# Skunk Help Please Swollen Tail



## slimeysnail (Jan 29, 2009)

Hi guys, I am after some help regarding one of my female skunks, Maggie. 



Any advice or comments from anyone who keeps skunks will be greatly appreciated.


I have had my two girls Maggie and Frizbee for over 2 years now. My initial intention was to breed them hence why I never had them spayed.


Anyway, tonight I went into my animal room for a cuddle with the two girls, and I noticed that Maggie looked different... this is going to sound mad.. but she looked ‘pink’. She has a pink tint to her skin- which I have certainly never noticed before. She is a black and white skunk. Anyway, she turned round and her base of her tail underneath, looks as if it is twice the size... it’s not warm, or hard, like an infection, but it is squidgy but certainly much bigger than normal. I know they have been moulting alot recently- in their bed etc, but Frizbee still looks her beautiful self, but 



Maggies fur seems to have thinned out an awful lot.. particularly around her back end, over her legs/hips, and base of her tail.. not like a Summer coat, but thinned too... there are no bald patched, but it is very thinned. 



She has no fleas, or mites- no dry skin or anything like that.. 



I assume her pink tinge is because her fur has thinned.. but i don’t undersntad how i have just noticed this now- its like it has happened over night? 



She has lost no weight, and is her normal active self. I worm them both monthly with panacur, although admittedly missed last months dose. They live inside. They have a diet that consists of fresh veg, and I try to stick to the %5 fruit, 5% protein diet.. which they have been perfect on for the past two years. 



Eating habits are normal. 



They are both descented.


I am dreadfully worried about Maggie... is this her in season? I don’t know what to do 


My main concern is her base of her tail.. where it literally attaches to her body, that it is twice the normal size. And then her thinning fur 


Any advice please.. I am so worried


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## Loderuna (Mar 9, 2010)

I'm afraid I haven't got a clue, but I suggest a visit to the vet might be in order. tHe pink tinge might be due to her having a temperature, perhaps? 

I think that fmale ferrets start getting bald areas and hair loss when they have been in season too long and it's starting to make them ill - maybe you need to get her to the vets for a jill jab (someone on here had the jilljab for their skunk and it seems to have worked to knock her out of season)? I'm assuming that she hasn't been mated?

Strongly suggest the vets tomorrow.


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## skunks rule (Jan 26, 2011)

hmmmmmmmmmmmmm very interesting, i'll be watching what replies you get as to peoples different thoughts....

My guess is that your girlie is just in moult, I have had skunks have a full tail oneday and be completley bald the following morning where the hair has just fallen out..... no rhyme or reason to it.

And with the tail furless it will look bigger due to the fact that you dont usually see the actual tail so presume it to be smaller than it actually is, and i would guess as it is bald it will have a stronger blood flow to it, not only to keep the area warm but to feed the new hair growth hence the pinking of the skin.

Another possibilty is that due to her being in season she has a slight hormone imbalance which should correct itself over time as the season starts to end.

it could be a diet change, different washing powder used to clean her bedding the list could go on and on.......

Let us know how she is over this time.


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## slimeysnail (Jan 29, 2009)

Loderuna said:


> I'm afraid I haven't got a clue, but I suggest a visit to the vet might be in order. tHe pink tinge might be due to her having a temperature, perhaps?
> 
> I think that fmale ferrets start getting bald areas and hair loss when they have been in season too long and it's starting to make them ill - maybe you need to get her to the vets for a jill jab (someone on here had the jilljab for their skunk and it seems to have worked to knock her out of season)? I'm assuming that she hasn't been mated?
> 
> Strongly suggest the vets tomorrow.


Thankyou for the advice, I just thought I would ask on here because there is probably more experience and knowledge on here combined from the owners keeping skunks, than what the vets would read through text books etc. 

I read about the skunk having the jill jab, as I was surprised they had it in the poor skunks bottom! 

I feel so bad that I have noticed this tonight.. when I suppose it could have been ongoing? But I just dont understand it


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## slimeysnail (Jan 29, 2009)

skunks rule said:


> hmmmmmmmmmmmmm very interesting, i'll be watching what replies you get as to peoples different thoughts....
> 
> My guess is that your girlie is just in moult, I have had skunks have a full tail oneday and be completley bald the following morning where the hair has just fallen out..... no rhyme or reason to it.
> 
> ...


I know there is not much fur on the base of the tail anyway, but the tail is definitely bigger and more puffy than Frizbees.. Poor girls I was squeezing their tails to compare! 

Dietary wise, nothing has changed recently.. the only thing which was different over the past week to what I have always done before, was give them organic bananas a few days ago.. as usualyl they have the shop normal ones! Which I very much doubt? this could cause these symtoms? !

Washing powders etc- I had thought of allergic reaction or something like that, but nothing has changed at all.

Thankyou so much for your replies...


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## skunks rule (Jan 26, 2011)

slimeysnail said:


> I know there is not much fur on the base of the tail anyway, but the tail is definitely bigger and more puffy than Frizbees.. Poor girls I was squeezing their tails to compare!
> 
> Dietary wise, nothing has changed recently.. the only thing which was different over the past week to what I have always done before, was give them organic bananas a few days ago.. as usualyl they have the shop normal ones! Which I very much doubt? this could cause these symtoms? !
> 
> ...


just so u dont feel alone I have a female skunk with a completly bald tail, not a scrap of hair on it, but im not worried, it will grow back lol, some skunks drop there tail hair and put it into there bed to keep there babies warmer, and when they decide to do this, this is done in a matter of hours, so if the hair is in her bed, this maybe what she has done?? even if she is not pregnant she knows that a male could pop up at any moment so maybe she is just making sure everything is ready :lol2:


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## slimeysnail (Jan 29, 2009)

skunks rule said:


> just so u dont feel alone I have a female skunk with a completly bald tail, not a scrap of hair on it, but im not worried, it will grow back lol, some skunks drop there tail hair and put it into there bed to keep there babies warmer, and when they decide to do this, this is done in a matter of hours, so if the hair is in her bed, this maybe what she has done?? even if she is not pregnant she knows that a male could pop up at any moment so maybe she is just making sure everything is ready :lol2:


 Thankyou.. 

I do think it is most likely to do with being in season for too long, but to be honest, both girls seemed to go through season like behaviour a good couple of months back.  and now I feel so dreadfully guilty that more Maggie has lost some fur.

The fur loss certainly doesnt look like it has been pulled out.. it just looks like an overall thinning.. but mainly around her back end.. but to some extent up her body too. She is healthy in every other way, and she is happily tucking into her tea tonight. 

She is the dominant skunk- would this have anything effect on their seasons...


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## slimeysnail (Jan 29, 2009)

Ok after having another look, I think I have exagerated the ''pink'' aspect...

However she does look ever so slightly pinker than Frizbee.

Her tail is definitely not right though.. but if this were a season, or hormonal imbalance.. why would her tail base be puffy  

I will take her to the vets, but because the ''best'' exotics vet up here is the Royal Dick Vet- it is a teaching hopsital, and I know that the vet Kevin Eatwell who would be the one to treat her, has really only ever seen a couple of skunks- one on the tv was Abigail that he spayed- but she was the skunk I bought up to Scotland for the guy.. so I know the best vet only has very limitted experience with them. I had a terrible experience with the Vet with two of my snakes a while back and vowed I would never go back there..

I found an amazing vet- Romain Pizzi, but he no longer consults to the public... 

Iv no idea how to find out who has experience with skunks and very specific problems- apart from phoning everyone in Scotland. I would of course be wllling to travel any where in Scotland.


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## carlycharlie (Jan 16, 2008)

I have replied on your thread on EKF.......:2thumb:


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## slimeysnail (Jan 29, 2009)

carlycharlie said:


> I have replied on your thread on EKF.......:2thumb:


Thankyou very much


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## skunks rule (Jan 26, 2011)

hows ya girly doing? any more news?


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## slimeysnail (Jan 29, 2009)

Thankyou everyone for your words of advice, and suggestions. 

Firstly, I will say that Maggie and Frizbee are absolutely FINE !! :flrt:

:lol2: Ah, I feel so embarassed, and I feel I will create a few smiles by saying this, but my over the top reaction, and all the worrying I did was uneccessary... 

:blush::blush::blush:...Maggie has just put on a bit of weight :blush::blush::blush:

I phoned a couple of zoos- first of which was SO rude and unhelpful it was ridiculous.. second of which keep skunks and know everything about them apparently- but didnt know the symptoms of a season in a skunk, and couldnt help me at all!!! - their words were that they dont observe the skunks that closely- they let them get on with things, and they are happy- as they have bred etc. Pffff.

I phoned the Dick Vet School whom would not offer any advice over the phone on any symptoms of skunks being in season too long etc- as this was my main concern. They wanted me to book her in for a spay that day, and god knows what else- started talking about anemia and putting the fear of god into me !! 

I tried vets in Dunfermline, Perth, Glasgow, Edinburgh, and no one could offer any advice- even on ferrets being in season too long etc- as this was my major concern.

So I was crying on the end of the phone to all of these places just trying to get someone to see me !!! 

Anyway, I came home from work, and had an email back from a lady in America, whom said that the fur loss was most probably nothing to worry about.. time of year etc...

Then I received an email from their breeder whom assured me in all the years of keeping skunks, he had never had one stuck in a season... so my mind was slowly being put at ease...

I obviously was still majorly concerned, but anyway.

I then received an email regarding a skunks ''fat pad'' at the base of their tail... which can become puffy and swollen as a result of an infection... or weight gain.

I knew the puffy lump was not infected or warm, or anything like that, but I still wanted a vet to see her to reassure me..

As I say, I finally found a vet that would see me, so I took my two skunks into work, and people were totally besotted with them it was unreal.. taking pictures and alsorts. Lol its strange as keeping my exotics is a normal way of life for me, and nothing fazes me regrding the animals I have etc, but people were so interested and eager to ask questions and showed genuine interest over these black and white things they have never ever seen in their lives before!! 

ANyway, I took the skunkies to the vets, where I was met by a waiting room full of people.. all waiting to see the skunks !!! The vets had told people etc and people had bought their cameras etc LOL. I ended up in the consult room with the girls, and 6 other people !! They were all cuddling them and petting them and the girls loved it.

Anyway, I asked the vet to take their temperatures, which were perfect. She said how healthy they both looked, and that even though the fur loss could have been hormonal, that the lump certainly was not anything untoward etc. 

To be honest by the time I had gotten to the Vets, I had decided I was merely taking a fatty skunk to be examined !! 

I feel so embarassed, but so truly relieved that all this worry was merely over a bit of weight gain, which I am 101% confident that I can get off her again.

It all makes sense now, because over the Winter, the girls slimmed down al ittle, which I noticed, and then upped their portion sizes to put the weight back on.. but I think I went over board!! 

Maggie is the little hoover too.. she eats all excess food that Frizzy bee doesnt want etc.

Silly me... silly silly me. :blush:


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## Loderuna (Mar 9, 2010)

Hey - the important thing here is that you noticed something different and you got it investigated. How would you have felt if you saw it, did nothing and then it WAS something bad? I would much rather get something checked and feel silly than have to live with the guilt from not checking.

Very glad the girls are ok and it seems thay have done a lot for general education of the public too, so a bonus!!


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## Stacey010884 (Mar 7, 2009)

I'm glad it was nothing more sinister than excess weight. That said, the road to "recovery" will be long and arduous.. getting any animal (including us humans) is easier said than done!

:jump::whip:.... :eek4:...:blowup:..:war: (Being MADE to workout pushes me over the edge and causes me to crack.. AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!)


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