With regret I am having to post a second warning about breeding skunks and it is again related to female aggression.

We have just found Stella dead. For those who don't know her, she is the daughter of our Bear & Koko and the family have been living together in harmony since Stella was weaned in April.

Without going into graphic detail because I will never get the image out of my head as it is, Stella sustained some serious head injuries. She had been savagely attacked by her mother who was seen mating back in August so we believe is due to give birth to her second litter of the year.

I don't want to cause mass panic and I know that various people have been keeping females together but this is just a warning because I can't see this happen to somebody else because I didn't say anything.

I feel that what happened to me was because Stella was Koko's daughter and she was trying force her out of the way before she had her next litter but Stella had nowhere to go because the second part of the enclosure the skunks have been living in is sealed off to protect the expected kits.

Even if nobody else has a mother and daughter together - at least take this as warning of how suddenly a female can turn.

I don't know if this would have happened to an unrelated female, I don't have enough information but I for one will never keep a maturing kit with its mother again.

I have removed Bear for his safety but he has not been bitten and was actually in the nest box with Koko - he was also present at the last birth and although kicked out of the birthing box - there was no aggression toward him from Koko.

I am sorry if this sounds all matter of fact but we only found Stella a while ago so I am still in shock to be honest.

Cat or anyone else who wants to sling mud at me again for putting up a warning - dont bother. I am not trying to dissuade people from breeding skunks - I am just sharing this info so people can make informed choices and not suffer like I am at losing a skunk they raised themselves.

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thats so sad

im sorry this happened to your skunk, i know im not a regular to this part of the forum (not a posting regular anyway) but please accept my condolences anyway, dont blame yourself, from what i read you always do the best for your pets and you couldnt of known that koko would act this way

one again im very sorry for your loss

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so sorry to hear this xxx

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very sorry to hear this, thank you for posting so others can learn from what must have been an awful experience.

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first of all sorry to hear that caz, with us havin a recent loss i know what its like and you have our sympathy.
secondly, this is totally different to the other thread you put up, you advised people not to breed skunks in the home and leave it to the farms, yet when i asked you if you were goin to breed again you said you didnt know.... and then here you are expecting kits which i thought was hypocritical, and i was honest about that. You are free to breed whatever you want, i have nothin against the breeding of skunks in the home and may breed dice at some point, but please dont advise others to not do something when you intend on continuing doing it yourself, thats always been my point.

Your warning about this is much appreciated. and a lot of people wouldnt have posted about it so you have my respect for that. I do wish though that you wouldnt single me out, as i wasnt the only one who thought you were hypocritical last time, i just may have been the only one to voice it

again, sorry for your loss

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I'm so, so sorry to hear of Stella's death. She was such a special character.

I am so sorry for your loss - you must be totally gutted at losing such a treasured member of your animal family.

The fact that you have shared your sad loss may mean that others don't have to face the heartache that you are going through tonight.

Thinking of you at this very sad time.

Heather.

Whilst I am sorry to hear this I am also glad to see the post to highlight the dangers one skunk can pose to another. Males and females can also kill (and can do so pretty savagely).

The uncle of ours killed a potential mate a while back and due to our findings we spent a lot of time with the breeder (and others) looking into groups of skunks and what they can do to one another.

Good post and thanks for putting it up. Once again, sorry for your loss. From reading your posts on this and the exotics forum I know your care deeply for your creatures.

Best wishes.

Peter

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Thankyou for everyone's kind words. Nothing will bring Stella back but it is nice to know she might save another skunk from the same fate.

To clarify the information, Cat, I did say before that I would come back on the thread and update after Koko had the litter and apologies that I didn't. Her behaviour went 100% back to normal once the litter were about 5 weeks old, at which point I decided to continue breeding. I was previously told that her aggression would stick like that for good and I was warning others that it was possible their breeding females might change.

But it isn't true - there doesnt seem to be anything more savage than a skunk with litter, hence so many people have had destroyed litters and hence Stella has been attacked and killed out of the blue - BUT they do return to their normal selves. Koko is an amazing mother and this has been my mistake, not hers


Thanks again for all the posts

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Shit Caz, I am so sorry to hear this!!
Hope you are as ok as can be hun.

Lucy x

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Lots of boas
Lots of exotic mammals

Going slightly off subject but in no way an attack just a curiosity of mine what's the resting period for a female skunk between litters? Could koko having 2 litters within 6-8 months of eachother not cause her to be more aggressive than usual? Also was Stella spayed or going to be? As I would have thought having her living with her father you would be running the risk of 1 Stella having kits way too young and 2 inbreeding? Unless 6 months is ok for a female to breed at or breedin daughter to father is acceptable in skunks as it is in rabbits? Again I'm askin for my info as I don't know enough about it, though I will research it if and when I decide to breed.

Could koko have seen her as a threat? I'm not sure if females know when one is spayed or not, like neutering males calms them, does that make sense? Then again it could have been a total freak accident and maybe koko would have still done it even if she wasn't pregnant. Either way it's a horrible way to learn and as I said before, you have my greatest sympathy for that

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