Ray and Patty - 2004-07-04 Hey Guys, I thought I would share my experience as a caregiver of two raccoons. My first was a little female. One afternoon, after getting home from work. My wife and I found our Cocker Spaniel sitting at the front door waiting for us. As we approached the house we could hear the cries of a small animal. Nestled between his legs was a baby coon, her eyes were still closed. We took her in and checked her for injuries and found her to be healthy and strong. My wife and I have raised several animals from infancy and knew that raising her would require a lot of dedication. We already had feeding bottles and syringes and most everything needed to feed her. Time has taught us that mammals do very well on a mixture of warmed evaporated milk, natural honey and water. This needs to be given every two hours until its eyes have opened, or at about the age of five or six weeks. At that time strained baby fruits can be added for extra nutrients. Once the pup is strong enough you can add mixed baby cereal. I hear from other people that they wean their pup at about eight to ten weeks of age. But I have found that you can provide a bottle as long as it will suckle it. Believe me they will let you know when its not wanted. You will find that your pet will be truly bonded to you for the rest of its life. We bath our coons on a regular basis and found that they look forward to the cleanup. Our raccoons enjoy their time with the dog and cats but really look forward to spending time with us. They are very loving and love to cuddle. But given the opportunity to wrestle, they will play just as hard as we play back. Raccoons are very intelligent and can learn basic commands and words. Do not be afraid to say NO. Even though they use their hands with great dexterity they tend to lick and nibble. This is one of those times for the NO word. Also as soon as they start eating solid foods you need to help it get over aggressive eating habits. I have found that if you hand feed them and make a game out of carefully taking the morsels back, that you will be able to retrieve anything you do not want chewed up without any problems. Our female is about eight years old and the male is about four years of age. I am not sure that either one of them have an aggressive bone in them, but when in public we have to be careful. Both have worn a harness since they were about eight weeks old and have learned to walk on a leash. When in public or the vets they wear a mussel just to be safe. They are both registered and get their shots each year. Coons are not for everybody. They require a lot of care, patience, and attention. But the time invested is rewarding in itself.
I take care of several raccoons who cross over every night from the park and have a bit of sustenence that I provide. My horrible next door neighbor sent the Wild Life Control over here tonight. I was informed that if I continue to feed the racoons "the authorities" will come and trap them, and then KILL them. That is not happening here, I am purchasing bolt cutters tommorow,no trapping here) and also sharing this travesty with all local (hey, Peta,) animal rights groups. and I will protest to the point of incarceration. Thanks for your website, DEB Adams-Garland
Anonymous - 2004-06-16 In (Description:) you refer to racoons as carnivores, then contradicted that statement in (Care & Feeding), refering to them as omnivores. They are in fact the later, omnivores.
Kallie Forrestier - 2004-05-30 Hi my name is Kallie... my neighbor recently came across 3 baby raccoons, well the animal lover I am, she called me. I have had them for about a month now. They were no bigger than my hand, now they are a hand full.. haha.. but I have raised many kinds of animals, even new born baby skunks, but these raccoons just totally took our hearts. They are so awesome!I love them. I guess they are about 3 months old now. I bottle feed them baby formula and baby cereal. They are just great and soooooooo loving. Kallie, from Louisiana
Nikki - 2004-05-08 hi, me and my boyfriend recently found 3 baby raccoons in the wall of one of our rental houses. when we found them they were only about 3 wks old. now they are about 7 wks. they are absolutly adorable and so much fun. i am so glad i have had a chance to have them.
Mary - 2004-04-20 We were lucky enough to be able to raise baby raccoons and then set them free in the wild, which meant, I was there Mommy and took them off to the woods and the brook to learn to forage for themselves. One of them, named Roxane, used to come back all the time for a fun into the toilet *lol* and lots of hugs with purring. She was the greatest. The male, was a bit wilder and would bite and be very restless in captivity. I can see how as pets some raccoons would be very cool but also could be dangerous. They are cute of course.
NIKKI AND ANESSA - 2004-03-16 HI MY NAME IS NIKKI AND ME AND MY FRIEND ANESSA RAISE RACOONS FROM BABIES. WE HAVE TO GET RABIES AND OTHER SHOTS OF COARSE AND WE CAN TOTTALY RELATE TO YOU! COONS R GREAT PETS BUT THEY R STRICT BOUT THEM. WE HAD TO SEND LETTERS (OR OUR MOM DID LOL) TO SOME PLACE ASKING IF WE COULD RAISE THEM. THEY SAID THAT WE COULD AFTER WE SEND 3 LETTERS!! WELL YES ME AND MY SISTERS R TWINS AND WE HAVE ALWAYS LOVED COONS. I REMEMBER ONE DAY WHEN WE WERE TAKING A WALK AND I SAW A DEAD RACOON ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. SO I WENT UP TO IT AND I PICKED IT UP. IT WAS STILL ALIVE JUST HURT AND TOO WEAK TO MOVE. I ASKED MY MOM IF WE COULD KEEP HIM AND WE RUSHED HIM TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM. WE HAVE HIM 2-DAY YET HE IS REALLY OLD. THO HE IS MISSING A LEG SO WE COULDNT LET HIM FREE THATS Y WE GOT 2 KEEP HIM. THE OTHERS WE HAD 2 ASK 4. BUT HE IS VERY VERY OLD. HE IS 14 YEARS OLD THE DOC SAID. HE WAS BOUT 2 WHEN WE FOUND HIM AND IT HAS BEEN 12 YEARS! BUT YEA COONS R THE *BEST*
M McClure - 2003-12-26 We have a pet reccoon, who is now 8 months old and 22 lbs. He is very "high maintenance" constantly needing his in-house cage (4 x 4 x 4 ) cleaned and water refreshed. Bowls of water get all soupy with what ever he can drag thru it. The lick style water bottles constantly need refilling. He pats the spout with his hands just for the fun of it. We had a large carpeted cat condo in the cage which he destroyed by peeling apart the cardboad barrel it was made of. Anything that he can reach (socks, newspapers, books, etc) will end up in his cage and destroyed just for the fun of it!
We put him on a dog tie-out outside for variety, but have to check on him frequently because he tends to get tangled in bushes, trees, anything he can figure. There is a tree in the front yard I let him climb untethered for air-robic exercise, when I am willing to stay outside to wait for him to come back down. When we can, we feed him worms, minnows and crayfish in addition to dog food and table scraps.
He is a lot of trouble, but is very affectionate and has stolen our hearts. I have been bitten many times and have gotten poison ivy from him twice when he has gotten away. But we have gotten so much affection and kisses from him, it all seems to be worth while.
If you ever want to keep a raccoon for a pet, you must be willing to get bitten and make the effort to give him a good quality of life from his point of view. Boredom is his biggest enemy - a raccoon can never have too many toys or too much variety.
Here is a raccoon up past his bedtime! This younster couldn't keep still, climbed all over everybody and was constantly "checking things out"!
Hey Guys, I thought I would share my experience as a caregiver of two raccoons. My first was a little female. One afternoon, after getting home from work. My wife and I found our Cocker Spaniel sitting at the front door waiting for us. As we approached the house we could hear the cries of a small animal. Nestled between his legs was a baby coon, her eyes were still closed. We took her in and checked her for injuries and found her to be healthy and strong. My wife and I have raised several animals from infancy and knew that raising her would require a lot of dedication. We already had feeding bottles and syringes and most everything needed to feed her. Time has taught us that mammals do very well on a mixture of warmed evaporated milk, natural honey and water. This needs to be given every two hours until its eyes have opened, or at about the age of five or six weeks. At that time strained baby fruits can be added for extra nutrients. Once the pup is strong enough you can add mixed baby cereal. I hear from other people that they wean their pup at about eight to ten weeks of age. But I have found that you can provide a bottle as long as it will suckle it. Believe me they will let you know when its not wanted. You will find that your pet will be truly bonded to you for the rest of its life. We bath our coons on a regular basis and found that they look forward to the cleanup. Our raccoons enjoy their time with the dog and cats but really look forward to spending time with us. They are very loving and love to cuddle. But given the opportunity to wrestle, they will play just as hard as we play back. Raccoons are very intelligent and can learn basic commands and words. Do not be afraid to say NO. Even though they use their hands with great dexterity they tend to lick and nibble. This is one of those times for the NO word. Also as soon as they start eating solid foods you need to help it get over aggressive eating habits. I have found that if you hand feed them and make a game out of carefully taking the morsels back, that you will be able to retrieve anything you do not want chewed up without any problems. Our female is about eight years old and the male is about four years of age. I am not sure that either one of them have an aggressive bone in them, but when in public we have to be careful. Both have worn a harness since they were about eight weeks old and have learned to walk on a leash. When in public or the vets they wear a mussel just to be safe. They are both registered and get their shots each year. Coons are not for everybody. They require a lot of care, patience, and attention. But the time invested is rewarding in itself.
I take care of several raccoons who cross over every night from the park and have a bit of sustenence that I provide. My horrible next door neighbor sent the Wild Life Control over here tonight. I was informed that if I continue to feed the racoons "the authorities" will come and trap them, and then KILL them. That is not happening here, I am purchasing bolt cutters tommorow,no trapping here) and also sharing this travesty with all local (hey, Peta,) animal rights groups. and I will protest to the point of incarceration. Thanks for your website, DEB Adams-Garland
In (Description:) you refer to racoons as carnivores, then contradicted that statement in (Care & Feeding), refering to them as omnivores. They are in fact the later, omnivores.
Hi my name is Kallie... my neighbor recently came across 3 baby raccoons, well the animal lover I am, she called me. I have had them for about a month now. They were no bigger than my hand, now they are a hand full.. haha.. but I have raised many kinds of animals, even new born baby skunks, but these raccoons just totally took our hearts. They are so awesome!I love them. I guess they are about 3 months old now. I bottle feed them baby formula and baby cereal. They are just great and soooooooo loving. Kallie, from Louisiana
hi, me and my boyfriend recently found 3 baby raccoons in the wall of one of our rental houses. when we found them they were only about 3 wks old. now they are about 7 wks. they are absolutly adorable and so much fun. i am so glad i have had a chance to have them.
We were lucky enough to be able to raise baby raccoons and then set them free in the wild, which meant, I was there Mommy and took them off to the woods and the brook to learn to forage for themselves. One of them, named Roxane, used to come back all the time for a fun into the toilet *lol* and lots of hugs with purring. She was the greatest. The male, was a bit wilder and would bite and be very restless in captivity. I can see how as pets some raccoons would be very cool but also could be dangerous. They are cute of course.
HI MY NAME IS NIKKI AND ME AND MY FRIEND ANESSA RAISE RACOONS FROM BABIES. WE HAVE TO GET RABIES AND OTHER SHOTS OF COARSE AND WE CAN TOTTALY RELATE TO YOU! COONS R GREAT PETS BUT THEY R STRICT BOUT THEM. WE HAD TO SEND LETTERS (OR OUR MOM DID LOL) TO SOME PLACE ASKING IF WE COULD RAISE THEM. THEY SAID THAT WE COULD AFTER WE SEND 3 LETTERS!! WELL YES ME AND MY SISTERS R TWINS AND WE HAVE ALWAYS LOVED COONS. I REMEMBER ONE DAY WHEN WE WERE TAKING A WALK AND I SAW A DEAD RACOON ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. SO I WENT UP TO IT AND I PICKED IT UP. IT WAS STILL ALIVE JUST HURT AND TOO WEAK TO MOVE. I ASKED MY MOM IF WE COULD KEEP HIM AND WE RUSHED HIM TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM. WE HAVE HIM 2-DAY YET HE IS REALLY OLD. THO HE IS MISSING A LEG SO WE COULDNT LET HIM FREE THATS Y WE GOT 2 KEEP HIM. THE OTHERS WE HAD 2 ASK 4. BUT HE IS VERY VERY OLD. HE IS 14 YEARS OLD THE DOC SAID. HE WAS BOUT 2 WHEN WE FOUND HIM AND IT HAS BEEN 12 YEARS! BUT YEA COONS R THE *BEST*
We have a pet reccoon, who is now 8 months old and 22 lbs. He is very "high maintenance" constantly needing his in-house cage (4 x 4 x 4 ) cleaned and water refreshed. Bowls of water get all soupy with what ever he can drag thru it. The lick style water bottles constantly need refilling.
He pats the spout with his hands just for the fun of it. We had a large carpeted cat condo in the cage which he destroyed by peeling apart the cardboad barrel it was made of. Anything that he can reach (socks, newspapers, books, etc) will end up in his cage and destroyed just for the fun of it!
We put him on a dog tie-out outside for variety, but have to check on him frequently because he tends to get tangled in bushes, trees, anything he can figure. There is a tree in the front yard I let him climb untethered for air-robic exercise, when I am willing to stay outside to wait for him to come back down. When we can, we feed him worms, minnows and crayfish in addition to dog food and table scraps.
He is a lot of trouble, but is very affectionate and has stolen our hearts. I have been bitten many times and have gotten poison ivy from him twice when he has gotten away. But we have gotten so much affection and kisses from him, it all seems to be worth while.
If you ever want to keep a raccoon for a pet, you must be willing to get bitten and make the effort to give him a good quality of life from his point of view. Boredom is his biggest enemy - a raccoon can never have too many toys or too much variety.
I have a pet racoon and its definatly the cutest pet I have ever had.