Should You Own a Pet Badger?

Badgers are short stocky animals and are omnivores (plant and animal eaters). They can be found in Great Britain, Ireland, North America and parts of Europe and Asia. A pet badger may sound cute, but there’s more to owning a badger as a household pet.

Can I Own a Badger as a Pet?

In Great Britain it is a criminal offence to own a badger as a pet. In parts of the US you have to have a license to own a badger. They are considered wildlife and not household pets.

That being said if you find yourself in a situation where you can own a badger as a pet, it is advised that it is hand reared from when it is young. They can be ferocious animals and have extremely long claws and even hand rearing is no guarantee that it won’t turn on you.

The most common reason you will find a baby badger is if it has gotten itself lost or it’s mother has been killed. If you aren’t in a situation to take it to a vet or wildlife reserve, then you can set about looking after it yourself, if you pass the legal requirements. If you find a cub in the daylight it is most definitely abandoned.

What Can I Feed My Badger?

Presuming you find a badger as a cub you can feed it a variety of formula milk. It is best you stick to one type of milk and not change it around.

Feed every 2-3 hours in the daytime and longer periods at night. A bottle with a teat on it can be used. When the badger is 500g-600g in body weight you can feed every 6 hours.

Start weaning when the permanent incisors appear and introduce rusks, tinned dog food, finely chopped meat and dry dog food are all good options.

From the age of 8-14 weeks a variety of foods can be used such as scrambled eggs, cereals, grapes, yogurt, creamed rice, biscuits, sunflower seeds, minced meat, sausages and cheese. Foods can also be soaked in meat stock to increase nutrition.

You need to feed your pet badger at night once it is weaned.

Where Can I House My Badger?

Badgers like to live underground. This being said anything you put your badger in it will naturally try and burrow out of it. Having really sharp claws it will rip and dig through just about anything, even a wire cage. So take all these issues into consideration and the fact that wherever you house your badger, it will do damage as it tries to burrow.

As you can see it’s not advised to own a pet badger, there is a lot to take into account that is different than owning the usual household pet. If at all possible please give your badger to an organization that knows how to handle them. Badgers are best kept in pairs and introduction back into the wild is advised. Minimal human contact is also advised for an easy return to it’s natural habitat.