Pet Bushbaby

COMMON NAME :Bushbaby

SCIENTIFIC NAME : Galago species such as senegalensis, demidoffi

DISTRIBUTION : African tropics

HABITAT : Rain forest, gallery forest and savannah with trees

ADULT SIZE : 20-45 cm(8-18 in)

GENERAL : There are six species of bushbaby, but the most commonly available is the Senegal Bushbaby, though occasionally Thick-tailed Bush babies or minute Demidoff's Bush babies can be found.

Bushbabies lives for ten to 15 years or more in captivity and can be kept in groups of females and young together with a single male. Mature males will fight savagely and such battles may even end in the death of the loser they are not separated. All species are nocturnal and, because you might perhaps only have seen them during the day, it would be easy to think of them as slow moving - be warned, a bushbaby can cover 10 m (33 ft) in less than five seconds. Some people keep a single specimen and let it have the run of the sitting room each evening once it has been tamed; but the idea is not to be recommended. They are fairly fragile little animals and need to be handled sensitively and gently. Never allow the animals or the cages to become damp, and clean the cage daily, but do not disturb nest boxes when there are young or new animals around. Tame a bushbaby by coaxing it gently with a favorite food such as a mealworm; never treat the animal roughly; and always remember that a bushbaby can give a painful bite. Bushbabies are marvelous animals but they are not good pets for a novice. You need plenty of experience as an animal keeper to look after bush babies.

At night these animals frequently call loudly to each other and mark their progress along branches by 'urine washing', which is a fascinating bit of behavior to watch if you are lucky enough tosses it. An animal will balance on one foot while it deposits urine in the hollow of the opposite hand and foot. The scent of this urine then gets deposited on the branch when the animal repeats the whole operation on the opposite limbs. As it travels around it leaves a scent trail for others to follow. Each will go about its own business during the night, and in the morning, following a special rallying call they will all meet up again to sleep, usually all piling onto one nest box if they can In the wild they will use a hole in a tree and sometimes they will make a nest of leaves in a suitable fork.

FOOD: These charming little animals are by no means easy to feed for they require chopped fresh fruit and vegetables, assorted live food such as crickets, mealworms, locusts and wax moths, baby foods and primate cubes. Multivitamin compounds must be provided as well, and clean water should be available at all times.

HOUSING: Bushbabies are active animals and need plenty of space, and a very minimum ought to be about 1.5 X 1.5 X 2.1 m (5 X 5X 7 ft) high. The one condition of paramount importance is an absence of draughts, which are absolutely fatal. They need a temperature of 24°C (75°F), an infra-red dull emitter in a weld mesh cage (so that the bushbaby cannot burn itself) within the cage is ideal. The enclosure must be fitted with a nest box or two of adequate size and filled with sweet, fresh hay; a good supply of branches ought to be securely fixed so that the animal can perch, run about and jump from one to another. Faeces are very moist so a good absorbent floor covering such as newspaper or wood shavings should be laid and cleaned regularly.

Although Bushbabies are delightful animals, they are rarely seen to advantage since they are nocturnal, and there is nothing more infuriating than being kept awake night after night by an animal when you are trying to go to sleep. However, if you are determined to keep Bushbabies, the best solution of all would be to construct a cage in a dark place that could be fitted with electrical apparatus to enable one to reverse day and night, such as one can see nowadays in the better zoos. Timing devices and automatic dimmers are readily available these days so that anybody can setup such a system without the need for an electrician.

BREEDING: Perhaps the best combination of animals to buy is one male and two or three females until you have built up a family group, but be warned, bush babies are expensive. The male will impregnate all his females whenever they are in season, and this means that a female can produce twice a year. Gestation is about130 days and usually either one or two babies are born at a time. Bushbabies, however, do not for the most part breed readily in captivity as they require highly specialized care.