Are Skunks Good Pets?

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One of the problems with finding a cute and fluffy animal that has been orphaned by its mother is that most people will actually want to help it, and many will even consider raising it as a pet in their home. When it comes to dealing with wild animals, there are an awful lot of precautions that you should be taking even to touch the animal, so if you find a baby animal and think of keeping it as a pet, then it is vital that you really take time to understand all of the demands that you will need to fulfill for the skunk.



Problems With Keeping Skunks As Pets

The natural instinct of the skunk is to create a nest, and despite however much material that you provide for the animal, you will still find difficulty in training the skunk not to shred the couch cover or the carpet to provide nesting material. Skunks are also natural scavengers, so even if you provide food in a pet's bowl, they will still try to scavenge to find food as well.

Removal Of The Anal Glands

One of the most important steps that you will have to take if you intend on keeping a skunk as a pet is to remove the anal glands of the animal so they won't spray your home with the foul smelling liquid they produce. This is certainly not an easy process for the animal, and you may struggle to find a veterinarian who is willing or able to carry out that work on your behalf.

Skunks Bred In Captivity

The breeding of wild animals in captivity to keep as pets is a process that has long been a minority interest in some parts of the country, and buying a skunk from a dealer can give you a few reassurances in terms of the diseases they carry and the inoculations they will have received. Nonetheless, it is still very difficult to train these animals to be truly domesticated, and they will usually have an element of a wild animal throughout their lives.

Can You Domesticate A Skunk That You Have Trapped?

This is something that really should not be attempted, with even the most experienced pet owners going to find this a task that is next to impossible. Along with the challenges, there is also no way to ascertain what diseases they carry and in most cases they will never respond to you with more than aggression and fear. For more information, you may want to click on one of these guides that I wrote:
How much does skunk removal cost? - get the lowdown on prices.
How to get rid of skunks - my main skunk removal info guide.