While every baby raccoon will develop at its rate and age, there are some general guidelines that you can use to tell how old your baby raccoon is without stressing yourself out too much. When you find an abandoned baby raccoon, it’s important to give him or her the care he or she needs, but you also need to know that this animal was not given to you by God to take home as a pet, no matter how cute he or she might be.
How Can You Tell How Old a Baby Raccoon Is?
Raccoons may be cute but they can be quite destructive. They cause issues by tearing up things in the yard, getting into garbage, and making homes in attics or other rooms of your house. One way to determine how old the baby raccoon is is to look at its size when it was weaned from its mother.
At weaning, baby raccoons weigh about 8.3 ounces or 230 grams. By its second month, it will have doubled in size to around 2.6 pounds or 1 kilogram.
Other ways to tell how old a baby raccoon is included looking at its appearance, such as its fur. For instance, newborns have black fur on their tails and hands, but it will turn gray after about two weeks.
If you see hairless skin with eyes that are closed and ears that are small or still flat against its head, you’re probably looking at a very young animal.
How Big Is A 6-Month-Old Raccoon?
If you are trying to figure out how old your baby raccoon is, you need to take into account the age of its eyes. At 6 months old, their eyes will be open and they will weigh about 2 pounds. Keep in mind that this is an average size for a baby raccoon at this age.
They may also have some hair on their head now, but it will still be very thin and not all over yet. As for height, if you measure from the top of their head to the ground, they should be between 9 inches to 12 inches tall at six months old.
What Does An 8-Week-Old Raccoon Look Like?
At 8 weeks old, a baby raccoon is just starting to get his signature ringed fur. He will still be quite small at this age and more than likely he will not yet be eating solid food. If you’re concerned about the little guy, consider contacting your nearest animal shelter to see if they can help him get back home.
At 8 weeks old, your baby raccoon is also still quite small. However, it may be possible for him to eat solid food now, depending on his age and size. He will continue to grow rapidly over these next few weeks so feed him as often as you can.
How Big Is A 1-Year-Old Raccoon?
Baby raccoons at 1 year old can be about 8-10 inches long, and it is easy to tell the gender of a baby raccoon from the size. Female babies are usually larger than males, but it can also depend on if they have been weaned yet or not.
If you have an older sibling in the area, you might find that they will feed younger brothers and sisters because they may still be sucking their mother’s milk.
What Does A 1 Week Old Raccoon Look Like?
At this age, the baby raccoons are still in their pre-pupal stage where they are completely reliant on their mother to keep them warm. They will stay in this stage for anywhere between 3 and 5 weeks, gradually becoming more mobile but still unable to be weaned onto solid food.
At around 1-2 weeks old, their faces will start to become more human-like and their eyes will begin to open. From now on, they are starting to resemble a baby raccoon much more closely as they continue to develop.
They grow quickly at 3 weeks old, though weight gain is fairly slow at just 2 grams per day during these first few days of life. At 4 weeks old, most baby raccoons are fully furred and can move around without their mother’s assistance.
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What Does A 6 Week Old Raccoon Look Like?
A 6-week-old raccoon will be very small, only about the size of a house cat. With no teeth yet, they look like they just hatched from an egg. They are usually born with a creamy tan or brown color and have black masks across their eyes and most noticeable on their noses.
Their ear markings will still be fuzzy or smooth at this age and their tail is short for being so young. But what does a 6-week-old raccoon look like?
A young raccoon will weigh only about a pound or slightly more, but a 6-week-old may not have eaten yet. When you pick up a 6-week-old raccoon you may notice they urinate on themselves from fear or from getting handled.
You should be able to get your little one to eat soon after being picked up and should be fine afterward. Other than that, there’s nothing too surprising about what a 6-week-old raccoon looks like.
How Big Is An 8 Month Old Raccoon?
An 8-month-old raccoon will weigh between 1 and 2 pounds, which is the same as a medium-sized dog. They will grow around 10% every six months, so an 8-month-old raccoon will be on average 2 to 3 pounds.
Their size at 8 months old will depend upon their diet and whether or not they were born in the wild or raised in captivity. Domestic raccoons are generally smaller than their wild counterparts. The most common domesticated size is around 10 pounds, but as pets, they can grow much larger.
Even a young raccoon that is being raised in captivity, far away from its natural habitat, will grow to be much larger than a wild raccoon of equivalent age. A pet raccoon who weighs 10 pounds at 8 months old might weigh over 50 pounds before it reaches one year of age.
Raccoons enjoy an extended period of growth for their first two years and continue to develop until about five years old.