Reproduction and maintenance of two species of marmoset in captivity

Abstract

Marmoset monkeys are an useful model to biological human experiments and their development in captivity has been carried out in different environment and feeding conditions. This work presents the development of Callithrix jacchus jacchus and Callithrix jacchus penicillata in captivity at the vivarium of the Centro de Biologia da Reprodução. Couples of marmosets, obtained with the help of the Forest Institute, were kept in an environment where the temperature was around 22-24 degrees C, with 10 hs of light per day and fed on a diet of dog chow pellets, bananas, eggs, carrots, Farinha Láctea (Nestlé) and milk. Comparing the number of newborns/delivery, interbirth delivery, and some other indicators, it was concluded that the development of Callithrix jacchus jacchus is compatible with other colonies cited in the literature. The development of Callithrix jacchus penicillata, on which no report has been found, is similar to that of Callithrix jacchus jacchus.