Author Spotlight
Isabel Baldassaro
Walking into the aux gym with a tiny swaddle blanket, East mom Toni Skelton gets confused looks, followed by people craning their necks to see the bundle squirming in her arms. Conversation quickly arises.
“Is that a real monkey?”
“OMG I’ve always wanted a monkey!”
“How did you get it?”
In September 2024, Toni drove 16 hours to Houston to pick up her new pet.
But her new pet wasn’t just the typical golden retriever or tabby cat — it was a baby spider monkey named Oakley Reign, like an oak tree because wild monkeys live in trees.
Now, two-pound Oakley goes on many adventures with her family. She loves people, making it easy for the family to take her wherever they go, including Toni’s son, freshman Bronson Skelton’s basketball games.
“I take her [to the games] and get her socialized with everyone because it’s important to socialize your monkey so that they don’t get attached to one person,” Toni said.
Bronson says he has no problem with Oakley being at the games and enjoys showing her off to his teammates and friends. He often sees his mom handing her over to shocked parents who can’t believe a real monkey is at a Prairie Village basketball game.
But, it’s easier to get a spider monkey than you’d think. Tori says being in the “monkey community” grants her many connections with monkey owners around the area.
Toni has multiple friends in Kansas and Missouri who own and foster many different breeds of monkeys, so she’s learned the personalities and care requirements of each one. They often keep up with news on rescue monkeys, which is how she discovered Oakley.
After hearing that Oakley was a Spider Monkey — one of the most intelligent breeds in the world — she immediately took the offer. She had loved horses and monkeys since she was little, and after previously owning horses, all she needed was a monkey.
“When I got to the time and age where I was ready to get a monkey, I decided to reach out to some of my friends who own monkeys themselves to figure out what type of monkey I wanted to fit my lifestyle.”
At only four months old, Oakley has grown extremely close to both Bronson and his friends. When he first got her, up to ten kids would be there to meet her every day after school. Now, people are still there almost daily, but usually only in groups of two to five.
“[At first] I was actually against [getting a monkey] because I’ve heard they can be crazy,” Bronson said. “But the first hour I was with her [my opinions] immediately changed, and I was in love with her, so now we’re just best friends.”
Oakley is a playful and energetic asset to the Skelton family. Only leaving their side to sleep and play in her perfectly manicured, private bedroom, Toni says she’s raised just like a human baby.
“She sleeps in a bassinet with a dome lid and we have a mini crib for her and a changing table,” Toni said. “She wears diapers everyday, she has little clothes that she wears so right now she can wear preemie clothes but we also have clothes made for her size and type of monkey.”
Spider monkeys have to be trained similarly to dogs— when people come over, Oakley runs around the house and plays. It isn’t until nighttime that she sleeps in her bassinet to train her similar to dogs with their crates.
At first, Bronson was the one texting people to come over and meet Oakley. But soon enough, the word of his exotic pet traveled throughout the freshmen class.
One of his friends, freshman Gabe Sherry, says he visits Oakley frequently, who he feels well acquainted with.
“Once I met Oakley and she warmed up to me I thought [she] was awesome,” Sherry said.”Now everytime I see her she runs up to me and grabs my hair to play.”
Being on the basketball team himself, Sherry says he’ll often see her in the stands surrounded by the opposing team’s parents and siblings, adding comfort to a usually tense setting.
“They’re all amazed by the monkey,” Sherry said. “It’s a unique environment now that separates us from a lot of other schools because not a lot of schools have a parent with a monkey.”
Leave a Reply