warning to others

[thomas]

i wanted s kunk for a while,so hubby said as long as it was decented,I could have one.So any way after searching on here I found a guy Chris Matterson,uk exotics.I payed 550.00 for the skunk which was 7 wks old and 65 pound delivery.On delivery we let the skunk sleep next morning we noticed it had prolapsed,so we informed Chris by phone and took him to the vets,she stiched him,3 times we did this,she then said she thought he had been inproper decented and this was what was causing the problem.I have informed this Chris of the situation but all he keeps telling me is its the guy who he got him froms fault.I have asked for my money back and the skunk to be returned,only to have the phone put down on me.Now surely people like this guy should not be allowed to sale or trade in animals,I will be taking this further,but any suggestions would be off great help.

[ambyglam]

Originally Posted by thomas

Now surely people like this guy should not be allowed to sale or trade in animals

and surely people like you should not be allowed such specialist pets!

You have taken a wonderful animal and had an illegal procedure carried out on it, thus leading to its demise... and you are expecting peoples help?

How about not messing about with animals and leaving them as nature intended them to be, or telling your hubby that its something you wanted and not letting him bully you into causing this animal distress and pain!

[uk exotics]

hi to all

For the people that don't know me my name is Chris Matterson from uk exotics, and we are based in Crewe.
All skunks that were sold were by Scott Lee who is based in Liverpool.
He picks them up from Ireland around this time of year. Last year we helped him sell 4 babies that he had no buyers for. one of the reasons he contacts me is because of the contacts I have with Exotic Keepers in the UK.
This year he had 5 babies left, out of 15 he brought over and he asked me if I knew of anybody that would be interested, so I advertised them and all were sold within three days of advertising them.
On Wednesday 11th August at 11.00am two baby black and white skunks were delivered to Maria to chose from. One was a Female at 11 to 12 weeks old and the other was a male at 6-7 weeks old. Maria chose the male as it was the youngest one and being male.

On 12th August Maria emailed me, (please see email below)



Hi just to let you know the skunk is doing well,had a bit of a episode this morning as we couldn't find him,he was tucked up fast a sleep behind the fridge,he loves scrabbled egg,I gave it him for breakfast,letting him settle in at the moment but he's very placid,thank you again.Maria

On 14th August i had a phone call from Maria's husband, saying the Skunk had prolasped. On that evening I emailed scott to let him know what I was told and in his words, this can be common in baby Skunks as thier anul muscles wont be strong, being young but in 95% cases they go back in on there own but if they don't vets can do several things to keep them in while the skunk is growing.

For this reason (and it seems to be a common one) he said (scott Lee) he was not prepared to give a refund and out of all the babies sold only two had this problem and and for one of them it went back in on its own within 24 hours.

Uk exotics only helped Scott Lee to find buyers for these skunks and are not responsible for giving Maria a refund.

[slimeysnail]

Over a year ago, I purchased two baby skunks, whom had been descented in the UK. Anyway, about five days after having my two girls, one of them prolapsed. I however had done my research, and had heard of this, and knew what to do. I lubricated the prolapse, and after hours of ''working with it'' managed to get it back in. Prolapsing can unfortunately happen in baby skunks, but not just descented ones. The reason I believe for my skunks prolapse, was worms. Descenting can, and does affect the skunkies muscles, but other factors must also be considered.

I am not sure why you are wanting to return the skunk- or get a refund, because a small proportion of descented skunkies do prolapse.. and what is going to happen to your poor boy if you havent got him.. it will contiue to happen with someone else? Do you have other reasons for returning him?

Descenting skunks is illegal in this country, and prolapsing is one of the major concerns of having the op done at such a young developmental age. But you obviously did your research to find a descented one.. whenyou were looking for a descented skunk and knew that it was illegal to have them descented in the UK, did you never come across the likelihood that it could prolapse as a result of the op?

I am not having a go, I guess I am just saying that prolapsing can and will happen in descented skunks- it happened to me. But as I say, I knew it was a possibility, and would never have given my girl up because of it.

As for getting a refund, I very much doubt the original breeder would give you one.. but it should be him you contact as apposed to the person whom sold the skunk on his behalf.

May I ask why you want the skunk to be returned?

[Emmaj]

Originally Posted by slimeysnail

Over a year ago, I purchased two baby skunks, whom had been descented in the UK. Anyway, about five days after having my two girls, one of them prolapsed. I however had done my research, and had heard of this, and knew what to do. I lubricated the prolapse, and after hours of ''working with it'' managed to get it back in. Prolapsing can unfortunately happen in baby skunks, but not just descented ones. The reason I believe for my skunks prolapse, was worms. Descenting can, and does affect the skunkies muscles, but other factors must also be considered.

I am not sure why you are wanting to return the skunk- or get a refund, because a small proportion of descented skunkies do prolapse.. and what is going to happen to your poor boy if you havent got him.. it will contiue to happen with someone else? Do you have other reasons for returning him?

Descenting skunks is illegal in this country, and prolapsing is one of the major concerns of having the op done at such a young developmental age. But you obviously did your research to find a descented one.. whenyou were looking for a descented skunk and knew that it was illegal to have them descented in the UK, did you never come across the likelihood that it could prolapse as a result of the op?

I am not having a go, I guess I am just saying that prolapsing can and will happen in descented skunks- it happened to me. But as I say, I knew it was a possibility, and would never have given my girl up because of it.

As for getting a refund, I very much doubt the original breeder would give you one.. but it should be him you contact as apposed to the person whom sold the skunk on his behalf.

May I ask why you want the skunk to be returned?

Im so glad you posted this i did start to type out a reply when i 1st saw this post go up then decided not to

totally agree with all you have said

[Loderuna]

To the OP, sadly, prolapsing is quite common in descented skunks, as the muscles around the anus are disturbed during the process, even if done by a skilled vet. I understand your frustration, however, a prolapse in a descented skunk, being a common occurence would not entitle you to a refund, as you are taking a known risk by purchasing a descented baby.

The best thing you can do is learn from your experience, in how to handle a prolapse. There is good info in the skunk den on exotickeepersforum.co.uk regarding care of prolapses. If you are unable to cope, please post on EKF, as you will get support and you may be able to rehome him to a more experienced keeper. It is better to admit you cannot cope and rehome earlier, as the skunk will be more able to adapt to a new home than if you leave it a few months.

One thing I will add, is that the young age that this baby was homed is a concern - 8 weeks old is more appropriate, I feel (my own opinion here), especially where descenting has taken place, as it allows a good time for healing before the stress of being taken from mum and litter mates (accepting that kits can be fully weaned at 6 weeks and so may not be with mum).

I'm sorry you have had this negative experience and wish you well in adjusting to your skunk's needs or rehoming the baby ASAP.

[Baldpoodle]

How can this be a warning as far as I can see nothing dodgy has taken place.

It could have been worse as I bought a skunk and my burmese python ate it despite the smell lol but that last bit was made up.

[mat_worrell]

To be honest ambyglam, not a very helpfully post there. Yes descentibg is illegal to do in this country but if it isn't in another and the skunk is being brought over to this country you can't have a go at people for wanting to buy then.

My personal opinion on descentibg is that it should be allowed. The argument of leaving an animal as nature intended..... Why is it acceptible to spay and neuter animals, that is messing with an animal and taking away what nature intended. In this argument surely spaying and neutering should not be allowed and it should be the owners responisbility to ensure animals do not breed unless it's the intention ofthe owner to breed.

Equally male dogs are neutered to calm them down if they are boisterous, in this instance neutering is used to the owners benefit. This is the same as descending the skunk, it's for he owners benefit. It seems to me that in societies certain things are deemed acceptable and certain things not. Can't get my head around it.

Just to add, I'm not aiming this at you ambyglam just my first comment, the OP obviously has a genuine concern for thier situation and you comment like you did.

[amylls]

Hey i dont know much about skunks but from what i have read about them it is illegal to de-scent them in the uk. So can some one please explain to me why? sorry to post in the wrong place but i am just curious about these beautiful animals....

[mat_worrell]

Because it is classed as mutilation.......