Where To Buy A Kinkajou
Baby female kinkajou Born 1/2/23. Brought in to be bottle fed and handled. Very sweet disposition. I have 30 yrs experience with kinkajous and other exotics and USDA licensed. Please contact me by phone or text at 217-825-6131. Serious inquiries only...
where to buy a kinkajou
At 18 to 30 months a kinkajou is sexually mature. At about 1.5 years (about 18 months) Male kinkajous reach sexual maturity, females in 2.5 years (about 30 months). In approximately every three months the female kinkajou goes into heat. They give birth to only one or two cubs per year. The gestation period ranges from three to four months and more often only one cub is born at a time. In the wild they give birth between April and December, and they keep away from each other except when mating. The mating rite comprise of the male nipping and sniffing the female's lower chin and gorge. The male then stimulates the females by using the insides of his writs to rub her sides where he has an enlarged, protruding bone. The female also has this bone but on the male it is not covered with fur.
Kinkajous are indigenous to the warm humid lowland rainforests of south and Central America where temperatures range from the upper 70s to 100 degrees, their housing temperatures should never drop below 70 degrees Fahrenheit.
Fresh fruits and vegetables along with Zupreem monkey biscuits are the main part of a kinkajous diet. Other Treats include fig newton, dates or raisin and graham cracker may be given. Since they are classified as carnivores occasionally a person can add other protein sources such as small amounts of meat like chicken, eggs and hams. Bananas are their favorite fruit, but other fruits can be added. Many people also feed kinkajou with a variety of other foods and sweets in small doses but not chocolates. Citrus fruits are not a proper nutrition to the kinkajou. There is also belief that Kinkajous are allergic to strawberries.
There are many susceptible diseases to the kinkajou. They need vaccines starting at the age of 6 weeks until about 16 weeks of age, and all the vaccines are boosted annually. They are vaccinated from various diseases such as;
Internal parasites are a concern and routine fecal exams can give you an idea if they have picked up something that needs to be dealt with specifically. They can carry a specific type of round worm, Baylisascaris, which is very contagious to people and can cause brain and eye damage among other concerns. Because of this they you should be de-wormed regularly even if fecal tests come back negative. Their teeth suffer because of the high sugar contained which makes them build plaque and tartar easily. Regular teeth brushing also benefit them. Teaching a kinkajou to brush requires the same steps as that of a dog or cat.
Kinkajous are nocturnal animals meaning that they are primarily active at night and they are arboreal (tree dwelling). There peak activity is between 7 p.m. until midnight and then again about an hour before dawn. During the day they sleep in the tree hollows or somewhere in the shade to avoid the sunlight. Since the kinkajous are tree dwelling animals they usually live in the canopies of the rainforests and rarely if ever come down to the jungle floor. Kinkajous live in the warm humid rainforests of Central and South America where the temperatures range from the upper 70s to 100 degrees. They usually live at high elevations not exceeding 2200 meters (Myer).
Kinkajous have a set of 36 sharp teeth, which give them the impression of being carnivores. However, they are primarily frugivorous (fruit-eaters), eating on fruit most of the time. Their basic diet includes but is not limited too: figs, grapes, bananas, melons, apples and mangos. To stay hydrated kinkajous drink water that has collected in tree notches and on leaves, but the fruit that they eat is their most important source of water. When they eat they will purposely hang upside down or on their backs to keep from losing any of the juice. Since the fruits that are common in the kinkajous diet are seasonal they will also eat frogs, insects, honey and bird eggs.
The Kinkajous play a very important role to the ecology of the tropical rainforests. They are important pollinators and seed dispersers an important role that is not filled by any other carnivore. For example, when a kinkajou feeds, pollen adheres to its face and it is then deposited on other plants as the animal moves throughout the treetops (Myer).
The kinkajou becomes sexually mature between 18 and 20 months. Males reach maturity at about 1.5 years and females at 2.5 years. The female is in heat about every three months. Out in their natural habitat the kinkajous usually avoid each other except when mating. The female kinkajou will give birth to only one or two cubs per year. The gestation period ranges from three to four months and usually only one cub is born at a time. Births in the wild usually occur between April and December. The cubs are born with their eyes and ears shut. Within two to six weeks after birth they will open and in about another three to six weeks the tail becomes prehensile. The mother kinkajou is very protective of her offspring. She will carry the infant upside down below her chest to protect it from any danger (Anonymous).
Kinkajous live approximately 20 to 25 years. Their main predators in the wild include the tayra, fox, jaguarundi, jaguar, ocelot and humans. They are often hunted for their meat and fur. The kinkajou is not currently on the endangered species list, however their status in the wild is threatened. Deforestation and fur hunting have taken a significant toll on the current population of kinkajous (Anonymous).
One of the main reasons that kinkajous interest me is that many people keep them as pets. Although it is not recommended to do many wildlife lovers keep them as pets because they are very playful and friendly except when they are just getting up from a nap. I have looked into buying a kinkajou for myself, but it does get quite expensive since you have to buy their food and a cage for them. Another fact that interests me about these animals is that there is still some mystery surrounding how they live in the wild regarding their social structure. I would like to be able to look more into their social lives and see if they prefer to live in groups or if they truly do live solitary in the canopies in the rainforests.
The most research being done over kinkajous is basically trying to disprove that kinkajous live in solitary unless they are mating and that they are true carnivores. By scientific definition the kinkajou is a carnivore based on its sharp teeth, but it has been proven by research that they eat mostly fruits and rarely eat anything else unless fruits are not available. As for their social interactions research is still being done, but it is becoming more and more apparent that the kinkajous might actually interact with one another such as primates do.
Kays, R.W., & Gittleman, J.L. (1995). Home range size and social behavior of kinkajous (potos flavus) in the republic of panama. The Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation, 27(4), 530-534. Stable URL:
The kinkajou (/ˈkɪŋkədʒuː/ KING-kə-joo; Potos flavus) is a tropical rainforest mammal of the family Procyonidae related to olingos, coatis, raccoons, and the ringtail and cacomistle. It is the only member of the genus Potos and is also known as the "honey bear" (a name that it shares with the unrelated sun bear). Kinkajous are arboreal, a lifestyle they evolved independently; they are not closely related to any other tree-dwelling mammal group (primates, some mustelids, etc.).
The common name "kinkajou" derives from French: quincajou, based on the Algonquian name for the wolverine. It is similar to the Ojibwe word kwinkwaʔake.[3][4] Its other names in English include honey bear, night ape, and night walker. Throughout its range, several regional names are used; for instance, the Dutch names nachtaap, rolbeer, and rolstaartbeer are used in Suriname. Many names come from Portuguese, Spanish, and local dialects, such as jupará, huasa, cuchi cuchi, leoncillo, marta, perro de monte, and yapará.[2][5]
A. M. Husson, of the Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie (Leiden), discussed the rather complicated nomenclature of the kinkajou in The Mammals of Suriname (1978).[5] In his 1774 work Die Säugethiere in Abbildungen nach der Natur, Schreber listed three items under the name "Lemur flavus Penn.": on page 145 is a short translation of Pennant's description of the yellow maucauco (later identified to be Lemur mongoz, presently known as the mongoose lemur) from his 1771 work A Synopsis of Quadrupeds (page 138, second figure on plate 16); on plate 42 is a depiction of the yellow maucauco by Schreber; the last item is a reference to A Synopsis of Quadrupeds itself.[6] Husson noted that the last item is actually Pennant's description of an animal that is clearly a kinkajou. Husson therefore concluded that Lemur flavus is actually a "composite species" based on Schreber's specimen of the mongoose lemur and Pennant's specimen of the kinkajou, and identified the latter as the lectotype for the species.[7] The type locality reported by Schreber for L. flavus ("the mountains in Jamaica") was clearly based on Pennant's description of the kinkajou, who claimed, however, that his specimen was "shown about three years ago in London: its keeper said it came from the mountains of Jamaica".[5] This error was pointed out by Thomas in 1902, who corrected the type locality to Suriname. He used the name Potos flavus for the kinkajou.[8] The genus Potos was erected by Saint-Hilaire and Cuvier in 1795, with the type species Viverra caudivolvula described by Schreber in 1778 (later identified as a synonym of Potos flavus).[2][9] In 1977 the family Cercoleptidae was proposed with the kinkajou as the sole member, but this classification was later dismissed.[2][10] 041b061a72