Lacey, our youngest skunk is learning to eat her veggies raw. But we are having a few issues.
Lacey is our eighteen-month-old princess skunk. A lovely fluff of a female with the most petite feet and prettiest stripe up her aristocratic face.
Cucumbers and sweet red peppers are her vegetables of choice. She loves proteins. Chicken, turkey, wild salmon, beef, venison, elk. But mostly, Lacey loves calories — cottage cheese, cheese, yogurt, nuts and hulled roasted seeds, pasta, cereal, nibbles of dog food and cat food. More than anything, Lacey wants oily stuff. She will lick a butter wrapper for fifteen minutes. When we pick her up she grabs it in her hands and tries to eat it.
Back to the cucumber. As Lacey’s mama, I thought the cucumber was a fine food for her to eat every day. That was until the end of the garden organic cucumbers came through from the local farmer. I was letting Lacey live it up with all the cucumber she wanted. Well, Lacey and her sister, Blossom, ended up dehydrating.
Yes, black poop. Dehydrated skunks. Vet bills. Didn’t know what was going on, what I did wrong. Then realized that cucumbers are the one product used in diuretics to help humans release the extra water when they are retaining. Poor skunks. They still get cucumbers but not as often, not as much.
This means Lacey must learn to eat her veggies. No, she doesn’t want carrots, no broccoli, no cauliflower or cabbage, no green beans unless they are cooked. What skunk eats cooked green beans in the wild. I’m not giving her a cooked green anything. She needs to get over it. Besides, all these cruciferous organic veggies are the best calcium for her bones. She could end up with domestic skunkie osteoporosis and not be able to walk. This is common.
She will always eat organic Boston lettuce and red leaf lettuces if – if I drizzle flaxseed oil on the greens.
The last two days I have done my best. I tried chopping her veggies into tiny pieces, then stirring her scrambled egg or meat right in. She snipped out the bits of protein and charged for her sister’s bowl.
Well, this was fine with sister, who loved it all, had already finished her own meat. Lacey found Blossom’s bowl full of the same veggies sans the meat. Blossom got extra veggies.
“Don’t worry, Mama,” Blossom said, “cuz we have a system.”
Yes they have a system that benefits Blossom, trading off bowls when they are almost done. Blossom is not a picky eater and always gets what is left. She gained a pound in six months.
On their last midnight snack of yogurt and celery, I drizzled a bit of flaxseed oil on Lacey’s chopped celery.
Blossom ate her celery and yogurt and charged across the kitchen for Lacey’s bowl. But I grabbed Blossom and we went to the dining room to sit with Papa to watch if Lacey would eat the celery or just lick the oil. It’s an interesting life we lead here.
“I want down,” Blossom complained. “She’s not going to eat the celery. I need to lick the bowl for you.”
“Wait until sister is done,” I said. “She got salad dressing and you didn’t.”
That was too much information.
“She got salad dressing?!” Blossom yeowled, throwing herself backward like the three-year-old she is. “That is not fair!”
“Just wait.”
She wriggled and waggled to get down. “Mama, let me go! Papa! Help!” But Papa just laughed.
Lacey finished all her celery and licked all the flaxseed oil. So sad, Blossom licked the bowl another three minutes just to prove she liked it best of all.
This morning, I mixed chopped celery, cucumber, leaf lettuce, baby carrots, peeled red pepper, a bit of ground sirloin. Sans oil.
Lacey looked over her shoulder thinking very loudly, as she does not speak, yet. “But I don’t like saaaalad.”
She spotted Blossom still eating. Maybe if she was fast enough, aggressive enough, she could get that beef. Lacey circled the kitchen before charging for Blossom’s bowl.
I grabbed her so Blossom could eat, then proceeded to spoil Lacey by drizzling a half teaspoon of flaxseed oil on her salad, stirring well.
I placed bowl and skunk back in place. Lacey started to nibble.
Blossom had been watching. She left a nearly full bowl and charged toward Lacey’s bowl. I was in the middle of the room like a halfback. It is a halfback? Or quarterback?
Anyway, I grabbed Blossom. Her body-slamming skunk fights are never pretty. Want to avoid that!
“It’s not fair!” Blossom screamed, kicking. “She gets everything! That beauty mark nose stripe! She’s longer and fluffier! AND she gets the oil!”
“You eat in the bedroom, honey bunny. You already like your veggies. Besides, Lacey won’t be getting the extra oil for long. She’ll learn.”
Sullen little Blossom was closed into the bedroom with her ‘diet’ food.
Lacey ate it all. As a reward for eating her veggies, since I was giving the dog scrambled raw egg with little natural nuggets, I dripped three into her bowl. She grabbed the spoon with both hands, licking the egg off. “Mmmmmm.”
When Lacey was done, I picked up her bowl and locked her in the living room to avoid food fight issues, then took a few doggie nuggets with raw egg to Blossom. But she charged from the room to find Lacey’s bowl. I called her back to her own bowl.
She had to decide between remnants of oil verses what was on Mama’s spoon. Blossom reluctantly turned back to me. “All right, what have you got then.” And her smart-little butt was richly rewarded for all her sacrifice.
SKUNK LESSON — Too much cucumber could dehydrate. Never give asparagus, which has caused grand mal seizures, and never give skunks grapes or raisins as these can cause enlarged heart and renal failure respectively.
SKUNK TIP: -Skunks need live calcium for their bones. The best live source – leafy green vegetables. Lettuce — but not the iceberg which is actually a hybrid of cabbage and lettuce and is not digestible for most people either. Leaf lettuces are best… like red and green, Boson, Romaine. Cabbages like savoy and green cabbage. Also broccoli, celery, kale, bok choy. If it is green – but not asparagus – then it is good for them to eat. Raw is best, the cooked has lost sources of minerals they need. Be certain to get organic. If not, then be certain to remove the sprays. There are spray removers at the health food store, but I usually soak in 50-50 hydrogen peroxide / water a few minutes then rinse well.
Supplements for calcium – We used a liquid angstrom supplement for bones. This is highly bioavailable. The powdered calcium is not bioavailable and in my opinion, will cause arthritis as it lodges calcium desposits in the joints and along the spine. We know, we actually had two skunks with solidified spines from the powdered calcium. At the very least use a liquid colloidal minerals that is specific for bones. NEW PRODUCT FOR THEM — The one we have been using for five months now is Neways Maximol Solutions which is full of ionic minerals, vitamins and amino acids. I also sprinkle Green Qi on their scrambled eggs, yum. There is a short clip on this page.
I am a holistic guide and answer questions all day long, so if you have concerns or questions about anything human or pet. I won’t just tell you about Neways. I have been introducing people and pets to many wonderful companies for morethan a decade…. just go to my website and email me. I always respond.
Pet Skunks for Sale 
Kathy
September 13, 2009
I just got a 6 week old skunk. We I asked the breeder about why it smells he said it never had a bath. After bathing it in an oatmeal dog shampoo it smells the same. I have read that they can smell if they have worms. Do you treat your for worms all the time. I have 3 cats so this concernms me that they too can get them.
essaadams
October 7, 2009
Here are two links at Skunk Haven. Much info for new skunk owners. These are for conventional worming of skunks and other health challenges they may face, you need to know. Be very careful what worming product you choose. Skunks are highly sensitive.
http://www.skunkhaven.net/FirstAid.htm http://www.skunkhaven.net/images/Wormers.pdf
For my pets, I use Ojibwa Tea to worm http://www.ojibwatea.com They have info per weight of animals, let them know you are treating an animal. To my skunks, cats, dogs, I give a few times a day for a few weeks and repeat every four months or so. I am convinced this parasitic-fighting, health-rebalancing tea dissolves worms. Been doing it for many years, never have worms when tested.
As far as shampoo for skunks, I use human shampoo and conditioner Neways Keratonics because it has the gentlest, most natural ingredients ever. Keratonics also has fragrance that is mild, no allergen-type fragrances used. Talk about fluffy butts, they were always glorious after their Ultimate Neways shampoo and conditioner we used to use BUT the Keratonics spa is best. http://www.essanatural.com/silk-hair-care-products.html
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July 30, 2009
Hi 🙂
I just found your blog by coincidence.
That`s the first I read that cucumber causes dehydration. I often feed cucumber BECAUSE I thought it gives enough water.(because they never drink water, only mixed with milk for cats, god knows why…).
I`m a little worried now. Although I never noticed any dehydration.
But it`s interessting, thanks.
essaadams
October 7, 2009
Yes, cucumbers and veggies are all made up of water. so I thought the same. But then the dehydration happened and I had to consider what was too much. The seeds in autumn are horrible hard too. But mostly I think the entire situation was a combination of the sprayed pecans and too much cucumber all at once and for such a long time, we were feeding this with other foods for several days, like a celebration of both treats they love.
Gotta watch corn too. Feed the most tender kernels, not touch and large ones. I also scorethe corn while on cob so the kernels are cut in two and three pieces, then I serve on cob or cut off cob. If on cob, watch the skunk that will eat the entire cob too – LACEY!!! And watch for possessiveness when you need to take it away. hahaha, running to hide under the hutch or bed to finish. Corn I only serve the equivalent of maybe 1/3 an ear a day and not too many days in a row, they tend to get intestinal clogged with too much unless I do it this way and this amount. I learned the hard way.