Future Kinkajou Owner

[Nicholasdeaan]

So I'm getting a kinkajou in about a week and a half. I'm very excited and curious. My girlfriend and I have been researching for months and months now. Just haven't found one we can afford. We came upon one for 900$ and so I thought I would jump on it. Anyone here have any experience with these guys? I'm getting a female by the way. Any tips and advice is GREATLY appreciated. I know they don't do well with rehoming but I can handle that part. Who all here has one?

 

[MissLissa]

This may come across as a bit "Debbbie Downer", but...

If you can't afford the initial animal, I would be concerned about your ability to maintain a kinkajou properly. They are extremely expensive to keep: they require a huge amount of a variety of fresh fruit daily. A 7.5lb kinkajou can eat a pound of fruit a day (90% of their wild diet is ripe fruit), and it's not just apples and oranges: papaya, pomegranate, mango, berries, etc are preferred foods and those are not cheap. If you are spending $5-7 a day on fruit (or even more in the winter), that easily means $150-$200 a month in fruit alone, not including the Mazuri (or similar) chow and supplements (bee pollen, calcium, multivitamin, etc). They also require vaccinations, very regular fecals (see below for why) and other yearly veterinary care. Finding a kinkajou-experienced vet is also difficult; more difficult than a chameleon vet, even. Toys and perches are chewed and destroyed by their big canine teeth and will likely need to be replaced monthly or semi-monthly. They are hyper-active at night and require a gigantic average-livingroom-sized cage made of materials strong enough to resist those teeth. These are not inexpensive pets!

I've worked with them in a zoological setting, and I would not call them "good pets". They are almost always fairly aggressive once they reach sexual maturity. They are also hard-core nocturnal, and keeping them up during the day leads to an interrupted sleep cycle, increased stress, behaviour issues, etc. Their dietary needs are also very hard to meet. Most die prematurely in captivity due to nutrition issues like obesity, MBD, kidney/liver issues, etc, which is pretty sad since Kinkajous can reach over two decades in age. Baylisascaris infection is also an issue: this parasite is zoonotic and can cause serious neurological issues in humans. Baylisascaris can also infect other animals, like dogs. They should have very regular fecal checks, as this parasite is not shed constantly but irregularly: meaning one check in one year does not automatically clear the kinkajou of having the infection. Kinkajous also carry a unique bacterium, Kingella potus, which is passed to people usually via bites (and if you have a kinkajou, you are going to get bitten at some point) and can make you extremely ill: high fever, urinating blood, vomiting, etc, and could lead to death without proper treatment. Getting proper treatment can be difficult, since most emergency room doctors are not going to think "kinkajou bite" if you come in with those symptoms. Kinkajous have large canines and can inflict a very serious bite, similar to a medium sized dog, but even a small bite can lead to a serious infection. Regular fecals and personal protection equipment are critical (gloves, mask, hand washing), similar to when handling raccoons.

We used positive reinforcement training to train stationing, shifting, targeting etc to some parent-raised kinkajous, and that worked well, but we had to work late at night to accommodate their circadian rhythm. They have short attention spans and become bored very quickly. However they do not have great recall and it takes several sessions to get the point across: they are rather like if you crossed a small parrot with a cat and then tried to train the resultant creature. Not easy. They are also extremely active at night, almost hyperactive. We kept them in 12'x15'x15' enclosures, which I would consider the minimum size for keeping kinkajous in captivity.

Honestly, the human-raised ones I've worked with were basically the worst. Human-raising of any animal is ill-advised at best. Puppies raised in isolation of other dogs show an increased chance of behaviour issues, and I do not see that being significantly different with kinkajous. It's very likely that a human-raised mammal will improperly imprint on humans, leading to unwanted behaviours: possessiveness (mate guarding), aggression (territory or resource guarding), etc. The human-raised kinkajous were much harder to train as not only did we have to train the original goal behaviour but also deal with the problem behaviours as they cropped up- and crop up they did. Eventually we got them stationing and targeting and kenneling like their less human-habituated kin but it was much more difficult.

I liked working with them, and they are painfully adorable, but I am very convinced that they would make pretty awful pets between their endemic zoonotic diseases, border-line ridiculous housing needs, difficult diet, long lifespan (baring nutritional issues), the likelihood of getting bitten, difficulty of getting quality veterinary care, difficulty in rehoming if you should happen to have a major life change in the next few decades (which absolutely happens), etc.

 

[Lathis]

All very good thoughts. It's so important to understand all the sides of owning an exotic - both the good and the bad. I knew a lady who had to get rid of her kinkajou due to really aggressive protective behavior - she started becoming violently angry at anyone who came near her keeper after years of being mellow and "tame". She ended up somewhere at a exotic "zoo" and I always hoped that she adjusted to her new home okay and they are giving her what she needs. The cuteness of these guys is such a weakness - they absolutely should be treated somewhere between a hyper puppy, a parrot, and a toddler. They can also be VERY messy and the potty training thing sometimes just doesn't catch on...

OP - if you do decide to go through with getting her, please give her the care and attention she needs. Finding new homes for these guys is very, very difficult and they are a high maintenance animal - in terms of time, effort, and emotional. Good luck to you both.

 

[Nicholasdeaan]

I can afford it, just being I can't dump 2500-3000$ out at a time. A couple hundred? Sure. See what I'm getting at? I grew up in the u.p. (Upper Peninsula of Michigan.) Doing so, I've been around many of dangerous animals. Deer farms(yes they're dangerous), cows, foxes, hogs, cattle, Belgium Draft Horses...a lot! And etc. The danger part I have no concern of. You can get just as sick from a squirel or dog bite if they're infectious, just saying. Not to sound cocky or rude! I appreciate your consideration and concern. She will be getting a vet trip after about a month or two, when ever it be she settles down here. I am actually in the middle of building her a 4x4x7 cage for her to sleep in. She's going to be getting plenty of attention, care, and time out of her cage. As for premature deaths, I believe it. That's all on the owners parts of not being responsible and having a well rounded knowledge base of them. We have friends that have 2 or 3 Kinkajous, and they love them. They run they're own animal show and have the kinkajous in them. They'll be willing to help along the way.

 

[Lathis]

Sounds like you have a handle on it then! Be sure to post pictures of your new little lady when she arrives. They are seriously cute.

 

[Nicholasdeaan]

Sounds like you have a handle on it then! Be sure to post pictures of your new little lady when she arrives. They are seriously cute.

I certainly will!!!