Raccoon

Young baby raccoons with eyes still closed cannot regulate their own body temperature.  It is very important to keep them warm as a baby raccoon will die of hypothermia very quickly.

There are several ways to warm up a baby but be sure you do not overheat the baby or heat it up too quickly.  One option to warm up the baby is to put the baby on a soft piece of cloth or fleece in a container with a heating pad on LOW setting underneath the container and only under HALF of the container.  Leaving HALF of the container bottom surface off the heating pad allows the baby to crawl to the cooler side if it gets too hot.  Another option is to put dry rice or beans in a sock, tie the end, and heat in the microwave for a minute or so. Put the heated sock near but not on the baby.  Be careful with overheating the sock; you just want the sock to be warm.

Do not handle the baby unnecessarily and PLEASE DO NOT TRY TO FEED THE BABY.  If cold and dehydrated, the baby cannot process food.  If fed improperly, the baby can aspirate liquid into the lungs.  It is best to call us than to risk the baby’s life by feeding it improperly.  PLEASE CALL US.

*IMPORTANT - Raccoons are a rabies-vector species.  Please use extreme caution when dealing with ANY animal that could potentially carry rabies.