SKUNKS AS PETS - What You Need To Know

Hey what's up creatures it's Em and I'm back today with a new video for you. Today I'm going to be talking about skunks as pets. I'm going to be drawing on my experience from living with skunks in the UK as well as having them in the USA and talking a little bit about their maintenance, their upkeep, what it takes to look after a skunk and whether or not it's a good fit for you and your family. Before we get started I want to give a massive shout out and a big thank you to Clearly Loved Pets. Clearly Loved Pets sent me this amazing pen behind me which I'm going to be showing you in a little interval in this video how I set it up and how I plan to use it. Also you're going to be able to see my skunks running around in it which is really really cute. So that'll be a little interval you'll get sometime in this video and again I just want to say a big thank you again to Clearly Loved Pets for sending me this amazing pen. If you want to check them out for yourselves you can check out the link in the description box below. Also before we get started I just want you guys to know that a skunk is a seven to ten year possibly even more commitment so if you don't have the time to commit the next decade of your life to a skunk or a pair of skunks or even more then I suggest that you do not go and buy yourself a skunk. So skunks as pets is that even legal? Well yes and no depending on where you live. If you're in the UK then yes skunks are absolutely legal to keep as pets however it's illegal to de-scent your skunk in the UK. If you don't already know skunks are famous for producing a really foul odor whenever they are scared or startled. This is their defense mechanism. In the UK de-scenting a skunk or taking out its two little pea-sized glands inside its anus is seen as an unnecessary procedure, cosmetic and something that is cruel. So no vet in the UK will normally perform this procedure. In fact if a vet does perform this procedure in the UK they can lose their license. So if you live in the UK and you're not prepared to deal with a really foul odor that sticks to everything then I would not suggest a skunk for you. In the USA it is also legal in some states to keep skunks however licensing and permitting is something that you're going to have to take into consideration. For example here in New Jersey which is the state that I live in you have to always license your skunks to the state. They have to have a permit and they have to have a renewed annual license so you don't want to let that lapse and you also want to make sure that if you are purchasing a skunk from either a breeder or a pet store that they are legitimate and they talk to you about the legalities. But don't take the breeder or the pet store's word for it. You should always do your own research, contact your local fish and wildlife, ask them if in your state skunks are legal. In America when you are acquiring a skunk the last thing you should ever do, you should never ever ever ever ever do this, I mean it, I will track you down and yell at you, you should never ever bring in a skunk from the wild to your house. Not only is this illegal throughout many many states because you're bothering native wildlife but it is a huge danger and a huge risk. Skunks are a rabies vector species which means that they very prevalently carry and pass on rabies. Rabies is terrible to contract, it results in many deaths a year and it is insanely painful and very very expensive and difficult to treat. So even if you find a skunk outdoors which needs assistance contact your local state, they will come and deal with it. Do not try and be a hero and do not try and make a wild skunk your pet. The cost of skunk does vary very greatly, I have two skunks here at home, I have Pudding who is my female black and white skunk, I also have Moosh who is a more fancy breed or a lavender skunk, so naturally with Pudding being a rescue she wasn't as expensive as Moosh who is a sort of designer skunk breed if you will. With Pudding and Moosh because they are both in New Jersey they both came to me spayed, neutered and de-scented. By law my skunks have to be de-scented, however spaying and neutering in the UK for skunks is not mandatory. Before you bring home your baby skunk or kit or leave a deposit ask them whether or not they're de-scented, ask them if they are microchip, ask if there's any history of any diseases, ask them if they've had any vaccinations and also ask them if they come de-sexed or de-scented. Like you don't want to bring home a baby skunk and then realize it's not de-scented. On top of the cost of actually purchasing or adopting a skunk there are all the other fees you have to think about. So there would be licensing and permitting which is going to be different everywhere you are, there's also going to be enclosure, this is something you want to have set up before you even think about bringing a skunk home. Skunks are incredible escape artists and if they're given the chance they will just head out the door and follow their nose. Now skunks are not like cats or dogs which may have a bit more of a homing instinct, skunks do not have a homing instinct so if your skunk escapes and it gets outside they can actually cover over a mile and a half a day and that's on a bad day. If they're really really making some steam they'll be gone, you will not get them back and if this happens in a state say like New Jersey it's a very cruel thing because as the skunk is de-scented it has no way to protect itself so you have to protect your skunk and ensure that they never get out. Skunks do not recognize roads, they don't recognize all kinds of predators so you want to make sure that your enclosure is very very safe. My absolute recommendation is to have a designated area for your skunks, if it's a nice outdoor enclosure fantastic. If you're going to keep your skunks outdoors you have to remember that skunks are very good climbers and very very good diggers so an outdoor enclosure should have a solid concrete base and then you're going to want mesh that is actually down into the concrete so there is no way for the skunk to wiggle its way underneath the fence. Reinforce, reinforce, reinforce everything. Skunks are incredible escape artists. Keeping your skunks outdoors is fantastic if you're in the right climate because it means you don't have to put up with the smell of their poop. Let's talk about their poop really quick. They are going to produce a lot of waste because skunks do eat quite a wide variety of foods giving them wonderful omnivorous poop just like a human's so if you've ever smelled a lovely human poop that's what you're going to have to deal with most days. It's quite smelly, you're going to have to clean up every single day so if you can minimize the smell by having this outdoors brilliant. If not then there's always keeping your skunk indoors. If you're going to be keeping your skunks indoors then you can always keep them free roaming indoors but in a designated area protected with baby gates and all sorts of things so that your skunk can't just get into everything and anything which is what they're gonna do. Also if you're going to be free roaming your skunk inside your house I thoroughly, thoroughly recommend having an area which is very secure such as a crate which you can put your skunk safely into while you leave the house. All righty let's take a little breather and have an interval where I show you how I set up this Clearly Loved Pets pen. Hey guys so today is the day. Danny has died on the floor, R.I.P. but we're going to be opening up the Clearly Loved Pets package which I received just before Christmas. Oh that's good that's all come very nicely packaged. I decided that I'm going to put this pen to the test today with my skunks pudding and moosh because if anyone is escaping from anything it's going to be my two skunks who have very long claws and are very strong. So let's see how this pen fares against my skunks. Something else that skunks will do is something that pudding's just done which is scenting the floor using her derriere. So if you have carpets and you're not going to be happy with your skunks just rubbing their little back scrunch all over it then make sure that you don't have any carpets down because they're going to rub themselves on it a lot. And we're back from our interval hello time to continue with our quest to find out whether or not a pet skunk is right for you. When it comes to feeding skunks a really good video I have is one called feeding all my pets I will link it down in the description box below where you can see typically what pudding and moosh will eat in a day that gives you kind of rough idea of what you have to look at if you can't afford nice fresh fruit and vegetables if you can't afford to buy them really good protein healthy protein for skunks it's not always the same kind of proteins for us and if you're not prepared to have you know different invertebrates which are really good sources of protein for skunks in your house then I do not suggest you bring home a skunk. Skunks will typically eat once a day some people will split this into two meals mine prefer just to eat once a day and I give them a nice hearty amount which lasts them all evening long. If you miss feeding your skunk they can become hypoglycemic and they can also have fits so you want to make sure that you're on a really good schedule and that if you have a plan to leave and go out that night or if you're going away that you bring someone in who is good at being able to feed these animals someone knowledgeable someone trustworthy because if you skip feeding them they are going to pay the price big time and you're going to have a very unhappy very unhealthy skunk. Now on the subject of vets you want to make sure that you have a vet who you know is going to feel safe and comfortable with actually treating skunks not all skunks are normal patients for a lot of vets and not all vets will treat them so before you bring home a skunk make sure you do your research and find a vet who has experience and is comfortable and confident in performing surgeries on skunks. Now when it comes to vaccinations there is a very very big divide there are those people who say that you absolutely should vaccinate your skunks because they are prone to distemper and they also can be vaccinated against a whole load of other things but some people say that this is not the way to go and that actually a lot of vaccinations can do some damage to skunks so it's a very polarizing topic ultimately it's your decision as the owner whether or not you do want to vaccinate. I have personally put off vaccinating pudding and moosh for distemper because I'm just not certain and my vet is not certain either so we're doing a little bit more research before we actually commit to giving them these vaccinations. Some other general upkeep you're going to have to get familiar with is cutting the nails of your skunk skunks do have very long nails and they are not like a cat's claws where they are very very scratchy or for climbing they're more for digging and they're very very blunt it's almost like a blunt spade like long hard fingers basically at the end of their feet these will have to be cut and as with most animals if you cut too short you are going to cut the I find the best tools are always dog clippers cat clippers don't seem to go all the way through and are a little bit dainty so a good pair of dog nail clippers is always going to be in order you might have seen some of my previous videos you know where I'm interacting with pudding or moosh and it's really cute really sweet but this isn't all of the time there are 24 hours in the day and maybe only three or four times a week will I actually get to interact with pudding and moosh this way because they're not a dog or a cat they are a domestically bred animal but they're not a domesticated species and there is a big big difference whereas a dog or a cat might seek you out to want that attention and pudding will not all skunks will do this moosh doesn't he does not care one way or another as long as he is fed he doesn't really want that kind of interaction so I only really pick him up to clip his nails or brush him or wash him on occasion don't wash your skunks too much and that's not something I'm going to force on him you can't force a species to want to accept you so don't impose yourself on your skunks obviously you want to handle them make sure that they're not aggressive in any way because there are actually dire consequences in the USA in particular if your skunk bites someone I'm going to explain it and I'm sorry if this upsets anybody but you have to know if you're going to be keeping a skunk in the USA if your pet skunk bites somebody even though you know they don't have rabies anyone who gets bitten is well within their rights to report that they've been bitten by your pet skunk to the authorities not only could this give you a hefty lawsuit because someone has been bitten by your animal and therefore it's your liability but your skunk pays the ultimate price the way that the state will test your skunk to see whether or not it has rabies is to come and collect your skunk and remove its head and I'm not joking this is what happens if you mismanage your skunk that's why our skunks that we keep here at home even though they are licensed animal ambassadors they are a hands-off animal nobody ever apart from myself or Danny gets to touch the two skunks but it's not all doom and gloom skunks can be very sweet to hold pudding I've always said if it would be permitted within the state would be an amazing ambassador to have in an old people's home because all she wants to do is sit on a lap and be stroked all day and all night she is just the soppiest skunk in the world but that's pudding again moosh is very very different moosh doesn't really want to be massaged and pet or anything else and you can't force this on an animal it's not fair to do that so you have to just realize that not all skunks are going to be as good as pudding is when it comes to being handled so don't use videos that you see on social media as a measure for what sort of magical time you're going to be having when you bring home your own skunk it might not work out that way but if you happen to have a really great skunk and you put in the time they can be very good pets for the right family now how do you know if you are the right family well with skunks they will sleep all day long they are a nocturnal species so if you have a loud daytime household it might not be fair for you to bring home a skunk also if you travel a lot you might not have someone who is qualified to come in and care for your skunk and not all boarding facilities will want a skunk so again if you travel a lot a skunk may not be for you i don't know if you've noticed this but danny and i rarely travel together i take a holiday he takes a holiday i go away he goes away only very very occasionally do we go away together i think we've been away together for two days in the last year together because of our animals so there is that consideration too however if you work all day long and you're away from the house and then you come home then the great thing is that the skunks are not going to miss you while you're away a lot of people have dogs who you know miss them all day while they're away at work skunks are not going to miss you while you're at work so they are great if you are very busy during the daytime if you have a couple of hours in the evening to spare for them brilliant then that's really great now if you are still interested in potentially bringing a skunk into your life you should be doing a ton of research where it matters going to different facebook groups run by skunk owners you can always ask as many questions as you want in these groups but just be aware that they are not always going to tell you the things you want to hear they'll tell you the things you need to hear leave a comment down below let me know what you think about skunks as pets and in particular i am very interested to hear from other skunk owners what has your experience been like do you recommend them as pets what are your top tips and what do you wish that you knew before getting a skunk i hope this has given you a little bit more insight into what it's like to really keep a skunk as a pet and also gives you a little bit of something to think about as to whether or not a skunk is the right pet for you or someone who might be considering them and of course as ever thank you again to clearly loved pets for this amazing pen which i'm very much looking forward to for my future puppy coming sometime in 2019 hopefully thank you guys all so much for watching i will see you in another video soon bye don't forget to subscribe