George the skunk putting on weight.

[tillie]

Hi, when George was neutered 3/4 weeks ago he weighed 1.2 kilograms now he weighs 2 kilograms!! In 3 weeks he put on so much! Are everyones else skunks putting on weight at the moment? I have read somewhere this time of year it is quite common for them to put on weight but blimey at this rate he is going to be 5 stone by Xmas!! He is 5 months and is fed between 500-600 grams a day, so is he a good weight or overweight?

[Fixx]

How does he look Tillie? Does he look as if he is getting 'tubby'? How big (far does it extend) is his fat lump at the base of his tail?

[tillie]

He looks ok,just a lot bigger than he did last month! I checked his fat lump and I can hardly feel it, is this just a growth spurt!

[africa]

Funnily enough I thought the same about Tinkerbell, I haven't weighed her for a few weeks but can tell she's more porky,definitely not fat,just bigger then she was all of a sudden, she's the same age as George.

[Nerys]

they do bulk up going into winter yes.. snuff is always a lot bigger this time of year than in the spring for instance.. her first winter she was quite large, but then went on a fast in the spring and lost it all again.

i probably feed the adults about 400g or so a day.. i'll weigh it and check. different skunks do differently.. same as you get good Do-ers and bad Do-ers in other species.. Pacer has about double that of Mars for instance.. but still does not gain weight that much, wheras Mars is a little tubby belly regardless of what he gets to eat..

N

[tillie]

Ok thanks guys, a skunk fasting!!!! is that possible!

Africa can you weigh Tinkerbell and also let me know how much she eats in a day please.

[Nerys]

oddly enough, yes, skunks do go on "go slows" as regards eating.. snuff in her first spring.. so born 2006... first spring was then 2007.. packed up eating anything bar meal worms.... for about 3 months...

first she went off veg, then fruit.. by about 4weeks into this she was not eating cottage cheese or egg either.. then she stopped eating yoghurt and chicken too!!! it cost me a bomb in mealworms!!! they were the only thing she would eat..

i tried all sorts.. baby food.. blended vegs mixed with all sorts with mealworms on the top.. but she turned her nose up at the lot.. until one day.. she just started eating veg again.. slowly but surely.. i always offered it to her.. she just never ate it for about 3-4 months in all..

pain in the butt critters!

N

[missk]

in other animals neutering increases propensity towards obesity. Its probably the case with skunks also.

[africa]

Originally Posted by tillie

Ok thanks guys, a skunk fasting!!!! is that possible!

Africa can you weigh Tinkerbell and also let me know how much she eats in a day please.

Hi Tillie
Tinkerbell is 2.2kg and has approx 400g of food a day. I give her lots of different fresh veg, she's not keen on fruit but will eat a bit especially tomatoes. She has cottage cheese and yoghurt and chicken and loves mealies and Morios. She loathes tuna so gave up on that. She has a couple of eggs a week too. She is very lively!

[Nerys]

tillie.. FYI Quanah is 6 months old in about a week.. and currently weighs 4 3/4 lbs

thats...
2.15456376 kilos

according to google..

N