# Meerkats.....



## Saff (Jun 9, 2007)

i know ive asked about them before but i might be able to get one if i do soem thing for my mum.......hehe!:mf_dribble:
my local rep shop (capricorn conections) has 3 hand raised baby meerkats and a aduilt pair!sooooooo cute!!
so i have a few Q's....:
is it best to keep them inside when they are young (to get them to bond) or move them streaght outside?
whats the best bedding?
what are good toys?
do they need heating?
do males smell if not nutered?
what do they like to eat other than bugs and fruit?
thanks again,
Saffy


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## Saff (Jun 9, 2007)

bumpaty bump!:up::up::up:


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## BarryScott (Jan 11, 2008)

You'll need a family group - with an alpha pair plus family. The dig a lot - through wooden flooring, skirting, walls etc.

You can feed them pinkies and fluffs too if you have some around.


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## Zak (Jan 7, 2008)

Saff said:


> but i might be able to get one if i do soem thing for my mum.......hehe!:mf_dribble:


As has been said one isnt any good. They're pack animals and need a hierarchy and social structure. 

They're best housed outside but still with plenty of heating in a secure area where they can dig and still remain safe/not escape.

They're a serious consideration, id recommend if your not prepared to first read up on such basics that you've asked then your not ready for them.


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## Saff (Jun 9, 2007)

i know alot about them already (ive been reading lots of care sheets)
thats why i just wanted to know the thing i asked you cos none of the care sheets i have read had that info on.......
so could someone please answer the Q's i posted earlyer it would realy help!
thanks 
Saffy


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## Saff (Jun 9, 2007)

bump!:up::up:
please i realy need to know......
thankies,
Saffy


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## TSKA Rory Matier (May 27, 2007)

Saff said:


> i know ive asked about them before but i might be able to get one if i do soem thing for my mum.......hehe!:mf_dribble:
> my local rep shop (capricorn conections) has 3 hand raised baby meerkats and a aduilt pair!sooooooo cute!!
> so i have a few Q's....:
> is it best to keep them inside when they are young (to get them to bond) or move them streaght outside?
> ...


Saffy, 

I have to say this, but l do not think you are researching thoroughly enough tbh. On the highlighted line alone 'bugs and stuff', there are ample threads in this forum alone about the care of Meerkats - look them up in the search buttons.

There are ample websites out there that have the information you seek from both the US and the UK.

TSKA-Rainbow Care Guides -- "Quest For Knowledge"

Just so you can see there are information sites out there, look at this:

Most the questions you ask are simplistic.

Regards Rory


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## TSKA Rory Matier (May 27, 2007)

Google search:

Neutered Meerkats:

Result:

neutered meerkats - Google Search

Conclusion:

MEERKATS


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## Saff (Jun 9, 2007)

i have already read them care sheets.......thats why i just wanted to know the things i asked because none of the care sheets i have seen have that info in.
can someone please answer the Q's i posted??
Thanks,
Saffy


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## Emmaj (Dec 3, 2007)

is it best to keep them inside when they are young (to get them to bond) or move them streaght outside?
whats the best bedding? says on that care sheet shavings
what are good toys?
do they need heating? they need a secure heated nest box to retreat to at night should be heated to 82 F
do males smell if not nutered? dosnt say
what do they like to eat other than bugs and fruit? any insect , arachnids, small mammals and chicks, leaves and fruit read that care sheet and find out the fruits and also read it for all the insects too such as crickets locust and such 
thanks again,


Not being funny or anything but i dont think your ready for these as pets either im not the slightest bit interested in owning them as pets and managed to answer nearly all of your questions by reading the care sheet..........i think maybe you should get a pair of rats instead: victory:

sorry if it sounded harsh that but its true


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## TSKA Rory Matier (May 27, 2007)

Saff said:


> i have already read them care sheets.......thats why i just wanted to know the things i asked because none of the care sheets i have seen have that info in.
> can someone please answer the Q's i posted??
> Thanks,
> Saffy


Saff

Your Questions:

Is it best to keep them inside when they are young (to get them to bond) 
or move them straight outside?

It will all depend upon where you plan to keep them eventually? If you are going to keep them outside, are you going to still maintain the interaction with them? For to gain their bond, then you must continue to interact with them. Are they going to be breeding for you? Or are you looking at a same sex pair?


Whats the best bedding?

Again it will reflect where you are going to be keeping them, a bedding for outside will be different to the bedding if kept indoors.


What are good toys?

Toys? Well if you mean furnishing them with environmental stimulation, then again are they going to be outside or indoors? Toys might not be the right word for it.


Do they need heating?

Heating, well again whether they are outside or inside will provide the answer. Outside if the nesting is ample then no, imho they will not need heating,especially if aclimatised, if they are inside they could well be under the houses' comfortable heating - ie central heating. In a basic answer omo no, heating is not an absolute but it comes down to each individual keeper.


Do males smell if not nutered?

Not particularly, male meerkats do not smell that much to begin with in my opinion.


What do they like to eat other than bugs and fruit?

http://www.meerkats.net/info.htm

The diet will vary from keeper to keeper and from meerkat to meerkat

The meerkats we keep are used to a full diet range from fruit and vegetables to pasta. But they also enjoy yoghurt, cottage cheese, eggs boiled/scrambled] pasta, fruit, veg, mealworms, crickets and locusts. We basically try to give them a broad spectrum diet, the other night they had sardine, which they relished.


Meerkats l have kept in the past never ate chicks, or rats, but stuck purely to a diet consisting of fruit/veg/invertebrates.

Other meerkats l know survived in collections solely on a little fruit/veg with the main bulk of their diet being chicks, rats and mice.


http://www.meerkats.net/info.htm#Meerkat%20cuisine
Most of the Meerkats food is found underground and their specially adapted bodies are perfect for this. Their front claws are curved and act as shovels. They often have to dig their own body weight in dirt just to get a small insect. Foraging for a Meerkat means digging here and there and occasionally finding a tasty morsel on the surface then moving forward with the gang on the endless search for food. A typical Meerkats diet consists of worms, crickets, grasshoppers, small rodents, lizards, small snakes, birds, eggs, fruit, and ant larvae (which they especially love). Insects are a particularly good source of nutrition for the Meerkats because they reproduce rapidly and supply an almost constant food source. I have even had the rare chance to see a Meerkat find a Kalahari truffle which is rare and very expensive in stores. He seemed to enjoy it immensely. Meerkats also love to eat poisonous scorpions which are plentiful. They do this by quickly biting off their stingers and then consuming the rest. Meerkats appear to be resistant to many deadly venom's which greatly increases the variety of their diet. A Meerkat will often drag any poisonous prey such as a scorpion or millipede across the sand before eating it. They do this to remove the chemical defenses of their soon to be meal. They will make use of a water source if one is nearby but Meerkats have developed the ability to get all their liquid requirements from their diet. In the summer, the Meerkats must work harder to get their food because the insects have burrowed deeper in the sand in order to be closer to moisture. The rain brings the insects back to the surface, which means feast to the Meerkat.

Hope this helps

R


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## brittone05 (Sep 29, 2006)

SAff - I apologise in advance as I know this post will sound rather harsh 

You are NOT ready to own meerkats - simple answer really. You know nothing of thier basic needs despite stating you have "researched them" and "read care sheets". the things you want to know are outlines as basic care in nearly every meerkat care sheet available.

You are being told by experienced exotics handlers and animal keepers that you are not ready yet you genuinely beleive you could give "ONE" meerkat a good home!

Sorry but I don't beleive that is the case. You know nothing of the social infrastructure they require, of their needs for indoor or outdoor housing, thier heat, food, mental stimulation - basically everything you have asked about has been things you should know on a basic level without having to ask BEFORE you get a group.

I really, really hope you seriously reconsider your choice of animal. Yes, it is "cool" and really good fun working with animals such as meerkats and skunks and the like but it is in no way something ot be taken lightly just because your mum has caved in and said you can have 1 of any species.

Again, I apologise if that offends you but the nicely nicely approach other people have taken doesn't appear to have worked


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## TSKA Rory Matier (May 27, 2007)

Saff, 

Brittone05 and Emmaj may appear to be harsh, but they are no different to Zak or in reality myself, you are not right for these animals.

You want the information handed to you on a silver platter, and that is not what the ownership of any species is about - you must research your chosen species.

If you are after 'really hard answers' then fine, come to the aid of a forum, but the information you seek - is out there already in plentiful supply from zoos, game parks, reference libraries and private keepers in the way of websites, guides and articles.

You are not ready to own them. And it should not be about the ownership of one animal, it should be about allowing that animal interaction from their own kind, you as a human, are just a side dish in terms of companionship, you can never make for the main course of likewise friendship.

But you are failing to recognise this at any level, you are insistant upon being told what you need to do. Exotic keepers do not need to be specifically directed by others, they direct themselves with their passions and enthusiasm for species, they can learn from others, but to begin with they teach themselves and then gain and learn from experience.

R


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## pecks (Dec 29, 2007)

I had a pair of meerkats for 7 years. Both hand reared (BY ME). In that 7 years me and my partner had 1 evening away togeather!!!! They will be with you 24/7. No good trying to find a sitter, anyone not part of their mob will be bitten. They are super intelligent, need enclosoures not cages and lots of stimulation!!! They will dig at everything and anything. I am not saying dont keep them but they are one of the MOST demanding and most intelligent creatures i have owned. Give it some thought! Want to know more then pm me )


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## Nerys (Apr 18, 2005)

got to chuckle a little..

after all this, and after all the questions.. and anwsers being handed to Saff on a plate..

the day AFTER this was all posted.. what do we get??

Meerkats! - Livefood UK Forum



> name='Saff'
> 
> date='Jan 25 2008, 08:07 PM'
> 
> ...


i mean FFS Saff... did you not read ANY of what people here have spent their time and effort writing out and sending you?

are you not capable of ANY of your own research or did you want it just handed out on a plate????

N


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## SiUK (Feb 15, 2007)

it could be worse he could just go to the shop and buy them, at leasts hes asking questions which is more than some people would


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## Nerys (Apr 18, 2005)

yeah, trouble is Si that despite being given the answers time and time again, he is NOT listening to them!

whats the point of asking, if you cannot be arsed to learn?

N


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## SiUK (Feb 15, 2007)

sadly that does seem to be a reacurring problem on this site.


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## Nerys (Apr 18, 2005)

*chuckles*

now that did make me smile Si!

and my GOD what an understatement!

somedays i read the boards and think..










N


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## Issa (Oct 13, 2006)

Perhaps they are canvassing for different opinions (just hasn't occured to them that 2 major uk forums may have a few overlapping members lol), I often cross post any questions I ask here onto another american forum I lurk on. I've found quite often that some of the advice I get from across the pond differs from what gets said over here.


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## SiUK (Feb 15, 2007)

Nerys said:


> *chuckles*
> 
> now that did make me smile Si!
> 
> ...


:lol2::lol2:


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## Saff (Jun 9, 2007)

sorry but today i have been talking to someone who owns 2 meerkats and she has given me lots of advice!and i have been researching every day!i have just been in with 3 hand raised baby meerkats at the local rep shop and been asking Qs!!
oh and i am a she!!!
Saff


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## Emmaj (Dec 3, 2007)

Nerys said:


> *chuckles*
> 
> now that did make me smile Si!
> 
> ...


 
:lol2: that did make me laff


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## Zak (Jan 7, 2008)

The thing is you can ask as many questions as you like, i could learn everything there is to know about lions or gibbons but it doesnt mean i can provide the care they need. I could not provide the space, the money to care for them or the time.

And a note on pet shop owners, most are well meaning knowledgable people who want the best but in the end they have to sell the animals to put food on their table. They are not the be all and end in their knowledge.


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## Emmaj (Dec 3, 2007)

Saff said:


> sorry but today i have been talking to someone who owns 2 meerkats and she has given me lots of advice!and i have been researching every day!i have just been in with 3 hand raised baby meerkats at the local rep shop and been asking Qs!!
> oh and i am a she!!!
> Saff


But 
like nerys said you asked questions people answered and you still ignored the fact people took time to do research you seemingly couldnt be bothered to do yourself 

I mean not being nasty or owt but i dont have the slight bit of interest in these animals but i still went out of my way to look up some of the answers to your questions with not so much as even a thank you :bash:


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## brittone05 (Sep 29, 2006)

Saff - can I ask how many meerkats do you plan to get? 

Also, if you have researched every day and such, why are you still needing to ask such basic questions?


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## miffikins (Feb 25, 2007)

I have just started looking into meerkats, mainly through intrigue and the fact that my OH adores them. We will probably never get any as 'pets' and if we ever do it will be when we take early retirement after winning the lottery :whistling2: as it appears they need a hell of a lot of time....

What gets me here is that they are pretty basic questions you are asking the answers to. Do some good hard research, not just caresheets but books/journals on their natural diet, social hierarchy, habitat and activity patterns. From things like this, although they are not captive based you will have a greater understanding of them and thus create 'activities' for them inline with their natural habits as a means of enrichment, get ideas on how to mimic natural diet etc

Also, when you get older if you move out of your mums house, will you have the space and money to be able to maintain their varied diet?? To set up a new enclosure?? And will you or your mum be willing to shell out for more than 2 or 3 of them for them to be able to exhibit normal social behaviour??

I don't mean to sound harsh but I think they are fair points. And even if you know all there is to know about them, it doesn't neccessarily mean that you can actually provide all they need and are the right animals for you 

: victory:


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## Mason (Jan 21, 2008)

Saff said:


> sorry but today i have been talking to someone who owns 2 meerkats and she has given me lots of advice!and i have been researching every day!i have just been in with 3 hand raised baby meerkats at the local rep shop and been asking Qs!!
> oh and i am a she!!!
> Saff


If your research has been so through why then the question about the most basic aspects?

Never mind..


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## el_phantasmo (Jan 30, 2008)

As amazingly cute as they are, I know, I'd love them, they are in short a NIGHTMARE if you don't get a really happy one (As people as said, they need to be kept in large family groups... although, serch the bbc.co.uk website for the story of Merlin the Meerkat, a pet, who was on his own).

If you want something just for the fact it's a bit quirky then that's never a good sign! I'd love a Velociraptor 'cause they're a bit off, and apart from the 65 million year lateness of my want I wouldn't get one on a "Oh, they're cool!" thought.

Not sure if there are many books on Meerkats as pets, check Amazon. Also check the eMeerkat pages.

Try a Skunk, they're cool apparently and easier (But by no means easy) to keep.

Plus there's finding a vet who knows about them too, always a worry.


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## Nerys (Apr 18, 2005)

> Try a Skunk, they're cool apparently and easier (But by no means easy) to keep.


they are the muts nuts yes  although i am not sure about being easier to keep!

they eat a lot more, and shit a lot more... and thats just for starters!

N


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## el_phantasmo (Jan 30, 2008)

But not quite as destructive as Meerkats from the minimal reading up I've done ... plus they're just cuter!

But yes. I've heard about the vast amount of poo. :lol2:

I'm a reptile person myself now - snakes and lizards all the way for me!


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## Nerys (Apr 18, 2005)

Mmmm

tbh... i keep both meerkats and skunks...

and i would have to say, the skunks are far far worse than the meerkats!!! or they are at our place lol..

they destroy whole rooms... love 'em to bits though i do!

and they shit a lot less, the meerkats that is... a LOT less! skunks produce a phenomenal amount of crap!

N


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## el_phantasmo (Jan 30, 2008)

Really? I thought skunks sounded slightly less destructive than Meers but more mischevious and playful.

Blimey, maybe there's not much in it then. 

Although I'm into my reptile now I would like a big dog ... or a Skunk. Always like Raccoons too, but read the other thread where they're meant to be evil little swines.

Need a pet friendly place first though ... things in tanks aren't a problem, but burrowing balls of fuzzy evil norty crazyness are another thing!:crazy:


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## Stuart b (Mar 23, 2008)

*Meerkats*

i have two female meerkats for sale any one interested?

contact me: [email protected] 

Thanks


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## lurtz (Mar 21, 2008)

*have you ever smelt*

ferets or racoons these animals pong, and are really an exhibit and not a pet. Sorry to burst your bubble. Good food to feed them would be: Dead day old chicks, Eggs still in their shells and Dog biscuits.


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