# A few questions to ask about Skunks please.



## kodakira (Jul 11, 2008)

Hi completely new to posting on this forum although have gained a lot of info recently.

We have just aquired a pair of skunks after a number of months researching and debating to make sure we could give them a good home.

A little bit about the skunks first and then my related questions. The skunks are a sexed pair, the female is descented and the male is intact. I got them through a friend who deals in exoctic animals for a living. I must point out that this person did not own these animals but aquired them for us.
The skunks appear to have been living in quite a small living space. The are quite skittish but not aggressive. I think this may be due to limited interaction. There diet appears to have been quite poor being fed mainly on dog food and day old chicks. The nails on both of them are rather long and need cutting.

We have placed the skunks into a large outhouse building probably 12ft x 12ft. When the skunks have settled in they will have access to a 20ft x 15ft enclosed run ( enclosed as in securely fenced but open to the elements ). At present we are only going in to the building 3-4 times a day for short periods of time, so the skunks can get used to us.

We are going to create a home that is 100% perfect for the skunks so your advice and input would be greatly appreciated.

1. The skunks are eating very little of the foods we are offering, vegetables, eggs, fruit ect ( the more healthy foods ). We have only been feeding small amounts of dog food and have mixed this in with above foods in the hope that they would pick up the other food. Any suggestions on a healthy food that they just cant refuse.
We are supplementing the diet with vitamins and calcium but obviously they are not getting much if they are not eating much.
2. As we are not interacting with them much yet, we would like to make their home stimulating as possible. We have some tree stumps that we could build a sort of climbing frame (secure of course ), with holes drilled in which we could place different foods. Would they use this ?. Can't see any info on poisonous trees relating to skunks any advice appreciated.
3. What toys if any, would you introduce to stimulate them.
4. The nails really do need cutting but split between giving them time to settle in and trying to do them, or taking to a vet asap and getting nails, micro chipping, medical, and injections done at same time. This would obviously would require sedating, and a little concerned about that. Also ? the female may be gravid as a little on the fat side.
5. Do any of you use taurine as a supplement ?
6. If the female is gravid, is she better separated from the male.
7. Although skunks can live without the room being heated in the winter, do any of you heat the enclosure, are their benefits / disadvantages to this

The skunks are other wise in good condition and we would like to greatly enhance their care. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
The skunks are with us for the rest of their lives, as is every animal we have or have ever had, so please feel reasured about their care.

Best wishes.


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## bosshogg (Nov 19, 2006)

hi i would recommend you PM Nerys on this site she is very experienced with Skunks and will be able to answer your question, your enclosure sounds wonderful and i am sure there will soon be very happy skunks!


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## kodakira (Jul 11, 2008)

A bit better news. We have just been in and gave the Skunks some scrambled egg ( no milk ) with 10 meal worms added. The meal worms have been fortified. Within a couple of minutes both the female and male have devoured the meal, not ideal but a lot more encouraging.

Pictured below is the female eating out of her bowl. The male is more secretive popping his head from hiding place to eat out of his bowl.









We are feeding small amounts of differing foods a few times a day so that we can actually see what they are eating and in what amounts.


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## JPReptiles (Dec 2, 2007)

From the amount of protein they will have been getting from the dog biscuits the coat on the female still looks quite white..

As i have already said,what you are doing is great.

Enjoy

John


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## kodakira (Jul 11, 2008)

Thanks for the replies Bosshog and John ( pmd you back ).

Did not like to pm Nerys, being a newbie and all, hoping she will reply on here.
Will pm her in a day or two if she doesn't reply.

Best wishes.


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## Fixx (May 6, 2006)

1. We find our skunks palate changes daily, sometimes between meals, one minute they are going bonkers for peppers, next thing they do not want to know them, just make sure they have a good variety to choose from. You should be aiming for about 5-10% protien in the diet, excess protein can cause health problems and a shortened life span. 

***AVOID GRAPES LIKE THE PLAGUE***

2. Any behavioural enrichment is good, burying or hiding favourite tit-bits is a good option.
3. I can't say as I have really ever seen ours play with anything that does not involve food, George will happily throw the dogs dinner bowl all over the place, and Blossom likes to chuck the dogs bones about.
4. We clip our skunks nails ourselves, it's not hard to do. I would take them to the vets as soon as, my thinking on it is to get as much of the 'disruption' over and done with as soon as possible.
5. Yes, our skunks get cat biscuits occasionally so get taurine supplementation from that.
6. Yes, she needs to be separated from the male, female skunks are extremely twitchy with their babies and will generally destroy the litter if the male or anyone else bothers her. Their is also the chance that she will hurt,maim or even kill the male if he is not removed.
7. As our skunks live free in the house difficult to answer this question, as long as they have a suitable place to den down (dry, draft free etc.) then you shouldn't need to heat the enclosure. 

You say the female may be pregnant, how does her belly feel? If it feels solid then she could well be, if it's soft she may just need to go on a diet


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## kodakira (Jul 11, 2008)

Thanks for the reply Fixx, much appreciated.

We have not held or even touched the skunks yet. They are timid and quite nervy. I dont believe they had much human contact in the past. We wanted to get them settled and used to us before we started pushing the boundries. 
I feel at present I would more than likely get my fingers taken off ( in fear ) if I grabbed them. 

Thanks again for your response.


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## Emmaj (Dec 3, 2007)

could you not try maybe feeding them by hand so they get used to you and start to gain trust with you

As if they see that good things come from you then they may show more interest in you rather than hiding away


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## kodakira (Jul 11, 2008)

Thanks Emmaj for the reply.

That is the plan in due course. When we got them they hid all the time. They would not venture out at all. When entering building they would move to hide. 
We are at the point now of when putting food in they will come out whilst we are in the building but are still wary. We have to keep a few feet distance. The situation is improving day by day.

As for feeding we had a good day yesterday, we fed broccoli, cauli, apple, mushrooms, tomato, a little low fat cottage cheese, a few pieces of fresh cooked chicken and a small amount of tuna. 
They ate everything except the tomato and left a little of the apple. So a great improvement.

Thankyou for your interest.

Best wishes


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## kodakira (Jul 11, 2008)

double post.


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## Emmaj (Dec 3, 2007)

kodakira said:


> Thanks Emmaj for the reply.
> 
> That is the plan in due course. When we got them they hid all the time. They would not venture out at all. When entering building they would move to hide.
> We are at the point now of when putting food in they will come out whilst we are in the building but are still wary. We have to keep a few feet distance. The situation is improving day by day.
> ...


Sounds to me like your doing things right they seem to have come on so much since you got them home 

good on you for keeping up with it : victory:


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## tillie (Jan 9, 2008)

Hows it going with the skunks?


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## kodakira (Jul 11, 2008)

Hi, 

Thanks for the interest. The skunks are doing very well thankyou. They are eating an extremely varied diet now. We are not giving them dog meat or biscuit at all at the minute and they do not seem to be missing it.
My 17 year old son spends a fair bit of time in the enclosure and can now give them a sly stroke. Their is a little foot stamping but not much else as a response to being stroked.
We do not think the female is pregnant, she is just on the obese side but hopefully now she is on a balanced diet things will right themselves.

Hope Nerys does not mind but I would like to thank her for getting in touch and spending quite a bit if time chatting to me on the phone. I gleaned lots of tips and information, lots of which have been of great use already. Its nice to know there are still nice people out their who are willing to share their experiences. It was really appreciated !!!!!.

I apologise for not updating the post but have been extremely busy but promise to keep you all updated in the future. Also we are in the process of setting up a web site about our skunks and some of our other animals. If people are interested will post link on here. Hoping to have video of our animals on the site also.

Thanks again and best wishes to you all.


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## JPReptiles (Dec 2, 2007)

kodakira said:


> Hi,
> 
> Thanks for the interest. The skunks are doing very well thankyou. They are eating an extremely varied diet now. We are not giving them dog meat or biscuit at all at the minute and they do not seem to be missing it.
> My 17 year old son spends a fair bit of time in the enclosure and can now give them a sly stroke. Their is a little foot stamping but not much else as a response to being stroked.
> ...


Hi,

Happy to hear that things are now going well with the little guys..

A website would be good, if you send me the link either on here or via PM i will take a look.

John


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## kodakira (Jul 11, 2008)

Hi John,

Nice to hear from you. How is it going. Hogs are doing fine.
As soon as site is up an running will forward you the link.

best wishes


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## JPReptiles (Dec 2, 2007)

kodakira said:


> Hi John,
> 
> Nice to hear from you. How is it going. Hogs are doing fine.
> As soon as site is up an running will forward you the link.
> ...


Good thanks..

Glad to hear that the hogs are doing well.

John


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## tillie (Jan 9, 2008)

Im glad all is going well, cant wait to see the website.


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## Nerys (Apr 18, 2005)

no worries guys.. its always nice to chat skunks with people 

glad to hear they are settling down so well, they must think they won the lottery bless 'em..

love to see the site yes, get it posted up when you have done it 

speak soon

N


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## kodakira (Jul 11, 2008)

Ok here is the address for our web site. Very nervous about it going public as we have never done anything like this. 

Debonaire Exotic Animals

It still has a long way to go, with many more animals to be added.

Let us know what you think. 

Best Wishes.


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## Fixx (May 6, 2006)

Looks good Kodakira. 
Ziva is huge :shock: She has a very pretty face though.


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## kodakira (Jul 11, 2008)

Hi Fixx

Thanks for looking at the site, much appreciated.

You are right, she does look huge. Thats why we were querying her being pregnant. The male unfortunately is extremely camera shy so have no photo's of him yet. He is on the large size but not as much as Ziva.

We are now putting it down to the diet they were on. As we have now got them on a well balanced diet we are hoping they will start to drop some of the weight.
We have also made the decision not to heat their outside enclosure, so over the winter some of the weight should drop off.

Thanks for the reply and your continued interest.

Best wishes.


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## Fixx (May 6, 2006)

Good idea though it may be prudent to leave a thermostatted heat source in their sleeping quarters. They den down underground (or under buildings) in the winter where temperatures are quite stable, usually a few degrees or so above freezing. 
If memory serves me right I read a study somewhere that said that in the wild they lose about 10% of their body weight when they den down communally as opposed to 25% for those that den down alone.


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## Nerys (Apr 18, 2005)

have to say i would too.. i have known of skunks in the uk who i suspect from having died as they were allowed to get too cold... she was kept in a conservatory.. and died one afternoon after a very cold night/morning.. 

in the wild they would not be on the surface, but under it.. even a lined filled box on the surface will be colder than an underground chamber..

i've found mine ease off on appetites in the winter even tho they are mostly indoors.. the animal garage/room is heated overwinter.. as shown by the 700 quid per quarter electric bills we had this spring!

N


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## kodakira (Jul 11, 2008)

Thankyou for the reply Fixx.

Good idea about the thermostat heater.

The building they are in was used as storage space. We left an old settee in, as we thought they might liike to play on it.
We were wrong, they have dragged all the hay and old clothes that we placed in the enclosure under the settee and made a massive nest.
They appear to bed down together. The building itself is draught proof although will still get cold in the winter. We are in the NE of England and its cold all the time here:lol2:

Thanks for advice, much appreciated.

Best wishes.


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## kodakira (Jul 11, 2008)

Thanks again Nerys for your input.

If it costs me £700 to keep the skunks, the wife will be going. ( have to make savings somewhere:lol2 or else the familty can live in the outhouse and the skunks can move into the house. I might get some peace:lol2:.
Would it be okay to phone you tomorrow, got a couple of questions.

Best wishes


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## Nerys (Apr 18, 2005)

lol, yus, rorys face was a bit of a picture... in fairness we don't have any central heating here in the cottage, and we hadn't got the fires working properly.. and at the time there was a lot less in the animal garage.. i had 4 panel heaters going 24- at one point... not to mention the heating in the house which was being done via electric fires lol lol lol.

(and it wasn't just the skunks.. and it is a BIG garage.. (triple)... and there is not a lot of roof insulation.. i have lots to do this autumn on it i feel!)

and sure yes, give me a bell, if i am not on the landline.. and you don't mind trying the mobile, give that a go (number in sig)  around early lunchtime would be a good time to catch me on the landline i think?

sofa, lol, yus.. here in the spare room, the girls have so far trashed 2 single matresses, a divan bed AND a double matress by digging into them, and carving out a nest inside.. i don't mind so much the nesting.. its when they start shitting inside at one end, and sleeping at the other.. that it gets a bit stinky!

love the site, hasn't you son got really blue eyes!!! 

speak soon

N


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## kodakira (Jul 11, 2008)

Thanks for the reply.

My son Matthew has got he most amazing blue eyes. It is the first thing that everyone notices about him. Although i have got the blue eyes ( nowhere near as stunning ) the only thing he gets from me is a bad temper:lol2:. He is far better looking, much cuter, in fact everything I am not. Sad to say he takes after his mum.

Thanks for the complement on the site, it sounds stupid but it is like bearing your soul. You are letting people into your life, and hoping they like what they find.
Its a work in progress.

Best wishes


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## kodakira (Jul 11, 2008)

Hi

Bit an of an update. My older son sat in with skunks again last night.
He noticed they were going crazy over the small amount of cottage cheese, so he decided to put some on his fingers.

The female sniffed the air and ambled over to eat the cottage cheese off his fingers. Whilst feeding my son was able to stroke the female under her chin. she willingly let him stroke her. She did not like being stroked on top of head, no aggression, just backed off but immediately came back to finish the cottage cheese and have another stroke.

Andrews face was a picture and we feel a great step forward. Really pleased.

Best Wishes


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## tillie (Jan 9, 2008)

Thats great, a huge step forward well done:2thumb:


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## kodakira (Jul 11, 2008)

HOW ABOUT THIS !!!!. not apologising for shouting, so chuffed, beyond words.









Apologise for the sons shorts though. 











These are my two sons with the female on her knee. Andrew the eldest has been spending hours in the outhouse since we got her. As you may have read earlier in post he has been able to stroke her over the last few days. 
Today he has gone in and she has allowed Andrew to pick her up, not only that we have all gone in to see and she has allowed us all to see her and stroke her. Unbelievable !!!!!!.

Bit of bad news though, she has got a lump on her side, I think it may be a cyst but will be going to the vets tomorrow.

Last but not least



















The male !!!!.

At long last we have got some decent picture of the male. he is much more settled. He has taken food out of my hand tonght and been able to stroke him. He was quite yellow when we got him, look at him now. Things really looking up.

Will post some more pictures on Debonaire Exotic Animals hopefully tonight, if not tomorrow.

Best wishes


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## kodakira (Jul 11, 2008)

A couple more pictures.










Eating chicken


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## Fixx (May 6, 2006)

Far out! Nice looking skunks too, it sounds like you are coming on leaps and bounds, keep up the good work and kudos to Andrew, nice to see not all teens are bad news :no1:


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## Emmaj (Dec 3, 2007)

awwwwwww wow gorgas skunks and they are coming on fantastically your doing a fab job : victory:


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## Nerys (Apr 18, 2005)

wow, nice work andrew!!! if he does not read this, tell him way to go! thats great work! and wow, isn't the male coming on too!! its amazing what a decent diet and a bit of tlc can do for them isn't it 

N


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## tillie (Jan 9, 2008)

Wow what an amazing achievement, congratulations and keep up the great work.


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## kodakira (Jul 11, 2008)

Hope no one minds, a few photo's of Ziva in the house watching tele.




























Andrew went into sit with her as usual. She immediately came to him. He picked her up and carried her through into the house.
She sat with us on the sofa. The kids either end eating popcorn and her sat in the middle eating moreo worms and a small piece of cheese as a special treat. Quite amusing to see. Absolutely no fear whatsoever. I think she likes her new home.

Best wishes


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## KJ Exotics (Jun 16, 2007)

Aww that last photo is sooo cute


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## Fixx (May 6, 2006)

Sweet :2thumb:


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## kodakira (Jul 11, 2008)

Forgot to mention we also cut her nails, no problems, did not seem to mind.
The boy is next, getting the sowesters out and the goggles.
We are cowards !!!!!! :whistling2::whistling2:


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## Emmaj (Dec 3, 2007)

Do we mind lol of course not pics are fantastic and its great seeing how far they have come on 

brilliant pics hun :flrt:: victory:


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

Well done:2thumb: this achievment must make you feel proud. All your efforts have at last paid off. Gorgeous girl:flrt:


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## kodakira (Jul 11, 2008)

Another photo of tonights activity.










I am coming back as a skunk in the next life. I might get a cuddle from the wife:lol2:

Sorry meant to flip the photo to make it easier to view.


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## Fixx (May 6, 2006)

How did clipping the male's claws go?


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## kodakira (Jul 11, 2008)

Hi Fixx

It didn't. My son had to go into college today for his first year A-level results. so we thought we better wait until that was over. 
Did not want to kill his chances with any of the young ladies :lol2:.
Glad you are about wanted to ask some questions. We clipped the females, do they look ok or are the still a bit long.

Just about to post a question on your post.


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## brittone05 (Sep 29, 2006)

What an amazing thread - the progress you have made with the female especially is wonderful. Your son obviously has a natural gift with animals and you must be so proud 

They both look incredibly healthy considering their diet before you got them too - was quite surprised at how white thier coats are.

Big well done and can't wait to see more updats abotu them both


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## kodakira (Jul 11, 2008)

Thanks Britone 05.

Yes we are very proud of Andrew, everyone who meets him compliments him for being a considerate young man and in this day that is a compliment. 
All of our children have been brought up to respect animals. The teachers at school have always been amazed at their knowledge of wildlife etc. Any way enough of me bragging about my children an on to the important things, the skunks. 

Their coats were quite yellow and a little matted when we got them which we were concerned about but they have showed great improvement. Andrew has been giving them a little brush with a dog brush which has helped.

It may appear that we are ignoring the male but he is far more shy and reclusive. At no point has he attempted to come to Andrew when feeding. If Andrew moves out of range he readily comes out.
Andrew has been sneaky though and had a few sly strokes. Jethro postures a little but nothing more so we have something to work on.

Best wishes


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## brittone05 (Sep 29, 2006)

Aww bless - am sure that Jethro will ocme around eventually - especially when he sees how great you all are


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## Fixx (May 6, 2006)

kodakira said:


> Hi Fixx
> 
> It didn't. My son had to go into college today for his first year A-level results. so we thought we better wait until that was over.
> Did not want to kill his chances with any of the young ladies :lol2:.
> ...


Good call on holding off till after he got his results, I hope he got the results he wanted :2thumb:
Her claws look good to us here. The only mistake you can have clipping their nails is to cut to close to the quick or into the quick, not clipping them enough just means you have to clip them again sooner.
If you do ever accidently cut into the quick you can staunch the blood with a styptic pen or cornflour.


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## kodakira (Jul 11, 2008)

Thanks again Fixx,

Your advice is always appreciated.

Best wishes


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## kodakira (Jul 11, 2008)

Hi,

Just thought we would give you an update on Ziva. 

She had a visit to the vet yesterday as we found a lump on her side. This turned out to be an abcess. The vet gave it a little nick with a scalpel and some really foul, smelly, semi solid gunk came out There was a massive amount that came out compared to size of lump.
An antibiotic was placed inside of wound and antibiotics to be given orally.

She stayed through for the rest of the day to make sure she was ok. she was given plenty of TLC by all the family. Will post some pictures later.

Andrew has today picked up Jethro the male for the first time. My camera battery was dead, so unfortunately have no photo's. Will get some tomorrow. Andrew was just stroking him and without telling any of us, he decided to pick him up. There was no problem at all, he did not try to spray, he did not fight it, it was brilliant.
It appears Andrew may have done it again. Obviously a long way to go still but thanks to Andrew we appear to heading once again in the right direction.

Best wishes.


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## Nerys (Apr 18, 2005)

wow, great news 

they really are bonding well with him, its so nice to know they are coming to trust people and making bonds with them 

well done again!

N


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## brittone05 (Sep 29, 2006)

Brilliant news that Ziva's lump was nothing sinister and that Jethro is beginning to come around.

The bond Andrew has built with them both is one that will last a lifetime through - they are both very lucky little skunks to have found you all


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## kodakira (Jul 11, 2008)

Just thought I would post the nipple :blush: :blush: findings on here instead of spoiling the other thread.
I am glad she can't talk, god knows what she would have called me :lol2:
Absolutely no protrusion of nipples at present.

How early / late in pregnancy do you notice them. 
Different animals differ in time, AP Hedgehogs are about 3 days before birth, is there a guide with skunks.

Best wishes


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## Nerys (Apr 18, 2005)

lol lol

my guys i noticed a change within i guess the first 4 weeks or so? mind you, elsie delayed hers.. so she had biggish nipples for a while!

N


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## kodakira (Jul 11, 2008)

Hi,

A bit of an update. 

Below are picures of the male.




























As you can see Andrew can now hold the male with no problems.

Fixx, We cut his nails today a long last and we did no get scented :notworthy:.
He was no bother at all, really pleased.
The whole family paraded in to see him and he appeared quite at ease.

Best Wishes


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## Emmaj (Dec 3, 2007)

awwwwwwwwwww bless him he is looking fantastic your doing brilliant jobs with them :flrt::flrt:


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## stoaty (Jul 21, 2008)

Just read this from start to finish. Great pictures and its great to see how they are coming on. All the best.
Ian


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## kodakira (Jul 11, 2008)

Thanks Emmaj and Ian.

Really pleased wih the progress. Really concerned when we got them as Nerys will testify to.
Thanks to the advice from Nerys and Fixx and our son Andrew they have come on in leaps and bounds.

Next step is for the male to come into the house. Not a prob if he stinks though it will keep he mother:devil: and mother in law:devil: away.:lol2:

Best wishes


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## MrsP (Apr 13, 2008)

What a great thread! Those skunks are a very lucky pair to have found you guys I reckon!


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## Fixx (May 6, 2006)

Superb!

He's a handsome fellow too : victory:


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## loulou (Jan 18, 2006)

How wonderful, I have been following this thread and am so glad you are coming on so well, I bet you are over the moon :2thumb:

hes a very gorgeous skunk too I love his face it reminds me of Freds face


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## carlycharlie (Jan 16, 2008)

Just read the whole of this tread & all I can say is WOW well done to you all, especially young Andrew, for all the hard work & patience. They are very fortunate & lucky Skunks : victory::no1:


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## kodakira (Jul 11, 2008)

Been a while since we have been on, have had a lovely holiday in Florida.

Just a quick update on the Skunks. Jethro the male is now extremely friendly. 
Andrew said whilst we were away that Jethro started to come out as soon as he went into house. He appeared to rush out in excitement to meet him. Andrew can now pick him up as Jethro comes to him. It appears that Jethro is now looking for this type of contact.. When Andrew held Jethro in earlier pictures he would have to go and get Jethro.

Ziva is now completely healed from her cyst/ infection and continues to progress. Still remains overwieght though.

Need to take a few pics !!.

Best wishes.


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## Fixx (May 6, 2006)

Top stuff and way to go Andrew.


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## mask-of-sanity (Dec 27, 2006)

just read the whole thread and wanted to say well done to you all on what you have done with these skunks it just goes to show with the right care, time and patience what you can achieve ......well done :no1:


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