i found a baby raccoon that is one week old what should i do?

Question

dose it cost money to take him to the vet or should i take him to the pound

Answer 1

I love them :) I raised one and it was wonderful as a pet my little dog would chase it around and around the couch and then the raccoon would go under the couch and watch the dog keep running..

but if you raccoon is that youg it may have no idea what to do with real food yet, it will need to be feed.. try..

Pet Nursers
There are 2 type of nipples, one long and pointed, the other slightly rounded at the tip. Baby coons seem to prefer the slightly rounded tip to the pointed ones.

KMR - Kitten Milk Replacement
There are several commercial brands of this. Because this is higher in fat content than Esbilac (puppy milk replacement) baby coons seem to thrive on it more than on Esbilac, although I've known people to successfully raise coons on Esbilac. Cow's milk is unsuitable.

Lots and lots of baby blankets

Hot water bottle.
Be prepared to patch the holes.

When feeding the baby do not hold him/her on her back you do not want any milk to get into the lungs.. and at first he/she will not like the taste of the milk or even being feed that way. So insert the feeder in the mouth and give a little drop on the tounge till it drinks and then do again.. in time and with some work it will feed.. just do not give up.
Do not over feed some raccoons will over feed only feed til the belly feels full .. If the coon is very young and/or weak, you may have to feed it small amounts of KMR as many as 8 times a day. A healthy baby, several weeks old need only be fed 4 times a day.

Only use this if you run out of KMR and can not get any right away.. Refrigate it and then let warm to body temp b4 feeding.

2 cups whole milk
2 egg yokes, strained
1 can (1.5 cups) evaporated milk
2 tablespoons dark Karo Syrup
Refrigerate it. Warm to body temperature to feed.

Do not let it get cold, and it will be lonely very much hold it often and keep it near your heart..
at night put it in a box with lots of blamkets and a hot water bottle covered up but so it stays warm.

But a week is very young and so so tiny-- here is an idea of ages.. but not 100%

Newborns - are 4 - 6 inches long, have fur but no markings. Their ears are pressed close to their heads.
At 7 days - they begin to crawl, and you can see an eyelid slit.
At 10 days - they have a mask and stripes on their tails.
13-18 days - they are noisy and 7 to 10 inches long.
19-24 days - their eyes and ears open. The eyes are a cloudy blue and stay that way until they are about 4 or 5 weeks old.
At 28 days - they've grown to 12 to 13 inches long.
At 49 days - they are fully ambulatory: walking, running and climbing.
At 63 days - they begin to show an interest in solid food.
At 70 days - if they had a mother, they'd begin going with her on evening outings.
At 112 days - usually, they are fully weaned from their mother.

Once again
Fill the pen nurser with KMR slightly warmed. Feed the baby until it is satisfied. When it has had enough, it will turn away and refuse more food or the belly will be full to the touch. Hold the baby upright when giving it a bottle (head at the highest point). If you hold it on its back it may choke on the liquid and get it into its lungs (which is fatal).

When the baby coon is 6 weeks old, begin introducing foods to it. Human baby foods are particularly good. Strained bananas, vanilla custard and baby food meats are all favorites of mine. When the baby begins tasting them, offer it some skinless boiled chicken cut up very finely. As soon as the baby learns to lap, you can discontinue the bottle feeding and offer the KMR and other things in saucers.

Now they can mess up your house if you are going to keep it then in time get one of those BIG cat climbers for it.. and it will need a pen to go to when it wants quite time and to sleep.. something dark that it can crawl into and cover up and take a nap. It will get up at night and when it starts to eat regular food you will need to have a water bowl all the time not only to drink from but they love to wash everything off.. Mine loved Mickey D's fries. lol .. also lots of toys they love to play with balls, things that roll, tinker anything and they will dig thru your stuff jewlery and anything..

But they can be good pets, Mine was found when an old house was being tore down and the chimeny ended up with a mom and her babies the mom was killed when they tore the chimeny down.. and there were 2 babies I took one and another did both coons were great mine was a girl.
Mine was great I would take her for car rides and for walks always with a collar and leash but look out they can and will learn how to unhook things never tie one outside and walk away it can and will get the leash off..

Answer 2

If you found a baby raccoon, then I can tell you right now..the mother is looking for it. Mother raccoons dont abandon their young. I used to take care of wild raccoons..and the mother would always have a close eye on every child.
You havent listed any information..like where you found it..aand what it was doing..and what time of day (because raccoons come out at dusk). And if you take him to the pound or vet, they'll just put him to sleep most likely. And fyi, they love hotdogs and grapes along with dog and cat food (dry).

Answer 3

Don't take him to the pound! You need to call the pound and ask them how to get ahold of the wildlife officer in your area though. Cute as he is, he is still a wild animal and needs a special habitat to thrive. The wildlife officer will take him and care for him and release him into the wild when he is big enough to care for himself. The pound is liable to put him to sleep anyways! They don't mess with wild animals. Raccoons are most likely to carry rabies so be careful, whatever you do. If you can't find out how to get ahold of the wildlife officer where you are, you should see about taking him to a nearby zoo where he can be placed in a natural habitat and they will take good care of him there too. I wish I could tell you to enjoy your new pet, but having a wild animal for a pet is usually against the law in most places. Sorry! Just don't take him to the pound! They are merciless at those places, even to dogs and cats!

Answer 4

The pound is only for tame animals, like cats and dogs, not raccoons. If you have a maternal dog or cat that just had puppies/kittens, maybe your dog or cat will accept the raccoon and feed it along the rest. You can try heating up some milk and feeding it to the raccoon. Keep it in a warm place laced with blankets. Good luck!

Answer 5

In some states you have to have a pet permit to be able to keep it. I live here in Florida and when I took this little raccoons that was hurt to the vet he said that I ha to have a pet permit but if I was not not keeping it caged. You also need to know that raccoons are a known carrier for rabies, and there not any rabies shots that can be given to them to prevent it.

Answer 6

Many vet clinics accept injured/orphaned wildlife at no charge. They will rehab themselves or find a local rehabber.

Whatever you do, ignore the post suggesting to mix it with domestic pets--while this makes sense biologically, it is a terrible idea from a domestic pet standpoint.

Do not neglect the fact that raccoons are known rabies vectors, and that rabies is an extremely serious issue.

Answer 7

Do you have a local wildlife rehab near you? Contact them.

Or seek help from the wildlife rehabbers at www.911petrescue.com.

What ever you do do NOT give it regular milk. It will kill it. Raccoons can not absorb nutrients from regular milk and even though you would be feeding it, it would actually starve to death. You will need to mix a special formula to feed it. DO not overfeed!!!!!!

You will wlso need to keep it warm and help it ise the bathroom by swabbing it's areas in the same way a mother would lick the areas to stimulate urination and defacation. Use a warm wet soft cloth or a cottom ball.

With all that said, it's still best to find a professional rehabber that knows what they are doing. Good luck!

Answer 8

You don't want a raccoon around. They are disease carrying very. (how do you know it is a week old?)

lice, ticks, fleas, and rabies are common in raccoons.

Take it to the humane society..

I've seen a house after a hand raised coon was in it, nothing is safe or sacred, they cannot be trained or tamed.

Answer 9

Take him to the vet. I am not sure if it costs money, but you could check if it is sick because it is young and might have been abandoned by it's mother. It is way better than a pound. Maybe you could take it to the pet store if it is healthy?

Answer 10

Call your local shelter or vet and ask them to give you the number of a local wildlife rehabilitationist who takes care of raccoons.