is a heat-loving animal that is very easy to catch a cold. He is very afraid of drafts, cold, sudden changes in temperature and air humidity levels.
Lemur cage
A small enclosure or a large vertical cage with metal or wooden rods is ideal as a habitat for a lemur. In any case, the size of the housing is adjusted to the size of the animal. This is a very active and freedom-loving animal that needs a lot of space. There should not be any indoor plants near the cage, otherwise your friend may reach out to them and try them out of curiosity, and this can lead not only to a deterioration in the condition of the plant, but also to poisoning of the animal. Wires and ropes nearby also need to be removed, because this animal is very inquisitive, and the cage must be locked.
The bottom is covered with soft natural cotton wool or dried hay; the cage must also have some kind of shelter and tree branches, because the lemur is a nocturnal arboreal animal. A small wooden house, suspended on top of the cage, will become a good shelter at night, where he can climb using special “branches”, poles or crossbars, built separately and attached to the housing.
Important! An arboreal animal will leave marks on the wooden parts of its habitat; it is not recommended to wash them off: the animal may become frightened and experience stress.
Dishes for food and water should be made of ceramics, glass or porcelain.
Acquisition
An adult ring-tailed lemur taken from the wild will not be able to adapt to captivity and will simply die. In addition to the stress from the death of an animal, you can also get some kind of disease.
When purchasing an animal, you should make sure of its legal origin. There must be documents confirming the birth of the lemur in captivity, and veterinary certificates about its health. Otherwise, you can run into smuggled “goods” with all the ensuing consequences.
According to scientists, there are not many of these funny animals left in the wild - up to 100,000 individuals. The most terrible enemy of lemurs besides birds of prey is man. Its activities are destroying the habitat of these animals, and poachers, chasing profit, are only making the situation worse.
Diet of the animal
As we have already found out, these are nocturnal animals, and they begin their wakefulness in the late afternoon (this can be 8-9 hours), they need to be fed at this time. Now let's look in more detail at the question of what the lemur eats. Most of these animals are fed with soaked white bread, boiled rice, wheat porridge, milk, boiled eggs, fruits, and vegetables.
Some of the lemurs are carnivores (they need to be fed boiled meat and insects). If the animal refuses to eat, you can slightly deceive it - anoint the product with honey or sprinkle it with pollen or powdered sugar.
Important! It is not worth forcing animals to eat better during the day. Lemurs cannot be trained and do everything of their own free will.
Interesting Facts
Lemurs are amazing creatures that lead a rather secretive lifestyle. Scientists around the world still cannot solve some of the mysteries associated with animals and compose the full life cycle of unusual animals.
Interesting Facts:
- Lemurs, like monkeys, often groom each other's fur. During mating games, cleaning the fur from debris and parasites is a very important element, without which the female can refuse the male.
- Local residents of Madagascar have a superstitious fear of the little arm. On the islands it is believed that a person who kills a little arm will die within a year.
- Researchers do not know what the name of the arm is pronounced in the local dialect. Residents of the islands are afraid to say the name of the lemur out loud, as they are afraid of attracting trouble.
- The songs of a mating couple can be heard at a distance of two kilometers.
- The vocal range of lemurs includes about 15 different sounds.
- Before a fight, males smear their tails with scent glands to scare away the enemy.
Possible diseases
Diseases that can affect lemurs include the following:
- allergic reactions to food or poisoning (you need to carefully monitor what they eat, you should not give them table scraps, and also check the food for freshness and safety);
- acute respiratory diseases;
- periodontal disease (the condition of the oral cavity in an adult may worsen; if necessary, you will even have to brush his teeth).
Just what the doctor ordered
- Published in Health
- Author Vladimir
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The search for an intelligent veterinarian with experience in treating loris led me to Ilya Timerin. And the reason for calling a doctor to the house was Amma’s general weakness, sedentary lifestyle and longer sleep than her companion Martin. The second problem is an oval-shaped bald area in the abdomen.
Amma is a slow loris. Age – approximately 4.5 months. Weight – 400 grams. She moved in with us on July 13, 2014, and had lived with us for one week at the time of her visit to the doctor.
Ilya performed an external examination, listened, palpated the tummy, examined the stool, looked into the eyes and mouth. In general, the doctor was pleased with his state of health, and was especially pleased with his beautiful snow-white teeth and clear eyes. Ilya expressed confidence that his tummy would soon be overgrown with the same thick, beautiful fur that was already present on his entire body. The reason for the formation of baldness and general weakness was most likely the poor keeping in cramped conditions by the previous owner (a Thai septic tank). Based on all of the above, comprehensive treatment was prescribed and appropriate medications were prescribed.
Since the health problems we have with loris are quite typical, I decided to publish the treatment regimen proposed by Dr. Timerin. Perhaps this will be useful to someone:
Nutrition
The diet of lemurs is based on plant foods. Preferences vary among species. Tree-dwelling primates feed on ripe fruits, young shoots, inflorescences, seeds, and leaves. Even tree bark becomes food for large individuals.
In food, Madagascar bats prefer the milk of coconut nuts and mangoes; the golden lemur feasts on bamboo stems; the ring-tailed lemur likes Indian dates. Small-sized individuals feed on the larvae of various insects, plant resins, nectar and pollen of flowers.
In addition to plant food, the lemur can eat beetles, butterflies, spiders, and cockroaches. The mouse lemur eats frogs, insects, and chameleons. Examples of eating small birds and eggs from nests are described. The animal lemur indri sometimes eats soil to neutralize poisons from plants.
The ways of eating are reminiscent of people, so watching a primate in a zoo or a domestic lemur is always interesting. The diet of tame animals can be changed, but owners need to take into account the animal's eating habits.
