Finished cage, blistered feet

Finally Georges cage is built. The guys finished up all the welding, painted in a non-corosive (non lead) paint, hung the double doors and fitted a weather proof sleeping box, as well as put a roof over the sleeping box and a shelf for George to sit on.

The sleeping box and the shelf actually have steel frames. Monkeys get very strong and I have built the cage to withstand a monkey tantrum.

I will buy the plants this weekend for the cage, making sure I don't buy plants that could be toxic if George eats them. I fully expect to have to replace them from time to time as George is a very destructive little monkey and no doubt he will strip the plants fairly quickly.

You can also see a small food hatch under the sleeping box. As George gets older, he will get more aggresive and I want a safe way for my staff to be able to give him food without having to enter the cage. It can be cleaned by hosing it down, or I will go in weekly to disinfect the cage floor.

So, why isn't George in the cage? Well, my Thai staff let him stay in the cage all day when I was not home last week. Unfortunately it wasnt ready for him with ropes, toys, plants and sleeping box. As a result, George spent a lot of time on the rough concrete and he wore away little blisters on his feet that are slow to heal.

He's a smart little guy. I clean them and put antiseptic on them twice a day. He knows exactly what I have to do, and will sit down and stick one foot out at a time to be taken care off. They are getting better slowly, but until the cage is ready with lots of things to do, he wont be allowed in there.
As much as I would have preferred grass on the bottom of his cage, I know that it would become very muddy, difficult to clean and unhygenic. George would also be dirty and wet all the time in the rainy season. Hopefully the natural trees compensate for concrete floor.

See how big he is getting. His feet are almost the same size as my hands...and his little teeth are getting bigger and sharper. We play together like you would with a puppy and he bites my ears and fingers and I know if he wanted he could break the skin (he did on my maid) so, I do have to be careful.

Cage Building - Day 3

Sombat brought over his trusty welding machine that looked like a relic from world war 1. Him and his brother then set about welding all the joins fully and then welding on the cyclone fencing that would keep George inside the cage.

All structural and wire should be complete tomorrow. Then we turn our attention to the sleeping box, double entry door and on the weekend I'll buy some plants to set inside the holes in the floor to keep George entertained.

Cage building - day 2

Today saw trusty Sombat turn up with a truck load of galvanized steel, a cutter and a tack welder and set about drilling some braces for the uprights, then measuring and cutting all the frame and tack welding it into place.

They dont use a spirit level, dont uses welders goggles and wear flip flops. But they get the job done.

Tomorrow they will come back with a bigger welder and seal all the joint properly. Then the day after that they will start on the cyclone fencing wire that will secure George in his new home.

Scorpion problems

Apart from the snakes that show up from time to time, the last thing you want to see is a Black Scorpion.

And thats just what showed up today as we built Georges new home. Unfortunately for my dog, he somehow got stung on the back. I didn't realise why, but he was dribbling from the mouth, had a large swelling on his back and was looking for my attention. I actually thought a snake had tagged him, but I found the scorpion in the garage where he was chained up.

Vet came over and said he had been stung for sure, and gave him 3 injections to help with the pain and vomitting. There is no antidote for scorpion sting, and while it wouldn't kill an adult or a nasty dog like "Fever", it must have hurt like hell.

I have lost my Bull Terrier "Tyson" and my Pitbull "Bella" to cobra bites when I lived in Southern Thailand. Feever has been bit twice by snakes, but the thing that nearly killed him was a Tik borne blood infection.

Building George his own house.

Today the local village guys turned up to start on George's outside cage. I have searched a lot online, but never really found much help on building a cage for a monkey, so I designed one based on what I think will work for both George, me and my staff.

These pictures are of the slab being carefull laid with wire reinforcement, with slope for drainage, drainage hole and the 44gallon drums will leave holes behind that I cant plant real trees into once the concrete dries a bit and I remove them.

It will end up being about 5m(15feet) x 3m(9feet) and 2.5m high. It will be mostly open space with natural trees planted inside the cage and about one quarter covered for when it rains and to house his sleeping box - which will also be able to be accessed and cleaned without entering his main cage.

It will have double door entry so I have to go inside a smaller cage and close the door before I go into the larger cage, just be on the safe side.

Small food hatches will make it easy for my staff to give him food, and a sloped concrete floor will make it easy to keep clean from the outside with a hose.

I am hoping that I will still have his respect as the Leader and be able to enter his cage as he gets older to play with him and clean him, but only time will tell.

He should feel pretty happy about his new cage. It will be under a lovely big fruit tree with fantastic views and some afternoon sun - as monkeys need sunlight every day to stay healthy. It's also close enough to the main house so that he will hear and see people and not feel too alone.

To think this little guy was almost Green Monkey Curry.

Yippee Kay Aye

One of the things I said I'd never do with George is put diapers on him and dress him in baby clothes. It's demeaning to the monkey and to be honest, its a bit sad for the people using a monkey as a replacement for a child.

However, one night I was at the local night market and there was a stall selling tiny cowboy hats. I have no idea why they sold them, but I bougtht one for George, just for fun.

Well, I put it on him and he kind of enjoyed wearing it around. Later that day some friends came around and George was wearing his little hat. Everyone was laughing at him and he got quite upset.

He tried to take the hat off and then burst out crying. I kid you not, he cried and hugged me and wouldn't look at anyone anymore.

Monkeys are quite emotional little creatures. It's not until you spend a lot of time with a monkey that you can read his mood, and just like a human, he has the full range of emotions.

He hasn't worn the hat since.

Don't buy a pet monkey...seriously.

One of the things I want to avoid with this Blog, is to give the impression that owning a monkey is all cuteness, fun and easy. It's hard work and someone must be with him 24 hours a day. You can't just leave him, even for a few hours. He will fret and panic, and he can become quite upset. I am very fortunate living in Thailand that I have staff that can take care of him when I do have to leave him alone.

I expect some people considering buying a monkey will stumble on to this Blog and see some of the cute pictures and ignore all the hard work. Cleaning the cage every 2 days, picking up monkey poop, having monkey pee on you (cant house train a monkey), cleaning up food from cage and a 20 foot radius of the cage, waking up early to feed him, buying fresh food every few days, getting bitten, putting up with his vocalisation and him throwing toys around and changing your dirty clothes 5 times a day.

If you are considering getting a monkey, think really, really hard. They live for 30 or 40 years and get VERY aggresive at about 2 years old. They should be in the wild or with other monkeys, and if I had the chance that's where George will be.

But I do want to document and share my experiences with George. He is truly an amazing creature. We sit together watching TV and he will groom my eyebrows and arms and I will grrom him in return...which is proper monkey ettiquete.

For all the monkey "experts", I know he shouldn't be drinking root beer, but he loves it, and he gets only a tiny rimfull.

I sometimes look back at his early pictures at that tiny litle, fragile monkey with the head that was too big for his body and am amazed he has grown so big and confident and wonder where he will be in 2 years with teeth that will hurt....even when he is playing.