"Imported
Baby Genets"
Recently I became totally aware of a situation that I had been dimly aware of for quite awhile. You know, one of those situations that you are aware of but, since it doesn’t affect you, it really isn’t meaningful.
Months ago a friend told me he purchased several wild caught baby genets from an importer. They were mother fed and suppose to be 3 to 6 months old. He got them in but he couldn’t get them to eat. He figured they would eat when they settled down a bit. They continued not to eat with the expected final result. My friend told me all that and I felt badly for him and for the baby genets, but I guess I didn’t explore in my mind what had happened. I guess I just marked it off as one of the problems that can arise with imported animals and some of the importers who are of questionable reputation.
However, this last weekend the situation was brought home because it affected me personally. Another friend had gotten in a 6 month old imported female baby genet. On arrival my friend took the baby right to the vet to be checked and sexed. It was a male, according to the vet. However, the next problem came when it wouldn’t eat. My friend called because she knows we raise bottle fed genets and wanted to know what to do—what was she doing wrong. Was it just stress? Would it eat when it got hungry?
I asked her how old it was, and she said that it was 6 months old. I asked her how big it was, and she said it was maybe a little bigger than Angel, one of our bottle baby genets the last time she had seen her. Angel was 7 weeks old the last time my friend had seen her.
We decided she would bring the baby over, and I would check the sex and age. I would see what I could do about getting her to eat. Genet babies can be confusing to sex, and the seller of this animal had made a mistake. I feel certain it was an honest mistake. When I first looked at him, I said, “It’s a girl.” Upon further inspection what appeared to be a vaginal opening were just an indentation and not an opening. Testicles were not visible but could be palpated. On male genet babies a little puffy bar beneath the rectal opening is usually visible. As the baby grows, this bar divides into two testicles. In some male babies the bar is not visible, and the area below the rectal opening has to be gently palpated for the presence of testicles.
The greater and more immediate problem was the not eating. The reason the baby wasn’t eating was that it was only 10-12 weeks old. Baby genets will not touch solid food until they are 12 weeks old, and it takes another month to get them onto solid food and off the bottle. Genets are very slow to develop. It was not old enough to eat solid food. In the wild the mother nurses the baby six months to a year.
Of course, since he had never been bottle fed, he was not inclined to take a bottle. However, we took a pet nurser and cut the tip of the nipple off so that the formula would flow gently without his having to suck. We caught him in a fluffy towel, got the nipple into his mouth and sat quietly while the formula ran into his mouth and he swallowed. He took 20cc. A usual feeding at that age is about 15cc of formula four times a day.
The problem with buying wild caught baby genets is the importers have not raised genets and are unable to accurately judge their age. They are comparing them to domestic cats, servals, and the like. Using that comparison they are estimated much older than they are and much better able to care for themselves than they are capable of doing. To top it off, many importers and brokers tell a perspective client that they are eating solid food simply because they should be in view of their size and agility when compared to felines of the same size. One broker said he had 6 week old genet babies that had been eating solid food for three weeks. It simply is not the case! For the most part the wild caught babies aren’t being held three weeks, so the importers / brokers really don’t have a clue what is going on.
These babies can be bottle fed as described above, but is time consuming. Buying a 6 month old wild caught baby does not solve the problem necessarily since it may or may not be 6 months old.
I would strongly suggest that before buying a wild caught baby genet you evaluate why you are buying it. Genets will not breed until they are 2-3 years old. If they are mother-raised the chances are very slim that they will make a good pet. They must be bottle raised babies to make good pet/companion animals. The only reason I can see for buying a wild caught baby is the cost. A wild caught baby will run $300 to $500; whereas, the domestically raised bottle baby will cost $850 to $1,000. Have you saved anything if the baby dies? Are you willing to catch the baby in a large towel, pry its mouth open, and let formula slowly run into its mouth so it can swallow and not choke four times a day? After all this, you still will not have a gentle, bottle fed baby. Probably the bottom line is how much work you are willing to go to keep the baby alive it the importer/broker has lied or is ignorant of the baby’s age.
Bottle fed genets make good exotic pets if they are included in family activities from the beginning. Activities such as: allowed the run of the house, allowed to go in the car, camping, paddle boating, and allowed to participate in all the family activities that a dog or cat on a leash would be allowed to participate in. When startled, genets act like a cat; therefore, they must e kept on a leash when outdoors. They take off for high ground and then evaluate the situation. They can climb like a rocket and, if you can’t control that behavior with a leash, you get to wait until they decide the coast is clear and it is safe to come down. That could be well after you have decided the coast is clear and all is well.
I suggest it is really important you know what you are letting yourself in for when you buy a wild caught baby genet. Is the purchase going to fulfill your need? Are you going to be will to wait 1 ½ to 3 years for it to breed if you can’t pal around with it and be buddies in the meantime?
Linda LaFrentz
903-389-5339
mailto:critterhouse@hotmail.com
