These awesome little critters have got to be absolutely the neatest pets around. A friend of mine named his coati T.C. for “Too Cool.” Coatis have all those desirable attributes of a good exotic pet. They are not nocturnal, have no body odor or scent glands, are very active, don’t tend to run away from home, they eat a variety of foods, and have lots of personality.
We have been raising Coatimundi here since 1990, and of all the wide variety of pets we’ve had, the Coatimundi has to be by far the most entertaining. They make you fall in love with them.
You may want a large cage to keep your coati in on occasions, but for the most part, I have not found this to be necessary. Of course all the cabinets in my house now have baby proof latches up high. Yes they can open a doorknob. Coatimundi and children should have parental supervision when playing together. The more time you spend with your coati the better pet it will be. They do well with a v-necked harness and leash. |
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Coatimundi are perpetual 2 year old children, being very active and requiring, or rather demanding, a lot of attention. The energizer bunny hasn’t got a thing on these guys. As a juvenile, they want to play rough and fight so always use some kind of a toy, stuffed animal, kitchen towel, or whatever is nearby and handy for them to chew on instead of your hands. Don’t teach them to bite. As they get bigger, this becomes rougher and begins to hurt. I have found holding its little nose helps alleviate the biting problem. Coatis like to play with little cat toys, especially things that make noise. Fisher Price toys and baby toys are also favorites. A bored coati will develop bad habits such as biting and tearing up things. A squirt bottle of water also helps with discipline. Coati are very protective of their possessions, like food or toys. Aversion is the best bite preventative there is. If
you get bit when you do something, then don’t do that thing. To take something away from them, just give them something better.
If in the winter, you keep your coati outside of the house, it will need an enclosed heated area to get out of the cold. Anything below 40 degrees, and their tails will literally freeze off.
To be a well adjusted humanized pet, a coati should be bottle raised from the age of 3 weeks old. During the period from 3-12 weeks of age, it is especially important to give the coati lots of attention. |
