If you are going to have a raccoon at home, you should know a number of nuances. This is not a dog or a cat, he has a different not only color, but also a character, which makes the beast unique. Of course, a raccoon feels very good at home. In addition, he is not picky about food and living conditions.
Raccoon content at home: all the subtleties and important points
If you decide to get yourself such an unusual animal, then you must definitely treat it with all responsibility. Of course, getting a raccoon at home, you want it to be tame and affectionate, so you need to take your pet small and preferably from home parents. However, if you got a wild baby, then do not despair, you just need a little patience to educate him. In order for the raccoon to feel quite comfortable, he needs to create certain conditions. It is desirable to keep the beast in spacious cages, aviaries, or, if possible, to allocate him a whole room so that he can move around without any problems. There, it is enough for him to put a small house for the bedroom, a tray for the toilet, a feeder and a basin with water. He is a predator, so it is undesirable to leave him alone, unattended. It is also necessary to take into account the fact that these animals have very tenacious limbs, and they can easily open cabinets, drawers and various doors, so it is necessary to remove dangerous objects or shut all the doors with tape.
In general, raising raccoons at home is a rather interesting and unusual activity. If you get a female, then in the future you will get from four to seven small pets that will delight you.
Home raccoon behavior
The first six months are the most difficult for the owner of such an energetic animal. A raccoon strip grows up at home rather slowly, so you will need to be patient a little. Puberty in a pet occurs around the age of one, but childhood behavior goes away only by two years. Raccoon is a very energetic and curious animal, so you will not be bored with it. He can rush through the rooms with great speed and climb into forbidden places. If you think that this little animal will immediately begin to obey you, then you are greatly mistaken. In order to train him, you will need a fairly long period of time. However, well-known methods can help you with this. For example, if he obeyed, then you need to encourage him with something tasty. You can also get a clicker at the pet store, which will also help you with raising a baby. So a raccoon at home, reviews of which are mostly good, will gradually develop.
Is it possible to wean the animal to bite?
This little predator loves to bite. However, in fact, he does this for a reason, for him it is such a peculiar way of communication. Therefore, it is simply impossible to completely wean him from biting. In order for the animal to hear you, you need to talk to him in a low voice, since the beast understands this tone faster. However, this does not always help, so you need to try to teach him. To do this, you can use an empty plastic bottle, as it claps quite loudly, but you can’t hit it painfully, but usually it’s enough just to hit it near the predator. However, it is necessary to pronounce the words, so that in the future only them will be enough. It is also necessary to show him that you are in charge, because if he does not understand this, he will try to become a leader himself (especially if this is a girl). At first, a small raccoon-striper behaves rather badly at home, so you can raise it by the scruff, as in the wild, a mother does. So he feels helpless and understands that you are in charge.
What does a raccoon eat at home?
Despite the fact that the animal is a predator, it needs to be given a variety of food. In general, a raccoon is an omnivorous animal, so you can include meat, fish, cottage cheese, seafood and eggs, as well as cookies, a variety of cereals, nuts, vegetables and fruits in its diet. Sometimes a pet begins to sort out food, so you should experiment to find out which animal will like it more. Of course, it is desirable to adhere to a natural diet, but in rare cases, you can use an artificial one. For example, if the content of the raccoon at home leads to the fact that he lacks the necessary vitamins and minerals, then you can give him dog or cat food, which will improve the health of the pet.
Raccoon keeping with other animals
It is important to know that living with such a pet with other pets is not always compatible. If you also have a dog or cat, then keeping them together is quite normal, only at least sometimes you need to distribute the pets in different rooms. However, the content of a raccoon with small rodents or birds is generally unacceptable, as they can become natural food for a predator. Sometimes this animal can be a real egoist and demand that they pay attention only to him. He can get so used to the love of his masters that he simply does not want to share it with anyone else. This can happen to your guests, the raccoon can recognize them as competitors and will try to drive them out in every way, biting and scratching at the same time.
Some useful and necessary tips on keeping an exotic animal
As previously mentioned, a raccoon needs a basin of water, as it is not in vain that it is called a “strip”. He loves to rinse his food and even randomly found things, besides splashing in the water is his favorite pastime. We can say that this is the meaning of the life of this animal. Of course, you will have to change the water quite often, but is it really difficult to do this for the happiness of your beloved pet?
The raccoon usually monitors its purity on its own, splashing in a basin. You just have to bathe it several times a year without any shampoos and other means, as they can disrupt the sebaceous cover of the hair and skin of the animal. It is also necessary sometimes to comb the animal, since it has very thick fur. It is especially important to do this in early spring, when the pet begins to molt, because the wool can clump and fall over the entire apartment. Usually a raccoon tries to comb out lumps himself, however, this can cause injury to the skin, so it is better not to allow this.
In general, a raccoon is at home, reviews of which are usually written only by positive, very sociable and friendly animals, so you should pay as much attention to it as possible. And even if he managed to harm somewhere, then in no case can he be beaten, just scolding is enough. These animals are well tamed, but do not forget that in the soul they still remain wild. So you should not call this wildness in him, because otherwise you will recognize your favorite from a completely different perspective.