[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Considering a skunk as a pet? Some of the skunk's personality traits can make them a challenge to live with - they are active and curious, and will get into everything. They are also prone to stealing items to make their beds softer. They can be stubborn and headstrong. Fortunately they are also friendly, loving and very entertaining and playful.
Skunks are members of the weasel family (Mustelidae). There are four species of skunk in North America: striped skunks (Mephitis mephitis), hooded skunks (M. macroura), spotted skunks (Spilogale putorius), and scarce hognosed skunks (Conepatus mesoleucus).
Skunks are generally nocturnal and begin foraging at sunset. Skunks are omnivorous and help keep the rodent population in check. They often travel five to ten miles within their territory at night looking for field mice and other small rodents as well as lizards, frogs, birds, eggs, garbage, acorns, and fallen fruit. Photo by Hal S. Korber
They also dig for insects, especially beetles, larvae, and earthworms. Their diet includes black widow spiders and scorpions. Being carrion eaters, they help keep roadways and neighborhoods clean. An estimated 70 percent of a skunk's diet consists of insects considered harmful to humans.
There are four different kinds of skunks found in the United States. The spotted and striped skunks are the most widely distributed and therefore more likely to come into contact with people. The hooded and hog-nosed skunks are rarer and found mostly in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. The spotted skunk prefers the country and spends most of its life near farms. The striped skunk is more adaptable and lives in a variety of habitats.
Skunks are placid, retiring and non-aggressive. They try very hard not to get in harm’s way. They have a home range of a few hundred acres at most. They are primarily nocturnal and usually solitary – except when mothers are raising their babies. They are active throughout the year, but in northern areas, they spend the coldest parts of the winter in their dens.
Handling Skunks
Skunks are a mixture of personalities and much like a cat when first introduced. Much like a dog, they require much handling and maintenance.
The more you gently handle and fondle your baby skunk, the more docile it will be when it grows up. The more you hold and talk to a baby skunk, the more love will come your way from this skunk as it grows. More homes have been cleaned, meals prepared or football games watched with a baby skunk snuggled inside a T-shirt tucked into a waistband than you could ever imagine. Being this close to you, the baby skunk will learn that it is great to be part of your family as you protect it and calm it down, feeling warm and wonderful all over that you are its new Mom or Dad!
To play with a baby pet skunk, it is possible to get on one's hands and knees, and playfully tap the floor with the fingers of one hand, while moving the hand toward the skunk. They quickly get the idea, and will respond with a sort of cat-like rearing up and coming down on their front feet. However, as they make their move, they will be looking you straight in the eyes, while aiming, with tail raised high, their potent "weapon" directly at your eyes simultaneously. (They do the same in the wild when threatened.)
It is better to avoid playing rough with baby skunks, or they may become aggressive as they get older. Bare hands can be used for loving and cuddling the skunk, but a stuffed toy or hand puppet should be used when playing with them due to their sharp teeth and extremely long fangs.
Spanking or hitting a skunk is not recommended, since it will cause him to become vengeful. Discipline should be in the tone and volume of voice. A squirt from a spray bottle may be helpful
Housebreaking Skunks
Most skunks can be housebroken by corner training. After they choose a corner, a litter pan with unscented litter can be placed there. If the skunk misses the litter pan, after cleanup, the area should be saturated with plain white vinegar to remove the scent, so that they will not return to that spot.
After the skunk's bathroom has been established, it can be moved about four inches a day to a different location. The skunk may or may not follow. If he doesn't, it may be necessary to give in, let the skunk have that corner, and block the view with a chair or bookcase placed in the corner or some other decorative idea.
For covered cat litter boxes, it will probably be necessary to cut a larger opening for the skunk. With any litter pan, bear in mind that regular cleaning is necessary since skunks will avoid a dirty bathroom.
Some owners have reported that their skunk could not be corner-trained or taught to use a litter box, according to Skunk Haven's Deborah Cipriani.
Letting skunks outside by themselves is risky since, like ferrets, they lack a homing instinct and can easily get lost. Descented skunks lack their most powerful defense against predators such as coyotes and foxes. Their nearsightedness also makes them susceptible to becoming roadkill.
Skunk Diet
Skunks require fresh all natural ingredients in their diet in order to thrive. With the guidance of leading veterinarians, Exotic Nutrition formulated a nutritionally balanced diet from the freshest all natural ingredients available.
Do not feed cat food under any circumstance.
Offer Exotic Nutritions' VITA-SKUNK as a food supplement (CONTAINS TAURINE), Vita-Skunk is a nutritional dietary supplement highly recommended for skunks. It was developed with the aid of a leading holistic veterinarian. This blend of vitamins, minerals, and Amino acids and will help ensure that your skunk receives proper daily nutrition.
Premium Skunk Diet contains the essential nutrients required for growth, maintenance, and reproduction. Combined with fruits & vegetables it provides superior nutrition for all life stages.
We recommend Exotic Nutritions' Premium Skunk Diet to be fed, along with a mixture of vegetables each day, with treats of dairy, nuts, eggs and other high calorie foods. By giving them as treats, weight is easier to control.
Skunks generally do not drink a great deal of water, but clean water should always be available.
Make sure your skunk eats regularly. Never let a skunk go a day without eating. Try favorite foods, meat, fruit, yogurt. If your skunk won't eat, force feed pureed foods if necessary. Adults should be fed twice each day.
Monitor the weight of your skunk and make sure it is not getting too fat or to thin. A simple technique to determine how much fat an adult skunk has is to feel the base of the tail, there should be a ball of fat that gently tapers down the tail. If there is no fat at the base of the tail, you can feel the bones of the tail easily, the skunk is too thin. If you can't easily feel the bones about two-thirds of the way down the tail the skunk is getting overweight.
Fresh vegetables- broccoli, cauliflower, bok choy, napa, yellow squash, zucchini, green peppers, turnip, parsley root, dandelion, parsnip root, corn, peas, sugar snap peas, carrots, black carrots, endive, romaine lettuce, brussels sprouts, egg plant, green beans, wax beans, broccoli slaw, cole slaw, tomatoes, mushrooms, cucumbers, beets (watch for red poop), avocado (skin and seed are toxic), purple cabbage, alfalfa, bean sprouts, Spanish olive (few times a month), celery, cooked vegetables - potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, acorn squash, butternut squash.
Fruits: - pear, apple, blueberries, melon, banana, strawberry, cranberries (once in a great while)
Veterinary Care
Baby skunks from the pet store generally have not had any medical treatment other than scent gland removal, and will require spaying or neutering, shots, and worming. They will need to be tested for coccidia and other protozoa as well as parasites. Skunks also need to have regular yearly checkups.
Veterinary understanding of skunks is rather limited, since scientists have not conducted as much research on skunks as they have on more common pets. Skunks do not always respond to medicines the same way as cats or dogs. As a result, there is considerable disagreement about how best to treat them. Some veterinarians say they are in the hamster family and treat them as such. However, Hamsters are from the Rodent family while Skunks are in their own family the Mephitidae which is unrelated.
There are several different pet skunk organizations giving out conflicting advice on skunk care. Particularly in the medical realm, it is wise to consult multiple sources rather than rely on any one source of information from the Internet.
Spaying/neutering: Males should be neutered between 3 and 4 months of age. Females should be spayed between 4 and 6 months of age.
Vaccinations: Most skunk organizations recommend Galaxy DA2PPvL+Cv and Eclipse 4 given as a baby and then a yearly booster.Some veterinarians do not recommend giving skunks even these common shots, since they were developed for dogs and cats.
Declawing: Skunks should not be declawed, since they use their claws to handle food. Instead, their claws should be trimmed occasionally. Skunks have "digging" claws like dogs, as opposed to "ripping" claws like cats.
Roundworms: Many skunks have died from roundworms. Baylisascaris columnaris is the species that infests skunks most commonly. Baylisascaris eggs can remain viable in the environment for many years, despite hot or freezing weather or certain harsh chemicals.
Skunks can be infested with roundworms for several weeks before eggs begin to be shed in feces. It is common for new skunks to have roundworms, which may be too early in development to be detected by fecal tests. Skunk experts agree that all new skunks need to be treated for roundworms, and that more than one treatment is needed. Diagnostic Parasitologist Matt Bolek recommends that "A deworming program should probably start at 7-8 weeks of age and deworm biweekly for 3-4 treatments".
Sun Apr 01, 2012 5:56 pm
