# Meerkat



## alyssa_liss

just found out my friends got a meerkat today 

didnt think you could get these as pets ??? 

aparently it was from a pet shop (little indipendat one)

ill see her tomorrow (christening + im taking photos lol) and ask her about it


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## turkeylad

Sorry but they should be ashamed of themselves!!!!


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## lau02

I love them but did not think you could keep them as pets and i dont think it is fair on them sorry.


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## Jazzy

Yes I love them too - I saw some in the zoo last year when we went and took some great piccys of them. I wouldn't have thought you could keep them as pets.:nonod:


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## Gobaith

Never ever heard of this before. So i dont know the do's and donts about it :S

hmm, i dont know what to say.


Chloe


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## thedogsmother

Meercats live in social groups surely they can't be happy living on their own?


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## Patterdale_lover

I dont agree with it either! 
They used to sell them at the pet shop my brother worked at 
Humans are getting too cocky with the wild animals as pets IMO :nonod:


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## alyssa_liss

I know that you shouldn't really have them as pets, but how are the general public ment to know any different if you can get them in pets shops.

If you can understand what I mean


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## thedogsmother

alyssa_liss said:


> I know that you shouldn't really have them as pets, but how are the general public ment to know any different if you can get them in pets shops.
> 
> If you can understand what I mean


Totally agree with this, unfortunately if shops sell them, people will buy them especially since they look so cute, I can't imagine that the type of pet shop that is willing to sell Meercats will be that choosy who buys them, very sad.


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## Marcia

thedogsmother said:


> Meercats live in social groups surely they can't be happy living on their own?


That's true. And they have been known to self mutilate if their on their own 

Meerkats should not be kept as pets, they are wild animals 

What's next? Tigers? 

Not having a go but things like this wind me up, there are perfectly good pets in rescues looking for homes, yet people still want to have the best, most exotic pets ever


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## Nonnie

I really hope they have done some research and not purchased this animal on a whim. They are incredibly hard to look after and need almost 24/7 care. They cant just be left in a cage and handled for an hour or so each day.

Sadly its usually zoo's and private collections that are left to pick up the pieces after people find out just how unsuitable these animals are as pets.

I dont think they should ever be kept as pets, and those that breed and sell them for this reason, really dont have the animals welfare in interest, just profit.


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## foxxy cleopatra

argghh not this again, if its still there, a thread has been started about meerkats in the adoption/rescue thing bit.


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## crofty

Oh god i hate reading things like this, its absolutely awful poor thing.


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## Chrysler

As much as I like meerkats but I would never even consider getting one as a pet.
I seen some advertised a few weeks back at £700 a piece. 
It is just cruel IMO. As they need more space etc. as an average household can give them.
I stick to my resin Meerkats.


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## Suggie_mama

As an exotic mammal keeper myself, i do agree to an extent of keeping exotic mammals as pets IF you have the space, knowledge and patience for them. 

By space i do not mean a spare corner in your house. Im talking at least a full sized bedroom for the pet to sleep, and also out door space. 

Yes you can keep Meerkats as pets.But they do not make good pets, even by an exotic keepers standards. They dig, they chew, they bite, and they bite HARD!

They also get very lonely by themselves. For a meerkat to be sold by itslef shows great ignornace on both the keeper and the sellers part and they shoudl be ashamed. It was obviously an impulse buy else the person would have done their research and learned they should be kept in at least pairs, but threes and bigger are better. 

Meerkats and skunks all have this insatiable desire to dig. It cannot be prevented. Its their instinct. 

I dont mind exotic mammals being kept as pets, aslong as they arnt treat like pets. A meerkat running around the house is not going to be happy. If they are to be kept, they should be kept like the wild animals that they are, not just a fancy pet. 

All exotic mammals should be thoroughly researched beofre a purchase. 

Does your friend know how to feed these animals??? Diet is a very important role in exotic mammal keeping. The wrong diet can, and does kill.


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## the dog

were can i start on this subject as a owner of a meerkat who has the freedom of a full house which he shares with 3 dogs an is happy as he can be.meerkats can bite mostly when play fighting i personley think a hamster has a worst bite ye they like to scratch about but the claws are not realy that sharp.im tierd of people saying they souldnt b kept as pets this coming from the same people who own animals which were all once wild.there bred in the uk so they dont know he comes from africa.just think about.ther here so u might as give them the best life you can.other wise get on a plane fly to africa release him an then what hed never b accepted by a family of meerkats.


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## Kinjilabs

the dog said:


> were can i start on this subject as a owner of a meerkat who has the freedom of a full house which he shares with 3 dogs an is happy as he can be.meerkats can bite mostly when play fighting i personley think a hamster has a worst bite ye they like to scratch about but the claws are not realy that sharp.im tierd of people saying they souldnt b kept as pets this coming from the same people who own animals which were all once wild.there bred in the uk so they dont know he comes from africa.just think about.ther here so u might as give them the best life you can.other wise get on a plane fly to africa release him an then what hed never b accepted by a family of meerkats.


Its still messing with nature! these are wild animals that survive ONLY in the wild, that meercat you have is not in a natural habitat, however well you look after it it will never really be happy, natural instinct will take over and there will be no other contact with its own kind, how sad is that!?


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## CarolineH

the dog said:


> were can i start on this subject as a owner of a meerkat who has the freedom of a full house which he shares with 3 dogs an is happy as he can be.meerkats can bite mostly when play fighting i personley think a hamster has a worst bite ye they like to scratch about but the claws are not realy that sharp.im tierd of people saying they souldnt b kept as pets this coming from the same people who own animals which were all once wild.there bred in the uk so they dont know he comes from africa.just think about.ther here so u might as give them the best life you can.other wise get on a plane fly to africa release him an then what hed never b accepted by a family of meerkats.


The meerkat you have is just 22 weeks old and as such at a rough guess, will not be mature yet. That's when you will notice behaviours that you may find you cannot live with including aggression through being bored and frustrated. Remember, just because you can keep these animals alone, does not mean that you should. ut: If people really love meerkats, they will leave them to the zoos and private collections who can properly care for all of their needs instead of forcing them to adapt to an unnatural life in a household!


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## Acacia86

My friend has 2 female Meerkats, yes over here! A place that doesn't even have pedigree dog/cat breeders like the UK!

She has an enclosure for them that has an outside and inside bit. The outside has levels, digging parts and i don't know what else i have on;y seen photos.

I do not agree with it but i can't make her do or not do anything. At the end of the day she has them and they have a fairly good enclosure.


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## Pampered pets

the dog said:


> were can i start on this subject as a owner of a meerkat who has the freedom of a full house which he shares with 3 dogs an is happy as he can be.meerkats can bite mostly when play fighting i personley think a hamster has a worst bite ye they like to scratch about but the claws are not realy that sharp.im tierd of people saying they souldnt b kept as pets this coming from the same people who own animals which were all once wild.there bred in the uk so they dont know he comes from africa.just think about.ther here so u might as give them the best life you can.other wise get on a plane fly to africa release him an then what hed never b accepted by a family of meerkats.


he may not know he should be in africa and is actually in the UK BUT he will still have EVERY natural instinct that those in africa do, he will just be very confused as to why he cant carry out his natural behavious 

*sigh*


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## Suggie_mama

Acacia86 said:


> My friend has 2 female Meerkats, yes over here! A place that doesn't even have pedigree dog/cat breeders like the UK!
> 
> She has an enclosure for them that has an outside and inside bit. The outside has levels, digging parts and i don't know what else i have on;y seen photos.
> 
> I do not agree with it but i can't make her do or not do anything. At the end of the day she has them and they have a fairly good enclosure.


if the enclousure has an outdoor and indoor section with places to dig and the animal is being fed a suitable diet, then that is fine, sounds like a decent setup.

its when they are kept like dogs running around with no places to dig or display natural behaviours that i find cruel and negliegence.

end of day, i have no queries with exotic mammals being kept as pets, as long as they are treat like exotic mammals, not like a family pet.

I would never class my gliders as "family pets". they are in a massive enclosure, have real branches and are fed a diet researched thoroughly by the rest of the glider specialists. Only people allowed to handle them is me, my boyfriend to some extent, my mother can hold one of them, and anyone wanting to learn about them can hold one glider who is so bonded she is ok. the rest are still exotic mammals and are treat as such.

the idea of a meerkat mixing with dogs (when dogs are one of their natural predators in the wild) bewilders me.


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## Cloth101

the dog said:


> im tierd of people saying they souldnt b kept as pets this coming from the same people who own animals which were all once wild.there bred in the uk so they dont know he comes from africa.


That's true, dogs, cats and horses were all wild once but they all have one thing in common, and thats the fact that all of them were domesticated for a reason, dogs for hunting and companionship, cats for the same reason, horses for transportation. Not to mention pigs, sheep, cows, chickens and all the other animals that were domesticated for food. However owning a meerkat is, usually, just for status, or because they're cute, or for whatever other reason. They don't actually DO anything and they're not being bred TO do anything. They're just her because some moral-less person has seen a perspective market. And how long before other people start to jump on the band wagon and there;s news of meerkats being imported in cramped conditions? Dying on the journey? Being abused and neglected? I not saying that is what has happened in this case but I greatly fear that this will happen in the future when the meerkat becomes the latest 'must have' accessory.

I suppose that someone who can give them everything they have in the wild and studies them, or has rehomed them because of bad previous owners or taken them from zoos etc is better because they are already 'domesticated' to some extent and therefore can't be released into the wild. But, and I said this in a previous post, if it's a wild animal it should stay in the wild.


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## the dog

Suggie_mama said:


> if the enclousure has an outdoor and indoor section with places to dig and the animal is being fed a suitable diet, then that is fine, sounds like a decent setup.
> 
> its when they are kept like dogs running around with no places to dig or display natural behaviours that i find cruel and negliegence.
> 
> end of day, i have no queries with exotic mammals being kept as pets, as long as they are treat like exotic mammals, not like a family pet.
> 
> I would never class my gliders as "family pets". they are in a massive enclosure, have real branches and are fed a diet researched thoroughly by the rest of the glider specialists. Only people allowed to handle them is me, my boyfriend to some extent, my mother can hold one of them, and anyone wanting to learn about them can hold one glider who is so bonded she is ok. the rest are still exotic mammals and are treat as such.
> 
> the idea of a meerkat mixing with dogs (when dogs are one of their natural predators in the wild) bewilders me.


not in this houseiv got 3 dogs one of which is bull type dog or what some people would call a pitbull and has also grew up with all animals like lizzards snakes chinchillas rats tarantulas.and is brilliant with him and the other 2 just dont bother.so thers the idea for u.go on you tube an put in.. jack russle and meerkat


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## noushka05

the dog said:


> were can i start on this subject as a owner of a meerkat who has the freedom of a full house which he shares with 3 dogs an is happy as he can be.meerkats can bite mostly when play fighting i personley think a hamster has a worst bite ye they like to scratch about but the claws are not realy that sharp.im tierd of people saying they souldnt b kept as pets this coming from the same people who own animals which were all once wild.there bred in the uk so they dont know he comes from africa.just think about.ther here so u might as give them the best life you can.other wise get on a plane fly to africa release him an then what hed never b accepted by a family of meerkats.


if you really love them do you not think the responsible thing to do is to discourage other people from buying meerkats like taramasalata has?

do you think its a responsible thing to say 'you think a hamster has a worse bite'!? because thats not what Meerkat experts & Taramasalata says & i know who i believe!...heres what she says......

Meerkats have very large teeth for their size. Your meerkat will on occasion bite clean through your hand, just because he is feeling somewhat out of sorts today. It hurts. A lot.

this is of the info i posted........

Buying a Pet Meerkat?
If you're thinking of buying a meerkat to be an affectionate, intelligent and adorable pets, read this and think again!
Meerkats are cuddly creatures, however they bite. 
They bite for all sorts of reasons and sometimes just for fun. They have long and very sharp canines that easily puncture the skin. Bites tend to go in deep and they easily become infected. They heal slowly and can be very painful.


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## Cloth101

noushka05 said:


> if you really love them do you not think the responsible thing to do is to discourage other people from buying meerkats like taramasalata has?


Exactly. Well said.


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## MrsFeisty

This is a really interesting debate, as I myself was involved in a similar discussion recently, although I wasn't given the opportunity to state my case.

I have a pet skunk, I've had him for a year now and I took him to work one day, I'm a secondary school teacher and thought it would be good for the kids to see him. The kids loved him, the head teacher thought he was fab but several members of staff were disgusted and appalled. I wasn't able to join in their heated discussion in the staffroom as I had him up in my classroom while half the staff came to meet him.

The moaners were saying that I was wrong to keep a wild animal as a pet and that he was "disgusting". One of them said he was disgusting in front of my daughter who was quite naturally very upset.

What I was unable to tell them was that he was rescued from a fur farm, is descented and therefore would not be able to survive in the wild. He was overweight when I got him, but after doing research and speaking to people who keep skunks, I've managed to get him to a healthy weight and he lives in the familly home and is clearly very happy and healthy. He's snuggled up next to me now fast asleep. Surely that has to be better than being a hat?

I know somebody who keeps and breeds meercats, I've seen her animals and they are all healthy and have excellent enclosures. I don't think you can blame somebody for buying something cute from a petshop though, it will happen time and again. I saw some little monkeys in a petshop near me and dread to think where they will have ended upl


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## noushka05

MrsFeisty said:


> This is a really interesting debate, as I myself was involved in a similar discussion recently, although I wasn't given the opportunity to state my case.
> 
> I have a pet skunk, I've had him for a year now and I took him to work one day, I'm a secondary school teacher and thought it would be good for the kids to see him. The kids loved him, the head teacher thought he was fab but several members of staff were disgusted and appalled. I wasn't able to join in their heated discussion in the staffroom as I had him up in my classroom while half the staff came to meet him.
> 
> The moaners were saying that I was wrong to keep a wild animal as a pet and that he was "disgusting". One of them said he was disgusting in front of my daughter who was quite naturally very upset.
> 
> What I was unable to tell them was that he was rescued from a fur farm, is descented and therefore would not be able to survive in the wild. He was overweight when I got him, but after doing research and speaking to people who keep skunks, I've managed to get him to a healthy weight and he lives in the familly home and is clearly very happy and healthy. He's snuggled up next to me now fast asleep. Surely that has to be better than being a hat?
> 
> I know somebody who keeps and breeds meercats, I've seen her animals and they are all healthy and have excellent enclosures. I don't think you can blame somebody for buying something cute from a petshop though, it will happen time and again. I saw some little monkeys in a petshop near me and dread to think where they will have ended upl


well done for saving your skunk from what would have been an horrific endi cant imagine anyone saying skunks are discusting! they are sooo cute

IMO anybody that breeds Meerkats,Monkeys etc & sells the babies is being incredibly cruel! in the wild they stay with the family group sometimes for the whole of their lives...not only is it extremely distressing for the babies to be taken from their mothers but as some of these species are monogamous & the males are very paternal both the parents suffer great distress too.

the only way to stop this evil trade is never to buy no matter how cute or how sorry for them you feel


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## Guest

noushka05 said:


> well done for saving your skunk from what would have been an horrific endi cant imagine anyone saying skunks are discusting! they are sooo cute
> 
> IMO anybody that breeds Meerkats,Monkeys etc & sells the babies is being incredibly cruel! in the wild they stay with the family group sometimes for the whole of their lives...not only is it extremely distressing for the babies to be taken from their mothers but as some of these species are monogamous & the males are very paternal both the parents suffer great distress too.
> 
> the only way to stop this evil trade is never to buy no matter how cute or how sorry for them you feel


i couldnt put it better myself..


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## Suggie_mama

MrsFeisty said:


> This is a really interesting debate, as I myself was involved in a similar discussion recently, although I wasn't given the opportunity to state my case.
> 
> I have a pet skunk, I've had him for a year now and I took him to work one day, I'm a secondary school teacher and thought it would be good for the kids to see him. The kids loved him, the head teacher thought he was fab but several members of staff were disgusted and appalled. I wasn't able to join in their heated discussion in the staffroom as I had him up in my classroom while half the staff came to meet him.
> 
> The moaners were saying that I was wrong to keep a wild animal as a pet and that he was "disgusting". One of them said he was disgusting in front of my daughter who was quite naturally very upset.
> 
> What I was unable to tell them was that he was rescued from a fur farm, is descented and therefore would not be able to survive in the wild. He was overweight when I got him, but after doing research and speaking to people who keep skunks, I've managed to get him to a healthy weight and he lives in the familly home and is clearly very happy and healthy. He's snuggled up next to me now fast asleep. Surely that has to be better than being a hat?
> 
> I know somebody who keeps and breeds meercats, I've seen her animals and they are all healthy and have excellent enclosures. I don't think you can blame somebody for buying something cute from a petshop though, it will happen time and again. I saw some little monkeys in a petshop near me and dread to think where they will have ended upl


i hear stories like this all the time. i have many friends who have skunks, and they sometimes get the same treatment.

its peoples fear of the unusual. dont let it bother you and the staff were waay out of order.


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## Suggie_mama

the dog said:


> not in this houseiv got 3 dogs one of which is bull type dog or what some people would call a pitbull and has also grew up with all animals like lizzards snakes chinchillas rats tarantulas.and is brilliant with him and the other 2 just dont bother.so thers the idea for u.go on you tube an put in.. jack russle and meerkat


my jack russels are great with animals too, dont get me wrong, they dont bother my APH when he is out. im not having a go, as i said, i dont mind exotic mammals being kept as pets, as long as they are treated like the wilder animals they are, and not a dog.

yes they are on the pet market, and yes all pets are "wild" animals esecially, but we forget, dogs, cats, horses, rats, have been domesticated for thousands of years. Meerkats, gliders, skunks, kinkajous, marmosets etc, have not, so they still are wild. they need to be treated as such as they have not lost most of their wild instincts yet.

if an animal is being treat unnaturally, it can be putting both the animal, and the owner in danger. For instance, a meerkat NEEDS to dig.

How old is the meerkat? and why is there only one? they are animals that need to be kept in pairs or groups. Human interaction is not enough.


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## oldskoolhead

all these people jumping on the band waggon are just narrow minded all animals are wild animals, so called domesticated animals still have their natural instincts no matter how long ago they were domesticated, dogs still bark they still hunt, if you put them back in the wild they will still show all their natural behaviours that the wild dogs have today. keeping a meerkat as a pet is no different than keeping a polekat or a mongoose or a ferret.
i agree they are social animals best kept in groups but for any member of this forum to frown upon it is just a hypocryt.
and to suggest that domesticating is ok if its for a purpose as dogs horses and cats and that dommesticating an animal coz its cute is not ok like what???
so dommesticating to exploit an animal for a purpose/SLAVE is better than keeping a cute animal thats allowed to do as it pleases just because the former already applied when you came to this earth......... get real!!!
and whats next lions and tigers??? lol so lions and tigers have never been kept as pets??? i suggest you go back and crawl under the rock you came from theres not an animal alive on this plannet today that hasnt been kept as a pet but here i think you can see the obvious disadvantages when the keeper found out what was for lunch or rather more to the point whom was for lunch, and the space one would require to keep such an animal.
granted some animals make better pets than others using the term better rather loosely as this is all a matter of opinion and what the keeper deems suitable to their requirements and what they hope to get out of it and their ability to provide a suitable enviroment for it. and when i say suitable i use that term rather loosely as well, as is a cage suitable for a bird?? is a vivarium suitable for a snake??? is a tank suitable for a fish?? is a hutch suitable for a rabbit???? the honest answer to all these questions is a resounding no it isnt suitable but only adequate weather the animal was domesticated yesterday or 2000 years ago.
yes a meerkat scratches and chews............ big deal so do my dogs and so does my cockatoo if i was to list the furniture fixtures and fittings in mine or my girlfriends house that showed evidence of this id be here all day the fact is keeping pets is either right or wrong whatever the pet might be and if your here on this forum ill assume you deem it right. of course i agree that the enviroment should be deemed adequate for the particular species in question and the proper research and care should be applied but to judge people when you yourself own a pet is just ridiculas. and yes meerkats are social animals and so are dogs!!!! lets not forget that!! although im not trying to say keeping 1 meerkat is ok i have heared that if you want a tame meerkat you are more likely to achieve this by having only 1 or 2 as they will then accept you as part of their klan. is this wrong?.....maybe. will they be unhappy?...... maybe. is your dog unhappy?....... maybe. ok so he wagged his tail 5 mins ago that only means he was happy at that moment such as a prisoner in a jail might be happy the moment he/she reads a letter from their spouse but similarlly on his/her release you would assume this person to be then happy but then they get home to find a mountain of unpaid bills, why should this be any different for a meerkat or any other animal for that matter, being free and wild has its advantages but why would you assume that in a famine this meerkat is still happy just because it is free, or similarly a captive one is permanantly unhappy, life has its ups and downs whatever creature you are and whatever situation you find yourself in so whos to say whats right and whats wrong and what gives you the wisdom or the authority................. only smarties have the answer ;-)


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## lauren001

I think it is well established that most cats don't need family groups, most are very individual and even when they live together often seek out their own company. Even wild dogs have been found only to be pack animals when food is scarce otherwise revert to being loners, horses I grant you are herd animals and thus it upsets me when I see lone horses in fields.
Meercats however are very social animals, they have a complex social hierarchy therefore keeping them as lone pets or even in pairs is I feel in fact cruel.

I think this current craze for breeding, selling and keeping meerkats, will result in some happy breeders as they count the loot, some very unhappy owners who had no idea what a cute animal is indeed capable of and some very unhappy meerkats too, who will be kept in some very unsuitable conditions as a trophy pet or as breeding machines.


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## oldskoolhead

just to make a point though, and this comment will probably satisfy all you synics out there, there are not a lot of meerkats available to buy, and likewise as with all exotic creatures, there isnt really a great demand for them either, sure theres a lot of people out there that see them on the telly and think id love one as a pet but never seriously or actively seek one, nor do most people know that you can actually get them, and as with parrots sure they sell for a fair whack, but try selling one!!! if you want to breed animals to make money then a dog is your best bet, they are easy to breed, produce more off spring in a litter than either of the above and if you have the pedigree papers can sell for just as much if not more than a meerkat, ive seen meerkats available for as little as 300 and as much as 600 thats it. a brittish bulldog with good breeding can sell for anything up to 2000 gbp and dogs frequently have litters of 6-7 and even anything up to about 14 pups ive heared of, and are much easier to sell and far more profitable if thats what floats your boat, so anyone buying meerkats to make a profit is seriously misguided, as with most exotic creatures, theyre a niche market not mainstream pets and its a case of supply and demand, if there was that great a demand for them there would be more of a supply but there isnt just try and find one for sale and you'll be hard pushed, ive looked myself a few times and found very few indeed and unlike parrots i dont think meerkats are particularly hard to breed though im no expert and this is just a stab in the dark reflecting on their antics on meerkat manor though this may be very different in captivity granted but going off other rodents/mamals behaviour i dont doubt this to be true, so i would assume that if there was a great demand this could easily be met, so the amount of available meerkats would more be a reflection of the scale of demand.......very few!!! so not really a great direction to go to make your first million!!! lol


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## ILoveMyPug

It is crazy, in the paper yesterday it was saying you can buy sloth for £8,000, as much as I love them, how on earth could someone in this country look after them?! It is unfair.

I have heard of meerkats becoming popular as pets because of that damn simples advert. So the poor animals have to suffer because of some not so clever marketing plea.

Had no idea they self mutilated though on their own?!  

If she insists on keeping it, then make sure she has Discovery Animal Planet then it can watch Meerkat Manor.  (that is a joke, honestly!)


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## fluffyangel007

My friend has meercats and they are great! The dominate male was hand raised and believes that my friend is a meercat, the dominate female is evil haha she can be nasty, really nasty! However together they are happy and have had litters... But then my friend can look after and give them what they need!


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