Pet Skunks

[SweetPeasMommie]

Anyone have a pet Skunk at all.

My hubby and I are going to get 2 baby pet skunks after our dog passes away. Which will be quite a few years though.

We have been very interested in them. If any of you owned one, what is the best forum to go to.

 

[tort]

I had one as a kid way back in the day.lol It was actually a baby that stayed close to the house and I would feed it and it actually got to be very friendly to me. My folk's where a little worried since it was still a wild animal and they where known to carry rabies in the area we live in Wyoming and also that he wasn't dissented.

He never sprayed me or the dogs and really wasn't to worried about them either. The only big problem I had with him was when I tried to bring him into the house because I thought it was too cold outside for him.

I would dig up night crawlers and grub worms for him. He would actually stand up on his hind legs and beg for them.

I also had a baby badger that I actually had to bottle feed until I got one of our dogs that had puppies to be a foster mom for him. Not sure he ever figured out that he was a badger not a dog. He lived with us for about 6 yrs before he got out and a farmer thought he was wild and shot him. Another rabies carrier.

Keep us informed on how your search is going!

 

[Bassetluv]

I've never owned a skunk, but a long-distance coworker friend (she lives in Texas, but we exchange emails weekly along with work info) had one several years ago. His name was Puumbaa, and I'm not sure how many years she had him, but she told me that of all the pets she'd had in her life, he was one of her most treasured, and she took his death very hard when he passed. He would sleep with her dog - a husky - all curled up and snuggly...apparently they were the best of friends...and she said that he had a cute habit of sleeping on his back with his tummy exposed. He was into everything and she had to 'Puumbaa-proof' her house, as his curiosity was always on high alert. Her skunk was a rescue after someone found him wandering near his mom's body at the side of the road. He was still a baby, still nursing, and so my friend was called and she took him in...and he stole her heart.

 

[SweetPeasMommie]

What a cute story. Keep them coming.

Basketluv that is really sweet. I bet she took it hard too.

tort, I am sorry for what your neighbor did to your badger. That is mean though.

 

[Mom of Joy and Love]

My Mom had two pet skunks, PU (came with that name from Petstore) "Positively Unique" and later Hyacinth from a skunk breeder. I had one too for awhile, Galaxy, but we had to find a new home for him because he tormented the dogs.
First find out if your state/county/city allows pet skunks. They are considered wild animals and banned in many areas, including ours now. If they catch you with one where they’re banned you face a fine and the removal of your pet with possible PTS.
Second only get from a reliable Skunk Breeder. Do not take one from the wild. Skunks may be carriers of rabies w/o having it themselves.
Ours were all descented and lived long happy lives. They loved to play with raw eggs and could climb over most gates.

Please check the laws first regarding them for your’s and their sake.

 

[Bo B Bunny]

If you plan on keeping them inside.... prepare for a stench. Even getting their scent glands removed, they have that skunky smell. Sort of like how ferrets are.

When I was a kid, a neighbor had a skunk. I absolutely loved her. They wanted to give her to me cause she stunk and they wanted to find her a home, but my mom wouldn't let me have her.

I'd love to have one if I ever get a place where I could keep a separate "housing" area for it.

 

[TinysMom]

I owned a pet skunk in 1976/1977. My mom's boss's son had him and the mother didn't want him anymore. His name was Edward.

He lived in our garage and I frequently took him outside to play. At the time I had him - my parents were going through a nasty divorce - and dad came by one day to "take" (aka "steal") the really nice riding lawn mower from the garage (while mom was at work and I was at school). I learned later how proud he was that after seeing we had a skunk locked in the garage by mistake - he "tricked" it into going into the bottom of an old dead stove we kept out in the garage - and then he used the rake handle to close the drawer. Ha Ha Ha. What he didn't know is - the skunk used that drawer for his bed.

Unfortunately, the skunk got out one time by mistake and got away from home - we'd had him a year or so. Mom forgot to tell the neighbors to watch out for him (they didn't know we had him) so when he went in their garage they shooed him out - and he was never seen again.

I still love remembering how he'd stomp his feet and lift his tail when he got mad. (He was descented).

I want to have a skunk again so badly - but Art says "no". I understand why...I really do...but I think that other than Tiny - Edward was one of my most memorable pets......

 

[Bo B Bunny]

They are cute aren't they?! I bet he was fun! That skunk I knew would get mad and do that feet stompy thing..... but only with the dog LOL! She loved me and would climb into my lap for kisses.

 

[SweetPeasMommie]

Here is something all you rabbit loves can see.

Peaches the Skunk gets mad at Buttermaker the rabbit for eating all her food.

Listen to her get angry too. lol too cute.
[ame]http://youtube.com/watch?v=HnGHTgmCym8[/ame]

Thank you for your wonderful stories keep them coming. We will look into Pa laws to see. I believe they are legal in Pa.

 

[Bo B Bunny]

OMG What a brat LOL!

 

[TinysMom]

Wow - my skunk never made noises like that video.

Four years ago, for a short time I "sorta" had a pet skunk (2 really) and an oppossum (sp?). I was the "cat lady" for the area and put out cat food on the back porch where we had a sliding glass door. Towards the end of our time living there - I would see a mama skunk and a younger skunk come and eat the food and one night I saw an oppossum too. I was really scared that there would be a fight but because I put food out in two bowls....on either end of the porch...there wasn't a fight.

Its the same sliding glass door that I have a picture of Tiny and Tio laying in front of...Tiny LOVED laying in front of that door and looking outside.

Anyway - we bought our house and moved less than3 miles but the skunks and oppossum couldn't move with me. I sorta miss them....

 

[juliew19673]

My Best Friends mom lives out in the wilds of Oregon and has "raised" wild skunks; ie., she had fed one, who then brought her babies up each spring (going on 12 years now) and "She" and the babies have never been a problem smell wise (she also has a number of cats and dogs) other than when the coyotes would scare her or attack her young..

She has video of the skunk coming up to her screen daily, on a schedule, to get food and to "present" her offspring; the cats and dogs always "played" with the skunk and the babies as NO ONE in the animal kingdom messes with them unless they are coyotes and starving..

I even see them here in Los Angeles - and they are SO CUTE - waddling across the road like they have nothing to fear.. good luck and dying to see video/photos!!!

 

[DAYNSH]

Bo B Bunny wrote:

If you plan on keeping them inside.... prepare for a stench. Even getting their scent glands removed, they have that skunky smell. Sort of like how ferrets are.

When I was a kid, a neighbor had a skunk. I absolutely loved her. They wanted to give her to me cause she stunk and they wanted to find her a home, but my mom wouldn't let me have her.

I'd love to have one if I ever get a place where I could keep a separate "housing" area for it.

All animals have a smell, but I beg to differ, ferrets don't really smell unless you neglect them. I have three fuzzies, and have had no problems with odor, unless I don't clean their cages. They do have a slight musky odor, but nothing as bad as a skunk...

My neighbor had one that he kept in a cage in his house when I was a kid, talk about stinky! my eyes used to water!! I believe he said that it was descented too...

With any type of pet you are going to have "pet smell" Even Bunnies...You just gotta take care of them!!

 

[Bo B Bunny]

That's why I said "sort of" but...... it's all in opinion and how our bodies react to smells. Lots of stuff to consider.Also, I think the musty smell is... really yucky! but I know it doesn't bother some people, but I LOVE ferrets and would love to have one myself! They are such little bandits! and yours are really cute!

We have a neighbor with a ferret who is bathed all the time, the cage and all the contents are washed weekly and she still is stinky! not horrible but enough to know when you walk in the door that there's a ferret in the house!

Now, with that in mind - a skunk's litterbox is yucky! and yes you need to keep it cleaned. Some cats can be stinkier than others... poo can be awful!

I have a bunny (Tony) who can make your eyes water in one poop session! and I own sheep which trump all other animals! Their pee will kill you!

:vomit:

 

[tort]

Bo B Bunny wrote:

We have a neighbor with a ferret who is bathed all the time, the cage and all the contents are washed weekly and she still is stinky! not horrible but enough to know when you walk in the door that there's a ferret in the house!

Tell your neighbor that he is washing his ferret too much. He is stripping it of it's natural oils and that makes it produce more so that it stinks. He should only wash it once a month or only if it really needs it. Also depending on the food that the fert is feed can make it smell too. High quality food or a natural diet helps reduce the oder.