I've raised exotic animals for years, ranging from simple things like rabbits, to the far more complex such as skunks. A couple years ago I took in 2 baby raccoons about 2 days old each, and raised them until they were 8 months old as well. Each animal has a story and they were all fun in their own ways, but definitely a handful. Just today I picked up two sugar gliders that are a little crabby still, but they're slowly coming around. We've named the male, but the female has no name yet.
This is Zuki. Zuki liked to go for the jugular, and she was not friendly at all. She bit, yes, but she was also.. sweet in her own way. It's like having an extra needy cat when you get a skunk, and the bites are harder. Skunks are Hypoglycemic and need fresh feed every 5 or so hours. You can't feed them pellets, but you can feed them dogfood as a snack. Most of the trouble with skunks is parasites, and they need to be given a de-worming formula once a month.. ours didn't mind it so much, she loved the banana flavor.
We got Zuki second hand from a person with 8 skunks. She had been de-scented so that she couldn't spray, but she was neglected in her previous home. This made her very mean, but once she was in your arms she really didn't try and hurt you. It was only when she was on her own feet that she decided to go after people. I still have scars on my wrist from her bites.
For a skunk in the state of florida you are allowed to own one if you have a class C animal license, which allows for the showing off to the public of exotic animals. You don't need much else besides that and time. Don't expect people to take pity on you for having your arm near ripped off, it's one of the prices of handling an exotic.
Zuki made a lot of odd sounds. She kind of purred like a cat, but when she was mad she'd make a high pitched hissing noise and bang her feet against the ground. It's a territorial trait that we were never able to break her of, but it was kind of cute in its own way.
Unfortunately she died on my birthday 3 years ago.
This is 3 of 47 rabbits that I've raised. The one with the floppy ears was paralyzed from the waist down of a herniated disc, but she definitely lived the longest. 8 years. Rabbits can live a fairly long time, and what people don't realize is their 20 dollar investment will live for about 12 years under the right conditions. The ones with the floppy ears are much more work, as they require constant care to make sure their ears are clean. They tend to scratch them while bathing.
The picture was taken when I was 14, but the large one in the middle with the white stripe was by far the most friendly, I do remember that. All three have since passed, but the thing you wouldn't believe is that at one time she was the size of my hand.
I took this when I was 10. She was 3 weeks old at the time.
One thing people don't know about rabbits is that when they're scared they scream. It can sound anywhere from "OWOWOWOW, to AAH AAH AHH AHH". It's very loud, and can wake someone from a dead sleep. They usually only do this if their life is in danger, but babies will do it even if you pick them up. That's how I found out the first time that one of our rabbits had babies.. actually.
Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the raccoons. We got them when they were still nearly hair-less before they opened their eyes and nursed them from a baby bottle. It's amazing. They cling right to the bottle when you feed them and just suck til they look like they're ready to pop. Before their eyes opened the male used to sway and paw at the ground. We named him Stevie-Wonder. The female was just lazy and liked to roll around, but she loved the water. Once their eyes were opened they usually ran into the shower while I was taking them. I named her Riku.
When they got bigger we used to take them outside and let them run around with us. They love to climb and they'd follow us wherever we went, usually clinging to our legs while we walked. When we'd stop they'd climb a tree and when we were ready to leave they'd climb back down and follow us. They never once tried to run away.
Raccoons eat fresh foods as well, but they did enjoy dog food. I liked to give them crickets since they loved trying to catch them. We sent them to an animal shelter a few months later, where they were gradually re-introduced into the wild, and still love humans to this day. I've seen pictures, they grew from ten pounds to thirty. I'm glad they can't cling to me anymore.
Now the gliders.. I tried to get a picture of them, I really did but they're fast as hell. It's near impossible to get a clear picture of a gerbil-sized squirrel without some kind of blur. We have one female, and one male. The female is still unnamed but the male goes by Dante.
They're kind of sweet in their own way. The female likes play-nipping, and has already bitten me quite a few times. It'll be a trait I'm going to break within the next couple weeks. The male however, just comes out of the cage, crawls around on my shoulders, chills out, and then jumps back to the cage. He's pretty chill about the whole arrangement.
One of the problems with Sugar Gliders is that they are nocturnal. You must be up at night to play with them because trying during the day will get you crabbed at and bitten. Crabbing is when a glider starts grunting very loudly, and nipping to get the point across they don't want to be messed with. Though the male likes to bark at me when the cage is closed and he wants out. It sounds like a small dog yipping.
Anything you guys would like to know about exotic animals?
This is Zuki. Zuki liked to go for the jugular, and she was not friendly at all. She bit, yes, but she was also.. sweet in her own way. It's like having an extra needy cat when you get a skunk, and the bites are harder. Skunks are Hypoglycemic and need fresh feed every 5 or so hours. You can't feed them pellets, but you can feed them dogfood as a snack. Most of the trouble with skunks is parasites, and they need to be given a de-worming formula once a month.. ours didn't mind it so much, she loved the banana flavor.
We got Zuki second hand from a person with 8 skunks. She had been de-scented so that she couldn't spray, but she was neglected in her previous home. This made her very mean, but once she was in your arms she really didn't try and hurt you. It was only when she was on her own feet that she decided to go after people. I still have scars on my wrist from her bites.
For a skunk in the state of florida you are allowed to own one if you have a class C animal license, which allows for the showing off to the public of exotic animals. You don't need much else besides that and time. Don't expect people to take pity on you for having your arm near ripped off, it's one of the prices of handling an exotic.
Zuki made a lot of odd sounds. She kind of purred like a cat, but when she was mad she'd make a high pitched hissing noise and bang her feet against the ground. It's a territorial trait that we were never able to break her of, but it was kind of cute in its own way.
Unfortunately she died on my birthday 3 years ago.
This is 3 of 47 rabbits that I've raised. The one with the floppy ears was paralyzed from the waist down of a herniated disc, but she definitely lived the longest. 8 years. Rabbits can live a fairly long time, and what people don't realize is their 20 dollar investment will live for about 12 years under the right conditions. The ones with the floppy ears are much more work, as they require constant care to make sure their ears are clean. They tend to scratch them while bathing.
The picture was taken when I was 14, but the large one in the middle with the white stripe was by far the most friendly, I do remember that. All three have since passed, but the thing you wouldn't believe is that at one time she was the size of my hand.
I took this when I was 10. She was 3 weeks old at the time.
One thing people don't know about rabbits is that when they're scared they scream. It can sound anywhere from "OWOWOWOW, to AAH AAH AHH AHH". It's very loud, and can wake someone from a dead sleep. They usually only do this if their life is in danger, but babies will do it even if you pick them up. That's how I found out the first time that one of our rabbits had babies.. actually.
Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the raccoons. We got them when they were still nearly hair-less before they opened their eyes and nursed them from a baby bottle. It's amazing. They cling right to the bottle when you feed them and just suck til they look like they're ready to pop. Before their eyes opened the male used to sway and paw at the ground. We named him Stevie-Wonder. The female was just lazy and liked to roll around, but she loved the water. Once their eyes were opened they usually ran into the shower while I was taking them. I named her Riku.
When they got bigger we used to take them outside and let them run around with us. They love to climb and they'd follow us wherever we went, usually clinging to our legs while we walked. When we'd stop they'd climb a tree and when we were ready to leave they'd climb back down and follow us. They never once tried to run away.
Raccoons eat fresh foods as well, but they did enjoy dog food. I liked to give them crickets since they loved trying to catch them. We sent them to an animal shelter a few months later, where they were gradually re-introduced into the wild, and still love humans to this day. I've seen pictures, they grew from ten pounds to thirty. I'm glad they can't cling to me anymore.
Now the gliders.. I tried to get a picture of them, I really did but they're fast as hell. It's near impossible to get a clear picture of a gerbil-sized squirrel without some kind of blur. We have one female, and one male. The female is still unnamed but the male goes by Dante.
They're kind of sweet in their own way. The female likes play-nipping, and has already bitten me quite a few times. It'll be a trait I'm going to break within the next couple weeks. The male however, just comes out of the cage, crawls around on my shoulders, chills out, and then jumps back to the cage. He's pretty chill about the whole arrangement.
One of the problems with Sugar Gliders is that they are nocturnal. You must be up at night to play with them because trying during the day will get you crabbed at and bitten. Crabbing is when a glider starts grunting very loudly, and nipping to get the point across they don't want to be messed with. Though the male likes to bark at me when the cage is closed and he wants out. It sounds like a small dog yipping.
Anything you guys would like to know about exotic animals?
