Husbandry and Housing of Common Marmosets

Abstract The history of husbandry practices used to manage captive marmoset colonies in the United States has been defined by trial and error along with extrapolation from common husbandry practices used to maintain other species of Callitrichidae such as Saguinus spp. Use of the common marmoset ( Callithrix jacchus ) as a research model has increased over the past 30 years, yet resources outlining appropriate husbandry practices are limited. In 1985, Dr. Martin Morin offered a “discouraging analysis” of the then current state of husbandry practices and model development for the tamarins and marmosets. Over 30 years later, information on how to house and care for marmosets when new colonies are established is still often provided by direct contact with management staff of source colonies. Due perhaps to a lack of published reference literature and standardized housing and husbandry practices, there remains substantial variation in management practices across marmoset colonies. This chapter presents an overview of the husbandry practices utilized in several modern marmoset research colonies.