Taking on a pet monkey is not like caring for most other pets. A well-cared-for monkey can live to be anywhere from 20 to 40 years old and needs your full commitment throughout their lives. A pet monkey cannot do without your attention when life gets busy or circumstances change. They do not grow up and mature like human children do.

One of the benefits of having a monkey as pet as opposed to other household animals is that monkeys have opposable thumbs. If trained properly they could lend a hand with chores around the house. With this in mind monkeys would be considered more of an investment instead of an unnecessary cost.

Monkeys are expensive to house (you need a secure enclosure, proper permits, and sometimes additional insurance on your homeowner's policy) and feed; some even require specialized diets that can be time-consuming to prepare. A significant time commitment is also needed just for routine care and clean-up after a pet monkey.

In the United States of America, there are no exact direct laws saying that animals that are termed to be exotic cannot or must not be kept as pets. How ever most states have made up some laws concerning the ownership of such exotic animals to protect the illegal and cruelty sometimes involved in owning these animals.

On average monkeys can live for 10 to 50 years. This number highly depends on the species. Capuchin monkeys have an average lifespan of 15 to 25 years. In captivity, monkeys can live for 30 to 45 years.