HOW OLD IS IT?

A guide to aging orphaned raccoon kits.

AGE	WEIGHT (grams)	WEIGHT (ounces and/or pounds)	DESCRIPTION: Progression of eye, ear, fur, tooth and sound development. Movement, motor skills, diet, deworming, and vaccinations shedules.
Newborn	45-90	1.5-3	Naked, furless. Eyes and ears sealed. Umbilical cord drops off between the 3^rd and 5^th days. Aprox 4inches or 9cm long. Ideally should be housed in incubator, at 100 degree’s F.
7 days	100-200	3-7	Eyes and ears sealed, mask and tail rings present, beginnings of underfur on back and sides.
14 days (2 wks)	150-200	5-7	Eyes and ears sealed, but eye slits apparent. Mask and tail rings present, starting to fur in. No more night feeds. Sounds: snorts, chirr’s, alarm (guinea pig) squeal. Starting to do the ‘spider’ crawl.
21 days (3 wks)	150-250	5-8	Eyes open at 21-23 days, ears unsticking from head, will start responding to sound, furring in more obvious, tail furred.
25 days	200-300	7-10	Eyes open, ears up, fully responding to sound, more vocal, fully furred. Upper 2^nd and 3^rd,incisors erupt, days 25 and 26. Should be moved from incubator to cage that encourages movement.
28 days (4 wks)	250-450	8-15	Teething, may cause diarrhea. Lower 1^st incisors should erupt day 29. Can now see, starting to walk, able to ‘cling’ in vertical position.
4.5 wks	300-480	10-17 3/4-1 lb	Lower 3^rd incisors erupt, day 33. Upper 1^st incisors erupt, day 34. Still ‘blunt’ faced.
35 days (5 wks)	500-750	17-25 1-1.5lbs	Adventuresome and playful, walking, starting to climb.
37 days			Lower 2^nd incisors erupt. Becoming ‘pointy’ faced.
42 days (6 wks)	750-1200	25-40 1.5-2.5 lbs	2^nd premolars: lower day 43, upper day 46. Able to walk, run and climb. Begin to self potty. Guard hairs showing through undercoat. Whiskers start. Ready for larger, more interesting caging – indoors. Do first deworming with Strongid*T (50mg/ml) 1cc/2300gms.
49 days (7 wks)	900-1700	30-60 2-3.5 lbs	Both upper and lower, 3^rd and 4th premolars erupt, days 48-49. Very ‘pointy’ faced, still ‘pencil’ tail.
56 days (8 wks)			Give first vaccinations. Have fully mastered sight and sound, wrestling and scrapping with each other. Start dish feeding by floating honey nut cheerios in formula. Whiskers evident.
63 days (9 wks)			1^st canine teeth: lower, day 61; upper day 65. First permanent incisors, upper and lower, day 66. Start soaked kibble, perhaps grapes. Beginning of bushy face fur (puffs out/broadens the outer sides of face).
70 days (10wks)			2^nd upper and lower permanent incisors, day 73. Juvenile molt begins, face fur fills in, eliminating narrow look, going to bushy look. Able to eat kibble soaked in formula, grapes, melon, cooked chicken cut small.
77 days (11wks)			First permanent molars, lower day 78, upper day 81. Able to eat dry kibble, whole cooked chicken pieces, and assortment of fruit, veg, nuts, etc.
84 days (12wks)			3^rd lower incisor, day 86.
91 days (13wks)			Able to start on ‘whole’ foods such as mice, live fish, crickets etc.
98 days (14wks)			3^rd upper incisors, day 97
			***NOTE:  Weights are broad as adult raccoon size varies greatly from region to region.  Use weight as yur initial guide, but use the development milestones (eyes opening, crawling, fur development etc.) as your true guide to correctly aging a raccoon kit.