I was feeding a wild one yesterday in the park. It was less than a year old..and was very friendly. It walked right up to me as I was feeing squirrels and raccoons. It didn't smell at all, and was DAMN cute. It muched away at the cookes I was dropping on the ground.
I woudn't want to have one go through surgery to remove its scent glands, though it would have to be done to live in a house. I wonder how easy it would be to raise one domestically?
Answers:
Good points about skunks as pets
1. Affectionate and reasonably smart.
2. Can be potty trained with a lot of persistence.
Some points to ponder.
1. Will steal stuff for their bedding.
2. Sometimes *very* demanding of affection- a kind of "pet me now" attitude.
3. Will need a veterinarian who knows a bit about exotics.
4. Need a varied diet. If you give him cookies too much you have will have a problem.
5. Can be stubborn.
6. Are illegal in some areas.
In short, people have kept skunks as pets. If you are going to descent him, then make sure he is within the house because you cannot let him out (he is more vulnerable to predators). Also, if he is unusually friendly, he may have rabies, so watch him from a distance for a while to make sure it is just a skunk that is used to people.
There are some wonderful resources you can check out about Skunks as pets
http://exoticpets.about.com/cs/skunks/a/.
and
http://www.skunksaspets.com/ (highly recommended)
Good luck.
Yeah actually there are skunk breeders. Their scent glands are removed and they are put up for adoption. My grandfather had one. I was told that it is a lot like having a cat.
I do not think it would be a good idea to have a pet skunk that was not born in captivity and has not had its sent glands removed.
i think so. people do keep them as pets but definetly take it to the vet for testing and all and get it deskunked
Of course! If no one knows.
Try to grab that skunk and see how cute he is! You can have the scent glands removed, but you will smell awful for weeks after capturing it.
Why do you look around and see if you can order one from a pet store.
Good Luck and Take Care
Yes I have heard of skunks being domesticated. They remove the sacs that hold the scent and then they are ready for adoption. I wouldn't suggest it though. It is best to keep wild animals in the wild unless it is too tame to survive. Thats like declawing a tiger and trying to keep it as a pet.
Yes, you can domesticate a skunk. You would want to remove it's scent gland though. Since they would be living in your house, this wouldn't be cruel. They litter box train quite easily. The one thing you would have to check is whether or not it is legal in your state. It's not legal in ours. I checked out having a pet skunk because my daughter wanted one, but sadly enough it's not legal in our state. There are lots of sites that tell you about owning them and where they are legal.
Good luck!
yes.. but you either have to get those glands attended to or it has to wear a garment.
i forgot what the garment's name is but it's silly looking and the skunk looks embarrassed.
It may be possible that the one you were feeding may have been someones pet at one point. Most areas restrict the allowable colors for pet skunks to colors that arent the standard skunk pattern to avoid them being released outside. For some good info on pet skunks:
http://www.skunkhaven.net/
What was your reason for calling me a homophobe? I found that very offensive especially since you don't know me. Is it because I'm a closet gay? If so, I have my reasons for not coming out. One reason is because I'm not ready. Two, I have a husband and daughter. Don't judge me. You wouldn't like being judged.
I think you can domesticate skunks. You can get them de skunked, and they only spray if the sense danger. They are no different than ferrets. I would say keep it as a pet. I would.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment