# Another Thread of Skunk Q's!!



## GazEmm (Jul 11, 2006)

I have been considering getting a skunk for a while now but the misses was not originally sold on the idea, simply becuase she thought they were just smelly, nasty creatures HAHA

She has now been talked around so we are considering getting one in a few months time. I have read a few care sheets on them but have got a little confused and also want to make sure the American way of doing things is the same as the UK...i know sometimes the two differ. For example the grapes issue, ive read a few sites reccommend them but yet read the problem someone had with them recently on here!!

Anyway, here goes my initial questioning...

1) What size enclosure would be suitable for a skunk to be kept in during the day whilst me and the misses are at work? Also i suppose, is it seen as acceptable for one to be left for a 'normal' working day on their own? It would be out to free roam all the time we are home.

2) Does anyone have a good guide for diets? Ive read a few guides but have to be honest it goes over my head a little...they quote things like 'they need 10% protein a day'?? Im not being blatently lazy and could get nutritional info on foods and work it all out from scratch...but i thought there may be a simpler, more 'to the point' guide.

3) Whats the deal with injections/worming etc? As in, exactly what injections and tablets are required, how often etc? I will make sure i find a vet who knows skunks before i go ahead but would feel a lot more confortable if i knew exactly what was needed so nothing would be missed/miss-sold by a conning vets!! Plus if i know these things i can test any potential vets :whistling2:

Any help appreciated.

Gaz.


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## Kylie (Mar 12, 2006)

nerys!!!!!!!:Na_Na_Na_Na:






:lol2:


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## ichis-mom (May 25, 2008)

*nerys*

talk to nerys she has much experience with skunks and everything iv needed to know i got from her (and she has 8 of her own) and has a list of for sale ones :Na_Na_Na_Na:


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## GazEmm (Jul 11, 2006)

Yeah i'm hoping she will be along to help...i know there are a few others here who know their stuff when it comes to skunks as well :whistling2:

Thought i'd put a post up mind firstly so as im not hassling individuals with millions of PM's :lol2: but the things i have asked may help others in the future as well.


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## Emmaj (Dec 3, 2007)

GazEmm said:


> I have been considering getting a skunk for a while now but the misses was not originally sold on the idea, simply becuase she thought they were just smelly, nasty creatures HAHA
> 
> She has now been talked around so we are considering getting one in a few months time. I have read a few care sheets on them but have got a little confused and also want to make sure the American way of doing things is the same as the UK...i know sometimes the two differ. For example the grapes issue, ive read a few sites reccommend them but yet read the problem someone had with them recently on here!!
> 
> ...


 
i dont know as much as nerys does but hope that helps a little


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## Nerys (Apr 18, 2005)

lol, yes indeedy, i am not the only skunk keeper in the RFUKvillage.. lol.. 

(although i am in my own village *grins*)

and for that matter, the way i "do" things is not the same as some of the other skunk keepers.. however, there are things we have in common.. and we all have, at the moment, happy healthy skunks.. which just goes to show that as much as anyone can tell you one way or another, the best way is the way that works for you and your animal.. what i do, or what ray and lou do, or what pendlehog (and the others around..) does.. there are elements you can take or not take from all of us..

Here, i have currently 3 skunks in large pens in the animal room. they are 3 males, they are all entire, and for their health and the girls health, at the moment they are not run in a pack. i would prefer to have them all in the house it has to be said tho. Teyah Holly and Elsie currently live in the single sparebedroom, they do come out and about, although teyah being the shyest is the least often seen. Snuff lives, at the moment, under the wardrobe in the main bedroom.. next to my side of the bed. she of them all is the most free roaming, although generally unless i wake her specifically, she does not surface until the evening. Snuff and the girls are restricted to upstairs and the hall during the night time, the office is shut (apart from anything else the richardsons ground squirrels often get out overnight and live under my desk, and she would have them for dinner if she got a chance) and the lounge room, where things like my boas live at the moment, is also shut. 

my life however is far from the normal.. 

enclosure size.. hard one this. there is no right answer in many ways. i know people with 3 year old mature females who use, as a den, a large indoor rabbit cage. she, Niff, does not pace at all. during the day, she sleeps in her nest in the corner of it.. in the evening she is out, until they go to bed, when she goes away again. she is used to the routine, perfectly content in her cage when she is not out, and shows no signs of trauma. on the other hand, not all skunks take to this, and certainly not all young ones. once they come into the second year they seem to be more set in their patterns.. they get used to your routine and tend to be about when you are, and asleep when you are not. personally, although i love having them free range. when they are young i shut them away when i am not about. not all people agree with this and not all do this. however. i know of several cases now where had they have been shut into a safe area.. a lot less heartbreak would have followed. no matter how careful you are. they are devils and can, and will, get into what they choose. skunk proofing is essential, i cannot stress that enough. and skunks can i am sure open bolts and simple drop locks.. be warned!

if you have an area you can define as a skunk area for when you are not there, that would be ideal. here i am lucky and have a spare room i can use. some people pen off part of their living space with baby gates and the like.. maybe you have a large alcove.. or odd shaped room you can think of making an area in. skunks can climb well, i dont care what anyone tells you to the contrary.. they can climb!!!! so if you are penning off an area, make sure you do it with non-climb walls! other people use large dog crates or large indoor rabbit cages... i personally think the indoor rabbit cages are fine as youngsters.. but too small for adults as a den area.. although as said having said that i know of one adult who is just fine in the exact same ones i know have driven others stir crazy. again a lot comes down to the individual skunk and the individual owner and their routine.

would i reccomend having a safe area to confine your skunk to when you are away. in short. yes. how big.. as big as you can fit into your house.. 

diet. well this is another one we all differ on. me. i feed mainly fresh chopped veg, topped with things like cottage cheese, yoghurt, and i add chicken, egg, tuna also. 

most people follow something similar. bar the diary. the dairy element is one that not all people agree with feeding. personally, i feed it. i know i feed it more than say, ray and lou and marie would.. 

at the moment, as a rough guide.. my adults, once a day, get a heaped large mug of chopped veg with a couple of slices of fruit
(apple/pear/sharon fruit/apricot/papaya/banana/mango/nectarine/peach/kiwi/melon) depends whats i chop that day as to which. 

this is roughly 2-300 grams of veg i think.. on top of that they get a small dessert spoon of cottage cheese, or the same of yoghurt. and then finally they get about 40-50g of roast chicken.. thats basically about 3-5 human small bite size chunks.. or something like a heaped spoon of tuna.. or a boiled egg..

as babies, they get a bit more protein (chicken/egg/tuna/dairy) and as much veg as they will eat on a daily basis. young skunks need to be fed more than adult skunks, little and often is good for babies.. quanah nibbles throughout the day on bits here and there. if you have more than one baby, you might want to consider splitting them at dinner time. as i found last year, food fights can be quite fierce.. and some will bully others away from the dish if they can.

worming, i think most of us use panacur. i use the dog and cat wormers.. orally given via a syringe, one click per kilo of skunk. timing varies from skunk owner to skunk owner, however i think its safe to say most do it every few months at least.

jabs. again several minds on this one. some have cat and dog jabs, some just dog. the current information from the states only reccomends having the the dog ones. i did read a post where they mentioned things not to have, so i will dig that out later. the forum i use for skunks is a proboards US site called Stripped Bandits. if you google stripped bandits forum you will find it  there are people from the UK on there aswell as some lovely people from the USA. yes, they do things different in some ways, but at the end of the day, we are all skunk keepers.. there is no one right way, but many of ways that can be combined to make your own best way for you and yours.

hope that helps a bit, anything else you are interested in feel free to ask, i am sure i have forgotten bits here and there, but i have to dash and catch the post office.. and its just started to thunder.. nice!

oh.. one thing we all agree on in the main, at least on this board.. don't feed grapes.. !!

N


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## GazEmm (Jul 11, 2006)

Both those threads are exactly the kind of thing i was after, so thanks to Nerys and Emmaj for that. It covers a lot of what i wanted to know!!

However, it has made me think of a couple more so, without further a-do, here goes...

4) I do have a built in cupboard/alcove kind of thing in a room where my ferrets and rats are kept, but would it be seen as an issue to keep a skunk in the same room due to smells etc? Obvioulsy they wouldnt be out to free roam together but not sure if the smells may cause stress!!

5) The cupboard/alcove doesnt have the biggest floor space, maybe 6ftx2ft...obviously this isn't good enough but if i split it into multiple floors with ladders between would this be any good? Was thinking maybe enclose the lower floor somehow and fill it with something it can dig in? This is just an 'off the top of my head' idea mind, may not be suitable.

6) Are they very social animals, like say ferrets, and are 2 skunks better than 1? Or is the interaction it would have all afternoon/evening suffice?

Thats it...for now at lesat anyway :Na_Na_Na_Na:


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## Emmaj (Dec 3, 2007)

GazEmm said:


> Both those threads are exactly the kind of thing i was after, so thanks to Nerys and Emmaj for that. It covers a lot of what i wanted to know!!
> 
> However, it has made me think of a couple more so, without further a-do, here goes...
> 
> ...


 wouldnt house them in with any small rodents or ferrets you would come back to a blood bath the skunk will kill the rodents and unsupervised with the ferrets i wouldnt want to chance what could happen 

skunks are social but not in the same sense as rats or ferrets Skunks will bond to you so will quiet happily live alone with your company 

plus having 2 skunks again you would be best monitoring them together as they can do a hell of alot of damage should they ever fight


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## Emmaj (Dec 3, 2007)

though also to add i am very new to skunks and most of what i have learned already is from nerys and ray (fixx) 

so they are the best people to talk to about skunks as nerys has 8 now i think and ray and lou have 6


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## GazEmm (Jul 11, 2006)

Just to clear up there would be no way the ferrets, rats or skunks could get to each other :lol2:

The ferrets are in a hutch up against one wall, rats in a cage on the other side of the room and the 'potential' cupboard/alcove is on another wall...all would be locked away (sounds like prison haha) but certainly no way they could get to eathother!! I would never let them out of their enclosures allowing them to meet :Na_Na_Na_Na:

I was thinking more along the lines of the noise/smell of eachother being an issue...


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## GazEmm (Jul 11, 2006)

...and ive seen some of Fixx's posts, thats a collection of skunks to envy and if Nerys has 8 thats even more impressive, but i'd bet hard work:lol2:


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## Emmaj (Dec 3, 2007)

GazEmm said:


> Just to clear up there would be no way the ferrets, rats or skunks could get to each other :lol2:
> 
> The ferrets are in a hutch up against one wall, rats in a cage on the other side of the room and the 'potential' cupboard/alcove is on another wall...all would be locked away (sounds like prison haha) but certainly no way they could get to eathother!! I would never let them out of their enclosures allowing them to meet :Na_Na_Na_Na:
> 
> I was thinking more along the lines of the noise/smell of eachother being an issue...


its just skunks are very erm.....how do you put it well they dont stop till they have got what they wanted and will try and try again if they keep failing lol 

smell depending on how long the skunk is left think the worse thing you will come home to is a hell of alot of poo and wee to clean they poo as much as if not more than ferrets do :lol2::lol2:


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## Nerys (Apr 18, 2005)

my three boys live in the room with rats, mice, gerbils, multis, chipmonks, ferrets, gliders, jirds *thinks*

rabbits... umm.. have had coatis in there and porcupines..

oh and the meerkats of course...

i do know people who run ferrets free range with skunks (tho both with their own caging for night time) and they didn't have a problem..

all mine will kill and eat up to a full size adult rat given half a chance.. tho they seem to see some things as different to others.. the meerkats for instance have never been seen as lunch, there are pics on here of my skunks and meerkats interacting quite happily.. although i will add i would not pen them together full time.. on the times they have met dougal i don't think they have been that bothered either for that matter.. (dougal is my angora ferret hob)

i've certainly not noticed any stress from being in the room with all the rodents.. bar stress for the rodents should they happen to get collared by one of the skunks!

N


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## GazEmm (Jul 11, 2006)

Thought i'd add to this thread as opposed to opening a new one so here goes a couple more Q's...

7) What are the exact names and amounts used in the jabs required? Is it just the distemper and parvo jabs mentioned earlier with half the dosage of a puppy? I know its been suggested different people go for different things but im really lost when it comes to things like this as ive never owed a cat/dog to understand it all. Also, i once had a bad experience with a vet who claimed they knew more than they did so want to make sure i know EXACTLY what i need.

8 ) How often are skunks available? Obviously this depends on how many people are breeding at any given time but when it comes to breeding is there a general kind of time of the year when they become available?

We have decided to definately go ahead and get one and just need to wait for my bonus to be paid in work, im so excited...however, working for the government means the bonus could be paid any time between now and next year:lol2:

Think we got everything sussed now mind, got my head around the diet requirements, going to make some type of pen in the living room for when we are out and once i know whats what with the injections all i need to do is wait for the bonus...although i'll probs get impatient and get one anyway :2thumb:


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## GazEmm (Jul 11, 2006)

Sorry, just thought of another :blush:

9) Whats the deal with castration/spaying etc? Is it a necessity with females like it is with ferrets?? Im sure ive read it is, although i will be getting it done whether we get a male or female. Also, is it the same process thats used with ferrets/cats??

Again, i want to be sure i know exactly what i want before it gets as far as the vets. You've probably guessed i dont have a huge amount of faith in all vets, especially when it comes to the more unusual animals!!


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## Emmaj (Dec 3, 2007)

GazEmm said:


> Thou ght i'd add to this thread as opposed to opening a new one so here goes a couple more Q's...
> 
> 7) What are the exact names and amounts used in the jabs required? Is it just the distemper and parvo jabs mentioned earlier with half the dosage of a puppy? I know its been suggested different people go for different things but im really lost when it comes to things like this as ive never owed a cat/dog to understand it all. Also, i once had a bad experience with a vet who claimed they knew more than they did so want to make sure i know EXACTLY what i need.
> 
> ...


hope this helps lol


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## GazEmm (Jul 11, 2006)

Yeah thanks Emmaj, thats the injections sorted :2thumb:

I've never been into breeding myself but im sure ferrets tend to come into season, breed and then give birth around the same time each year...not sure how exact this is mind. All i was wondering is if maybe ive missed the boat for this year/season and would now need to wait until next season to get a hold of a youngster!?


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## Emmaj (Dec 3, 2007)

rothwell's at leeds have some baby skunks in at the moment they advertised them in the exotics classified section on this forum :2thumb:


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## GazEmm (Jul 11, 2006)

Yeah i did see those...gorgeous!!

I'm not ready just yet mind, as mentioned earlier i think im going to wait until i get my bonus and treat myself to one then...not sure when that will be mind. If its not going to be for a good few months yet i wasnt sure if there would be any about towards the end of the year.


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## Fixx (May 6, 2006)

GazEmm said:


> Yeah i did see those...gorgeous!!
> 
> I'm not ready just yet mind, as mentioned earlier i think im going to wait until i get my bonus and treat myself to one then...not sure when that will be mind. If its not going to be for a good few months yet i wasnt sure if there would be any about towards the end of the year.


Breeding season for skunks is February- April-ish with young being born sometime around May-July (though there are exceptions), female that do not conceive the first time around can sometimes have a second season too. Skunks are also capable of delayed implantation, basically putting the pregnancy on hold. 
Unless someone is selling an adult or an older kit then you will probably have to wait till next year for a skunk now.


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## GazEmm (Jul 11, 2006)

Fixx said:


> Unless someone is selling an adult or an older kit then you will probably have to wait till next year for a skunk now.


Was hoping that wouldn't be the answer, although i did have a feeling it may be the case.

I'd rather get one from as young as possible mind to get the most bonding time i can while its still small. Plenty of time to plan for it i guess now mind :lol2:


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## Fixx (May 6, 2006)

GazEmm said:


> Was hoping that wouldn't be the answer, although i did have a feeling it may be the case.
> 
> I'd rather get one from as young as possible mind to get the most bonding time i can while its still small. Plenty of time to plan for it i guess now mind :lol2:


If you're serious about getting one, contact Nicky at Gills and Geckos (St Austell), and get your name down on her list for next year. We got George from her and he's pretty much bomb-proof and uber-friendly and stupidly tame.


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## GazEmm (Jul 11, 2006)

Fixx said:


> If you're serious about getting one, contact Nicky at Gills and Geckos (St Austell), and get your name down on her list for next year. We got George from her and he's pretty much bomb-proof and uber-friendly and stupidly tame.


Thanks for the tip.

Definately serious, will try and search for some contact details for them now :notworthy:


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## Nerys (Apr 18, 2005)

there are quite a few on the market at the moment as it goes

or have been in the last 2 weeks.. there are, or were a pair of descented adults at 600 each down in warwickshire.. on uk-classifieds

there are, or were, two female 8 week old, scented, for 500 each (two different sellers) on the Reptile Web classifieds.. (accessed via livefood forum site) both black and white.. one in the swindon area and another i can't recall where off hand

and there are two young males, fully scented, one albino and one B&W, for sale via Rothwell Pets in Rothwell, leeds area... B&W is 400 albino is 600. have met these two and they are real sweeties

hth

Nerys

there are also a number of young skunks in other retail shops.. for instance viper and vine has a 12 month old B&W male for a grand...


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## GazEmm (Jul 11, 2006)

You lot need to stop telling me where i can get one from :lol2:

I do adore the b&w one i saw on the advert for Rothwell Pets and could _probably_ stretch to getting it in a few weeks but it would leave me skint and i'd feel a whole let better if i knew i had spare funds for vets bills and the likes.

I'm probably THE most impatient person i know but this time i'm going to have to hold out...even if it means waiting for the next 'batch' of skunks to start becoming available next year :sad:


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## Emmaj (Dec 3, 2007)

awww lol i know how you feel i can be like that too at times very impatient LOL 

Your doing the right thing though as its always handy to have some spare cash about incase of vets bills cropping up been through that recently lol 


I dont actually pay any pet insurance i have to many animals to insure at a costly price and all the accidents my dogs have had werent covered on the insurance grrrrrrrrrrrr 

so i cancelled it and what i do now instead of paying x amount a month to the insurance company i pay it to the vets and keep my account credited so if i ever have a prob the money is there and i dont have to worry about the bills 

if you can find a vets that is happy to treat exotics and know what they are doing its well worth asking if you could do that option too : victory:


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## GazEmm (Jul 11, 2006)

Yeah thats a good idea you suggested with the vet...i need to find a vet im confident in first i think mind as a lot of the ones local to me either have a stinking attitude or only seem to know what to do when it comes to a cat or dog!!

I know in this case im better off waiting and not doing any of my usual spur of the moment purchases :lol2:

I think i've pretty much told myself now ill wait until next year to get one mind. I don't want one thats a grown on and as tempted as i was by the imported ones Nerys is doing i think ill wait, as the scented/descented doesnt bother me and the age and bonding is more important to me. I am a bit disapointed but hey ho, something to look forward to :2thumb:


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## Emmaj (Dec 3, 2007)

if you dont wanna wait till next year the imports are the best option probably 


they are just gonna need a lil more time and patience thats all hun if you have that then it shouldnt be a problem : victory:


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## Buriram (Jul 17, 2006)

Nerys said:


> there are quite a few on the market at the moment as it goes
> 
> or have been in the last 2 weeks.. there are, or were a pair of descented adults at 600 each down in warwickshire.. on uk-classifieds
> 
> ...


Hello there - we have a lot of animals IN STOCK.


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## Nerys (Apr 18, 2005)

lots of places have a lot of animals in stock..

hello matthew.. lol... how are you

did you shift that black and white.. what age was it again? sure you said 12 months to rory? i keep getting asked about availabilty..

get some pics up

thanks

Nerys


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