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 #1737960


Shadowcat0789
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 Hey Booboo? Or anyone else with expertise in Raccoons

A woman came into the pet store I work at and was telling me about a baby raccoon she’s taking care of. The mother was hit by a car and the babies were found with the body. Can you give me any tips to give her about what to feed it, how to care for it etc? I’m gonna contact a rescue and get their input also, I was just wondering what you had to say about it. She’s bottle feedingit with espilac (Spelling?) puppy formula. I told her she should probably switch it over to KMR and she was wondering what she should start trying to feed it as far as solid foods go. I gave her a can of Wellness kitten food for lack of any other ideas. Does that all sound good? And just so no one yells at me for wild animal abuse or what i should or shouldn’t do, I’m gonna state that This is not my pet, this is not my idea the animal is not under my care I’m just trying to figure out what to tell her so the animal is healthiest because she’s wanting to keep it.

Thanks,
Tiffani
05/17/08  01:02am

 #1740824


Shadowcat0789
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   Message To: Shadowcat0789   In reference to Message Id: 1737960


 Hey Booboo? Or anyone else with expertise in Raccoons

Bump
05/19/08  11:02pm

 #1741828


Emotionless)-
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   Message To: Shadowcat0789   In reference to Message Id: 1740824


 Hey Booboo? Or anyone else with expertise in Raccoons

Well she NEEDS to give them to a wildlife rehibilator. asap. They will get socliazed with people and they will never make it in the wild. And you cannot keep them as pets at all. They are not good pets, and will get mean when they get older. In the time she has them she should give them KMR.



05/20/08  09:45pm

 #1755730


Dragongirl6
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   Message To: Emotionless)-   In reference to Message Id: 1741828


 Hey Booboo? Or anyone else with expertise in Raccoons

Did the babies ever get to a wildlife center? They absolutely must be raised by experienced people who know how to do so in a way that they can be re released or else have the ability to provide a good habitat for them to live in captivity if they can’t be released. They do NOT make good pets but get too used to people to be able to just be put outside and expected to survive.

Anyway, here’s a photo of a baby raccoon we found in Mexico when we were there to spay/neuter dogs and cats. It is being raised by the closest thing they have to a wildlife rehab-a woman who loves animals and knows a tremendous amount about them. He will be fixed and hopefully re released.



06/09/08  03:39am

 #1756577


Senshokukiba
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   Message To: Dragongirl6   In reference to Message Id: 1755730


 Hey Booboo? Or anyone else with expertise in Raccoons

Raccoons actually can make wonderful pets. Any animal, no matter what species, can usually make a wonderful pet or companion if cared, raised, and supported properly.

Dragongirl16, why do you always pop up on topics like this and tell people how bad of a pet exotic animals make? You’re not even experienced with many of the animals you claim don’t make good pets.

Experience isn’t that important. Knowledge is though. Being experienced doesn’t mean someone’s intelligent or responsible. In fact, experience has little to do with the two.

Beginners can raise exotics just as successfully as professionals. If a beginner exotic owner does enough research and puts a lot of effort into exotic care and maintenance, he or she can make an excellent exotic owner.

I’ve seen many people who are inexperienced and raise healthy, happy, well balanced exotic animals.

If the woman with the raccoons does enough research and is a responsible and intelligent pet owner, than I don’t think that keeping one or two is a problem.
If the woman’s a complete, nose - picking retard though, she probably shouldn’t keep a raccoon.
06/10/08  12:56am

 #1756946


Rickiluvsreptiles
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   Message To: Senshokukiba   In reference to Message Id: 1756577


 Hey Booboo? Or anyone else with expertise in Raccoons

Senshokukiba I agree, I have raised many exotic rescues, I am not in any way a professional but I do research and ask many questions. Wild animals will always be wild, they need thier space but if any injury or something like that stops them from living a healthy life in the wild then there are people that can do awesome jobs at giving them great homes. Wild is best, but sometimes, some animals will have a better life with people.
06/10/08  02:16pm

 #1757174


Dragongirl6
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   Message To: Rickiluvsreptiles   In reference to Message Id: 1756946


 Hey Booboo? Or anyone else with expertise in Raccoons

I happen to be friends with several wildlife rahabilitators. I know that raccoons, no matter how well cared for or properly raised, become aggressive as adults and are often very difficult to deal with.

The best thing for an animal found in the wild is for them to be able to return to the wild. An animal that has been raised with people doesn’t necessarily make a good pet, but it also means that it probably won’t have the skills to survive on its own.

I am not against owning exotics. I have and rescue them myself (reptiles, sugar gliders, hedgehogs, prairie dogs, etc.) but I don’t believe an animal should be taken from the wild and raised as a pet by someone with no experience or, apparently, knowledge since this person just found the raccoon and didn’t do any research prior.

The thing about exotics is that even though there are some who can raise them successfully, too many people get them thinking they will be cuddly pets, which many just aren’t.
06/10/08  06:19pm

 #1757346


Senshokukiba
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   Message To: Dragongirl6   In reference to Message Id: 1757174


 Hey Booboo? Or anyone else with expertise in Raccoons

Dragongirl6, you can’t base every single raccoon’s behavior and temperment off of a few selected individuals. It’d be the same thing as saying that all pit bulls grow up to be aggressive simply because several you know are aggressive. Not all raccoons turn out to be aggressive. There are many success stories regarding raccoons in captivity. Some of them do, however, develop problems with aggression. I believe this is natural though. Even if a raccoon’s exposed to humans and receives constant TLC, it’ll still grow up to be wild. Raccoons, when prevoked, can become very aggressive. It’s a fact. It’s nature.
06/10/08  08:55pm

 #1757397


Dragongirl6
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   Message To: Senshokukiba   In reference to Message Id: 1757346


 Hey Booboo? Or anyone else with expertise in Raccoons

Quote:

Even if a raccoon’s exposed to humans and receives constant TLC, it’ll still grow up to be wild. Raccoons, when prevoked, can become very aggressive. It’s a fact. It’s nature.


I think we agree then?

By the way, I love pit bulls and believe that they make great pets. However, pit bulls have, unfortunately, been bred for generations to fight. I have good friends who have raised them since they were puppies and in one situation her well trained, perfectly loveable, wonderful pit got an adrenaline rush and turned and attacked his best friend (her standard poodle).

I am in NO WAY saying pit bulls grow up to be vicious no matter what, I am only saying that everyone who has one should know what they are doing and even in the best of situations it doesn’t always work out. I plan to do extensive pit bull rescue when I’m older so no one take this the wrong way. It’s one of my favorite breeds, it’s just been tragically mislead for a long time to the point where their actual genetics have been altered.

Anyway, a wild animal is far more likely to grow up wild, no matter how much care you give it, than a dog.
06/10/08  09:41pm

 #1757630


Senshokukiba
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   Message To: Dragongirl6   In reference to Message Id: 1757397


 Hey Booboo? Or anyone else with expertise in Raccoons

I agree with you to some degree, I suppose.

I also believe that pit bulls can make wonderful pets and companions. I’m one of the few pit bull enthusiasts who believes they’re more likely to attack humans than other dogs though. My beliefs are based off of the fact that many dogs have been bred to focus on specific animals, yet don’t. A dog bred to hunt elk won’t just try to hunt elk, so why do people believe that a pit bull that’s bred to fight dogs will only have the urge to fight dogs? I think it’s insane. It’s as if pit bull enthusiasts are making acceptions and lies regarding pit bulls. I belive the old "pit bulls are only dog aggressive" statement was made by someone who was trying to save the breed. Pit bull enthusiasts actually believe this idea, despite the fact that there’s no evidence that supports it.

Any way... I’m getting off topic. I’ll just leave it at that.
06/11/08  01:16am

 #1757638


Dragongirl6
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   Message To: Senshokukiba   In reference to Message Id: 1757630


 Hey Booboo? Or anyone else with expertise in Raccoons

Lol. Exactly. Just because you love a type of animal, doesn’t mean you have to, or should, deny its faults. Doing so causes a whole cycle of problems. Just saying "this dog will never bit anyone ever" does not make it so, and if you falsely advertise it as such, its new owners may end up with something they weren’t expecting and the animal ends up in a worse situation.

The same is, of course, true the other way around. Saying "this dog is likely to bite anyone" whether or not it does, ensures that it gets a bad reputation and is harder to find a home for.

So to bring this back to raccoons...You’d better do a HECK of a lot of research before deciding to raise an abandoned baby raccoon on your own, and you’d better be SURE that if it isn’t wild enough to be re released that you have the means and space to give it a happy and healthy life, as naturally as possible. Just because you find one outside does not mean you should be the one to raise it. You had also better have a wildlife vet near you and the money to spend having it tested and given any necessary medical care.

I also found it very interesting that when I was in Mexico a few weeks ago to spay/neuter dogs and cats, that NONE of the same breed biases exist there. Partly because most of the dogs are mixed, but also because no one breeds pit bulls to fight anything as far as I could tell, so none were any different from any other dog. Pit bulls wandering the street would stop to be patted on the head by little kids. If a pit were wandering around in the US, Animal Control would be close on its heels and people would run from it.
06/11/08  01:28am


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