What to Feed A Pet Skunk
July 26th 2009 17:06
Skunks are omnivores and will pretty much eat anything that tastes, smells, or even looks like food, but it's your job as the pet parent to insure that your pet skunk is getting a healthy diet and variety of foods.
You will want to stick with low fat foods and foods that have a low crude protein content of 15-25%. You want to be leery of processed pet food, as they contain unnecessary sugars and generally do not have a good balance of nutrition. A diet of high fats and high proteins will make your skunk fat and lazy, which leads to poor health.
It's a common misconception that you can feed skunks cat food. Don't do it. Cat food is high in fats and proteins.
A proper diet for a pet skunk is to feed about 50-60% vegetables and 40-50% meats and dairy products.
Although fresh foods are always better, frozen is fine too as long as you fully thaw out the food before giving it to your skunk. Make sure that you offer a wide variety of vegetables, as skunks will get bored if they smell the same thing in their bowl every meal time.
You want to be careful of various canned foods and fruits, as skunks are sensitive to processed foods, and because canned foods and dried fruits have a lot of salt and other preservatives that can be harmful to skunks.
Skunks need various supplements that they can't get from their regular diet. They need extra taurine for muscle foundation, vitamins, calcium, and other various minerals for bone growth. For proper dosages of taurine, you may want to consult a skunk breeder or vet who treats skunks. Most say that you should add about 300mg of taurine daily.
Foods to Consider
* (Choice of one per day) Yogurt, cottage cheese, Swiss cheese or other types of cheese, ricotta
* (Choice of one per day) Nutro all natural dog food (chicken and rice), tofu, Skunkie Delight (cooked), cooked chicken, turkey, extra lean ground beef (few times a month), Innova-Evo or any grain-free or all-natural dog food.
* (Choice of 3 to 5 per day) fresh vegetables- broccoli, cauliflower, bok choy, napa, yellow squash, zucchini, green peppers, turnip, parsley root, dandelion, parsnip root, corn, peas, sugar snap peas, carrots, black carrots, endive, romaine lettuce, brussels sprouts, egg plant, green beans, wax beans, broccoli slaw, cole slaw, tomatoes, mushrooms, cucumbers, beets (watch for red poop), avocado (skin and seed are toxic), purple cabbage, alfalfa, bean sprouts, Spanish olive (few times a month), celery, cooked vegetables - potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, acorn squash, butternut squash
* (Choice of one per day) honey, flax seed oil, Best Coat, ranch dressing, I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!
* (Choice of two per day) raw oats, puffed rice, other types of cereal, almonds, soybeans, macaroni salad, beans, natural bread, pasta, brown rice
* (Choice of one per day) fruits - pear, apple, blueberries, melon, banana, strawberry, cranberries (once in a great while)
* (Every once in a while choice of one) boiled or poached eggs, wheat germ, Multi-Minerals, spray of Willards Water, oregano, cranberry juice, orange juice, organic apple cider vinegar, garlic juice, Old Mother Hubbard dog biscuits, live crickets, meal worms, pinkies.
Foods to Avoid
* asparagus (can cause seizures in skunks)
* onions
* chocolate
* sweets
* cookies
* fatty foods
* processed meats like lunch meat, hot dogs
* some fried food
* pork
* bacon
* lettuce
* cat food
You'll want to guage the amount of food to give your pet skunk by how much he'll eat in about 5 minutes. If the skunk seems to be searching for food between meals, then you may want to add a little bit more to the bowl the next feeding time. If the skunk can't finish the entire meal in one sitting, then you're offering too much food.
You will want to stick with low fat foods and foods that have a low crude protein content of 15-25%. You want to be leery of processed pet food, as they contain unnecessary sugars and generally do not have a good balance of nutrition. A diet of high fats and high proteins will make your skunk fat and lazy, which leads to poor health.
It's a common misconception that you can feed skunks cat food. Don't do it. Cat food is high in fats and proteins.
Although fresh foods are always better, frozen is fine too as long as you fully thaw out the food before giving it to your skunk. Make sure that you offer a wide variety of vegetables, as skunks will get bored if they smell the same thing in their bowl every meal time.
You want to be careful of various canned foods and fruits, as skunks are sensitive to processed foods, and because canned foods and dried fruits have a lot of salt and other preservatives that can be harmful to skunks.
Skunks need various supplements that they can't get from their regular diet. They need extra taurine for muscle foundation, vitamins, calcium, and other various minerals for bone growth. For proper dosages of taurine, you may want to consult a skunk breeder or vet who treats skunks. Most say that you should add about 300mg of taurine daily.
Foods to Consider
* (Choice of one per day) Yogurt, cottage cheese, Swiss cheese or other types of cheese, ricotta
* (Choice of one per day) Nutro all natural dog food (chicken and rice), tofu, Skunkie Delight (cooked), cooked chicken, turkey, extra lean ground beef (few times a month), Innova-Evo or any grain-free or all-natural dog food.
* (Choice of 3 to 5 per day) fresh vegetables- broccoli, cauliflower, bok choy, napa, yellow squash, zucchini, green peppers, turnip, parsley root, dandelion, parsnip root, corn, peas, sugar snap peas, carrots, black carrots, endive, romaine lettuce, brussels sprouts, egg plant, green beans, wax beans, broccoli slaw, cole slaw, tomatoes, mushrooms, cucumbers, beets (watch for red poop), avocado (skin and seed are toxic), purple cabbage, alfalfa, bean sprouts, Spanish olive (few times a month), celery, cooked vegetables - potatoes, sweet potatoes, yams, acorn squash, butternut squash
* (Choice of one per day) honey, flax seed oil, Best Coat, ranch dressing, I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!
* (Choice of two per day) raw oats, puffed rice, other types of cereal, almonds, soybeans, macaroni salad, beans, natural bread, pasta, brown rice
* (Choice of one per day) fruits - pear, apple, blueberries, melon, banana, strawberry, cranberries (once in a great while)
* (Every once in a while choice of one) boiled or poached eggs, wheat germ, Multi-Minerals, spray of Willards Water, oregano, cranberry juice, orange juice, organic apple cider vinegar, garlic juice, Old Mother Hubbard dog biscuits, live crickets, meal worms, pinkies.
Foods to Avoid
* asparagus (can cause seizures in skunks)
* onions
* chocolate
* sweets
* cookies
* fatty foods
* processed meats like lunch meat, hot dogs
* some fried food
* pork
* bacon
* lettuce
* cat food
You'll want to guage the amount of food to give your pet skunk by how much he'll eat in about 5 minutes. If the skunk seems to be searching for food between meals, then you may want to add a little bit more to the bowl the next feeding time. If the skunk can't finish the entire meal in one sitting, then you're offering too much food.
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