Download Avian and Exotic Animal Clinic

Avian and Exotic Animal Clinic
9330 Waldemar Road Indianapolis, IN 46268
www.exoticvetclinic.com (317) 879-8633
Care of Skunks
Captivity Requirements: Many owners describe their skunks to have the personalities of
temperamental cats; most prefer one or two people and aren’t terrible friendly with others. They
can be very loving and affectionate pets with their owners if they are handled regularly from a
young age. Since skunks can be litter box trained, many owners opt to let their skunks roam free
in their homes and this is great exercise for them as they are prone to obesity as they age. Skunks
do climb and dig in the wild, so any enclosure they are kept in should be skunk-proofed to
prevent escape.
Diet: The diet of skunks in the wild consists of whole prey, insects, and some fruit and vegetable
matter. Captive diets of skunks in zoos vary from commercial carnivore, omnivore and
insectivore diets to “natural” diets consisting of items such as mice, rats, day-old chicks and live
insects. Many internet sites recommend mostly vegetable diets, and other complex home recipes.
Unfortunately, many skunks on mostly vegetarian diets experience an increase in metabolic bone
disease, bone weakness, lethargy and eventual weight gain as the skunk becomes too weak and
painful to exercise. We are now recommending skunks either be fed closer to their natural diet in
the wild, or be fed zoo recommended diets. 75% of the diet should consist of zoo omnivore and
insectivore diets, low fat (senior) dog food and a small amount of senior cat food. The last 25% of
the diet should be fruit and vegetables. Commercial insectivore and omnivore diets are made by
several companies, including Mazuri. Larger quantities are very economical and can be purchased
and frozen. Our clinic carries both products as well. Feed all food as forage with almost none in a
bowl. In other words, all food should be hidden to force the skunk to exercise while finding food,
like skunks naturally do in the wild. Recommended foraging techniques include:
-burying food in a litter box full of small pebbles for the skunk to dig through
-wrapping food in paper, or tape up in toilet paper rolls for the skunk to tear up and
destroy
-hiding food on various levels, making it necessary for the skunk to climb to find food
-putting food in dog foraging toys, such as the balls that roll and release small amounts at
a time
Vaccination Recommendations for Pet Skunks: Exact vaccine requirements have not been
established for pet skunks. Wild skunks are absolutely without a doubt susceptible to canine
distemper and rabies virus, and both viruses have been found in pet skunks as well. Studies on
infectious diseases in wild animals indicate skunks are also susceptible to canine adenovirus, and
nearly all mammals are susceptible to leptospirosis. Researchers suspect skunks might be
susceptible to feline panleukopenia as well. As only distemper and rabies have been documented
with any frequency in pet skunks, our clinic recommends vaccination against canine Distemper
vaccine and rabies virus only.