STEPHANIE FUSCO: Getting a pet monkey, you have to be passionate about it from the start.
I love it because he makes my day.
STEPHANIE FUSCO: This is Xander’s room and play area. His cat tree, this is his big cage.
He likes to go in there and play. Xander is a white-faced Capuchin. I got Xander two years
ago. Best decision I have ever made in my life. He has changed my life.
STEPHANIE FUSCO: I got him when he was three weeks old in 2016, I think that was the year
of the monkey. So that’s pretty cool too.
STEPHANIE FUSCO: The day I got Xander, it was like an all day thing. My dad and I rode
down to Florida together. I had seen all his pictures from the breeder. She was sending
them to me. He was just so cute and then when I got there, he was even cuter in person.
I realised how tiny he was. It was insane. I had to have him. There was no going back.
My heart was just stolen once I saw him.
STEPHANIE FUSCO: Caring for Xander has been a lot of work. When I first got him, I had
to bottle feed him every two to three hours for months, yeah; changing too and you have
to make sure they are healthy because they will try to, like they cover up if they are
sick or not. But luckily he never got sick. He is a little show-off.
STEPHANIE FUSCO: He loves the camera.
STEPHANIE FUSCO: Feeding him now is pretty easy. He is on solid so he has fruit and vegetables
throughout the day and then he has a morning bottle. His morning bottle, he just, he loves
it. He will just drink the whole thing. He drinks in his highchair and then he has that
bottle at night too and then we go to bed.
STEPHANIE FUSCO: Taking care of him has made me more mature, I feel like. And my life,
my way of life has changed for sure. He is my everything. So I put him first and he really
helped me grow up in a lot of ways.
STEPHANIE FUSCO: He loves his ball pit the most. He likes catching the balls, throwing
them, jumping on top of the cage, jumping into it.
STEPHANIE FUSCO: Sometimes he will have little temper tantrums, but we get through it. So
when he doesn’t want to do something, but that’s part of training him and making sure
that he is going to listen and behave.
STEPHANIE FUSCO: They are not bad. If I say ‘No’, he might twitch his tail. He usually
listens though. He always listen to me.
STEPHANIE FUSCO: The reaction that people get when they see him is pretty funny. Like
they are just like, “What?”, they are in shock. They love him. Nobody has said anything
negative really or I didn’t hear at least.
STEPHANIE FUSCO: My friends and family loves Xander. They have been really supportive.
They will always let him come over. They have no problem with him.
STEPHANIE FUSCO: I wouldn’t recommend getting a pet monkey, just because it’s a way of
life. So you have to be committed from the start and you have to be passionate about
it from the start. I have always wanted one. So I thought I knew what I was getting into,
but I still didn’t, but I mean I would get another one in a heartbeat. It’s really
hard work literally like... come here. What do you have? I don’t know, it’s just,
I love him to death.