How to Care For A Pet Raccoon
Raccoons are intelligent, playful, interesting, and active. They are also mischievous, unpredictable, destructive, aggressive, and very messy. Keeping a raccoon as a pet is not easy, and it represents a long commitment (raccoons live 10 to15 years in captivity). Before you get one, make sure you are up to the task.
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Instructions
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Pet Raccoons
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Find out if raccoons are legal in your state. Many states do not allow people to keep raccoons as pets.
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Find a local vet who will treat raccoons. Although they are common in the wild, raccoons are exotic pets. It can be hard to find a vet who will treat them, so make sure to find one before you get a pet raccoon.
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Spend as much time as possible with the raccoon from a young age. Raccoons are not completely domesticated, and they must be played with a lot to get used to human contact at all.
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Raise the raccoon alone. Although young raccoons do well with others of the same species, adults are solitary.
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Give the animal his own room with his own bedding and toys. Raccoons can be quite destructive. Giving them their own space and their own toys to chew on and claw at can help to minimize the damage to your stuff.
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Train your raccoon. Raccoons can be litter trained and can learn a few commands.
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Be persistent. Every time your raccoon bite or claws at something he isn't supposed to, say "no" clearly, take it away, and give him one of his own toys.
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Feed your raccoon a wide diet. Raccoons love fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as poultry, and fish.
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Give your raccoon plenty of water. Raccoons like to wash their food before they eat it.
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Be ready for mating season. Captive raccoons get moody and aggressive during mating season, and often "mark their territory" around the house.
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Tips & Warnings
Never hit your raccoon. He will perceive this as an attack and will bite you.
Even under the best circumstances, a raccoon can be unpredictable and violent. If you aren't willing to get bitten now and then, get a different pet.
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Comments
View all 6 Comments-
Lynn I believe cat/dog flea control should work.
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what type of flea control should I use on a pet raccoon that lives in my home with me?
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Abby Staehle
Nov 01, 2010
I found a baby last week that seems to be paralized from the waste down it dosen't seem to bother her,so she has no control of her bladder and it gets a little messy to hold her.... any ideas? Also what kind of toys can I give her to play with? -
raccoonhaven
May 26, 2009
NO you don't do that to a raccoon! They are a wild animal regardless if you have them as a pet or not. They WILL bite sometimes. You do nothing to the teeth or claws maybe a little filing on the claws but if you have the proper things for it to climb that should help with that. But don't ever do that actually to any animal.
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mhampson
Oct 21, 2008
Would it be possible to lessen the biting problem by filing/clipping the teeth at a young age?
