What do you feed a baby opossum
Orphaned or Injured Opossum | Opossum Society of the United States
Is it really an orphan? Many opossums become orphaned after the mother is killed. Others become “orphaned” when they fall from her back or are somehow separated. These opossums must be raised by wildlife rehabilitators. However, many juvenile opossums brought to wildlife rehabilitators are not “true” orphans in need of care. They may be young juveniles on their own for the first time. While they may appear small and helpless, they are best left alone. Only opossums that are sick, injured, or too young to be on their own (less than 7 inches long from nose to rump, not including tail) are in need of immediate asssistance.
If a young opossum is found then check the surrounding area. There may be more. Be very quiet and listen for “sneezing” sounds the young make to call the mother.
Do not attempt to care for the opossum yourself. In general, it is illegal to do so unless you are a licensed wildlife rehabilitator. More importantly, you may cause the opossum harm or death if you do not know what you are doing.
Contact your local Opossum Society of the United States (OSUS) member, wildlife rehabilitator, veterinarian, state department of wildlife or animal control for assistance. Always check first to make sure they do not euthanize all opossums.
LOCATING A WILDLIFE REHABILITATOR NEAR YOU:
The below informational links are not identical to each other. Please search each one for a small mammal rehabilitator nearest you.
Two of these websites were apparently created and posted by volunteers and are not updated regularly. Some people listed are deceased or are no longer rehabilitating wildlife, their name horribly misspelled, email and telephone numbers incorrect. Please be patient in your search and not give up if the person or organization is not reachable on one site, the correct information may be on another site.
Humane Society of the United States
Wildlife Rescue Shelter
ORPHANS:
Hand feeding an orphaned opossum.
Click on the image to view an enlarged version.
If you are interested in wildlife rehabilitation and raising orphaned opossums then volunteer with OSUS or a local wildlife rehabilitator. Check with your state regarding training and licensing. OSUS sells an informative Opossum Orphan Care Training Video and Manual.
These training tools are a MUST for any rehabilitator regardless of level of experience. Please see our gift catalog for ordering information.
Temporary orphan care until help can be found:
Less than 4″ from nose to rump:
Seek immediate assistance. Warm by wrapping in a soft ravel-free towel and place near but not directly against a heat source that has been covered with towels (heating pad set on low, hot water bottle, etc.). Do not offer cow’s milk. You may offer Pedialyte diluted 1:2 with lukewarm water for the first two feedings 3-4 hours apart. Then you gradually introduce Esbilac (puppy milk substitute) over the next 24 hours. Feed with a dropper or syringe.
Opossums do not suckle. They must lap at the formula being dispensed. warm the infants before attempting to feed. Infants must be stimulated to eliminate either before or after feeding by gently rubbing genital area with a warm moistened cotton ball.
Long term hand feeding can result in dietary deficiencies. Contact OSUS for more info.
4″-7″:
Offer water in a shallow bowl or jar lid and kitten chow moistened with water. Some orphans may still require hand feeding as described above. Opossums defecate in water bowls. Replace with fresh water as needed.
7.5″-9″:
These are young juveniles. Unless sick or injured they do not require assistance.
Note about parasites: Opossums can become heavily infested with parasites, especially ectoparasites such as fleas. It is important to remove fleas from the opossum or life-threatening flea anemia and death may occur. This is particularly critical in young opossums. Fleas can be removed safely by wrapping the opossum in warm towel and allowing fleas to jump from the opossum to the towel.
Replace with warm towels as needed until fleas are gone. An immediate flea bath is not recommended because it can cause an already compromised opossum to go into shock and die.
CAUTION: Orphan care can not be learned over the Internet. The above diets are for temporary feeding only until help can be found. Long-term use will result in dietary deficiencies. Contact OSUS for more information.
INJURED:
Seek immediate assistance. Contact your local Opossum Society of the United States member, state department of wildlife, veterinarian, wildlife rehabilitator or animal control. Make sure animal control will not euthanize all opossums.
This opossumis not dead. It is playing “possum”. Click on the image to see an enlarged version.
This opossum is not dead. It is “playing possum”
Give a “dead” opossum the benefit of the doubt before disposing of the body. It may be “playing possum” as an involuntary response to a threat, in which the opossum becomes comatose in the face of danger and appears dead.
This may last from 40 minutes to 4 hours. During this time, the opossum lies on its side, becomes stiff, the eyes glaze over, the opossum drools, the tongue lolls out the side of the mouth, and green anal fluid may be seen. This fascinating defense mechanism helps the opossum survive an attack from a predator because many predators give up the attack if they believe the opossum is already dead.
Leave the area and give the opossum a chance to recover and move on. The opossum will not respond to prodding or poking. When the opossum is about to recover, the ears move very slightly.
Rehabilitation is possible, please do your part to help.
If you see an obviously dead female opossum and detect movement in the pouch area, have the body and infants transported to the nearest wildlife rehabilitator or veterinarian.
WILDLIFE REHABILITATORS:
Please speak with your veterinarian about medical issues. Contact the Opossum Society of the United States for other information.
OSUS has a list of veterinarians willing to assist or advise wildlife rehabilitators and veterinarians.
You can contact your local veterinarian, animal control or your state’s department of wildlife for a referral to a rehabilitator near you. Please ask and make sure they do not have a policy of euthanizing all opossums! We will be happy to assist you in locating a wildlife rehabilitator by email if you provide your city and a list of cities near you. Please be advised that we are volunteer based and so there may be delays in answering email. If immediate assistance is needed then do not wait for a response from O.S.U.S. To find a local wildlife rehabilitator please click the link to search the contact list by state, under small mammal rehabilitators.
HSUS
Wildlife Rescue Shelter
What Do Possums Eat? Can You Feed Baby Possums?
toggle
Home > Big Impact > Community
Source: Getty Images
If you find a baby possum abandoned on the side of the road somewhere, you probably shouldn’t pick them up before calling animal control.
But what happens if you have no choice but to take them home to nurse them back to health? You might find yourself with an adorable conundrum on your hands. You might even find yourself wondering a few things about possum biology and behavior. For instance: can you feed baby possums? Should you feed them? And either way, what do possums eat?
Article continues below advertisement
Source: Getty Images
What kind of possum are we talking about?
If you’re from Australia, a possum is a very different animal from the one Americans keep referring to as possums. What we are talking about is the opossum, America's only marsupial, and one that possesses very few similarities to its Aussie cousin. There are 65 different species of opossum in North America, according to the Opossum Society. The most common of these many marsupials is the Virginia opossum, which is the one we shall focus on today.
Article continues below advertisement
What do possums eat?
Frankly, when it comes to the opossum, the question “what do they eat?” doesn’t really seem appropriate.
It might be more appropriate to ask “what don’t they eat?” Opossums have always had a bit of a bad reputation among suburban residents for being scavengers — which, of course, they are. But that doesn’t mean we should hold it against them. Especially because their versatile diets actually help us get rid of carrion (decaying dead animal bodies).
Source: Getty Images
Article continues below advertisement
According to pest control company Terminix, opossums eat everything from dead animals to insects, rodents, birds, frogs, plants, fruit, and grain. They don’t just feed on the flesh of carrion or roadkill either. Possum diets require a high degree of calcium, which they can get from eating the skeletal remains of rodents and other dead creatures. Opossums will also eat cat food, dog food, and table scraps from our garbage cans. Unfortunately, it is this “taste for trash” that makes them more of a pest than a helper in the eyes of many.
How do possums eat so many different things?
Opossums are scavengers by evolution and opportunity.
They are nocturnal but possess poor eyesight, which doesn’t really help when it comes to trying to find food. Luckily, they make up for this with great hearing and a very keen sense of smell. This has made them fairly successful opportunists, especially when they find themselves living in and around suburban and rural communities.
Article continues below advertisement
These remarkable marsupials possess other positive traits as well — though we will admit that most of these also have to do with them finding food. Opossums don’t just find food well, they can also remember where it is located for the next time. According to Landscape Architecture Magazine, possums scored higher than rats, rabbits, cats, and dogs in laboratory tests meant to recall where food was placed. That’s why it’s so hard to get rid of possums on your own — they remember where you keep the goods!
Source: Getty Images
Article continues below advertisement
What do baby possums eat?
Adults may be great at scavenging, but baby opossums are not nearly as well-equipped.
Like all marsupials, opossum mommies lack a placenta, so their young must grow and be kept in a pouch. Newborn opossums are about the size of a honey bee and will stay in their mother’s pouch for around 80 days before they are mature enough to begin scavenging on their own.
What to feed baby possums?
Once they are big enough to leave the pouch, baby possums can eat just about everything. You can feed them dog and cat food in moderation. You could also feed them insects like cockroaches, worms, slugs, and snails (one of their favorite foods). This is only pertinent if the baby is old enough, of course, and with an orphaned opossum, that isn’t always known.
Article continues below advertisement
Source: Getty Images
According to the blog WildHeart, baby possums do not thrive on milk. For one, marsupial milk is very different from cow’s milk or formula. On top of that, baby possums don’t suckle like other animals, so attempting to bottle feed could cause them to aspirate and die.
The point we’re trying to make here is that you, reader, are likely ill-equipped to feed or care for a baby possum on your own.
Should I feed a baby possum?
No, you really, really shouldn’t — not without some guidance, anyway, If you find a baby possum, either alone or attached to their deceased mother, you should contact your local animal control, veterinarian, or animal rescue right away. If the baby possum is alone and walking in the wilderness and you can’t help yourself, get a box with towels or old shirts, along with a wrapped heating pad or water bottle, and get them to an animal expert as quickly as possible. That is the best way to help them.
Advertisement
More from Green Matters
Latest Community News and Updates
Advertisement
House Possum | zoo-ekzo.com- Exotic animals
Monodelphis Domestica
is not available
House Opossum ( Monodelphis Domestica
grade
000 000 0002 000 0002 000 0002 000 0002 000 0002 000 0002 – bare-tailed opossums
Appearance
Height 6-8 cm, body length – 28-25 cm, tail 7-8 cm.
Weight of males 90-150 g, females 80-100 g. larger, more muscular than females, males' fur is thicker, longer, more wavy. nine0003
Hairline short, dense. The coloration is dark gray, lighter on the abdomen. The muzzle is elongated and pointed. The eyes are small, protruding. The tail is not very long, prehensile, almost completely devoid of hair, except at the base where it is thickened with deposits of fat. The limbs are shortened, five-fingered; the rear ones are slightly longer than the front ones. The bag in which the cub develops in other marsupials is absent. The twelve nipples are arranged in a ring.
Habitat
The species is distributed in eastern and central Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay. Opossums inhabit forests of various types. They lead a terrestrial lifestyle. They can climb trees quite well. Nests are built in shelters, inside empty hollows, in the trunks of fallen trees or among stones, and, as a rule, near water. nine0003
In nature
Activity mainly in the evening and at night.
Opossums are solitary animals. Animals do not tolerate the presence of individuals of the same species nearby and enter into a fight. Conflicts rarely end in serious injury.
The diet of house opossums includes insects, small rodents, succulent fruits, seeds and carrion. In a human dwelling, animals hunt rodents and insects - therefore they are welcome guests in houses. This is a fairly active predator and a very skilled scorpion hunter. nine0003
Warning and threatening sound signals are typical: “Cican”, hiss; chattering teeth.
Breeding
There is no breeding season. Females bring no more than four litters per year. Pregnancy lasts 14-15 days, there are usually 5-12 cubs in a litter. Only the female takes care of the brood. Since the possum is not developed in house opossums, unhooking from the nipple, the cubs end up in the nest, where the female leaves them. She returns only to warm and feed the cubs. At the age of 4 weeks, the cubs can already move independently.
Sexual maturity is reached at 4-5 months. The ability to reproduce remains in males up to 39-months of age and up to 28 months - in females.
Captivity
Opossums are easily tamed in captivity and become completely undemanding. They like to sit on their hands and on their heads - an instinct from childhood when they traveled on their mother's back.
The cage in the house must be mandatory, first of all, to protect the animal itself. A personal house and a cage is their territory, which they will protect and feel at ease on it.
Opossums are solitary animals that in nature meet with a partner only during the breeding season. Long-term joint keeping of males and females excludes the birth of cubs, and keeping with a pregnant female can cause the death of a male. Therefore, in captivity, heterosexual animals live not only in separate cages, but even in different rooms, so that they cannot smell each other.
Potty training for possums is no more difficult than for a cat or a ferret.
Place the tray next to their sleeping place, as well as in those rooms where you release the animal. nine0003
Opossums do not require frequent bathing. A healthy opossum has no odor. Opossums are quite clean animals and they themselves monitor the cleanliness of their skins.
The animal should be kept away from warming means (battery, microwave oven, refrigerator), protected from drafts, as well as from direct sunlight.
The life expectancy of opossums directly depends on their diet. Possums will not live long if they are fed only factory-made food. The diet of the opossum should consist of natural fresh or frozen foods, but in no case from prepared foods. Also, the opossum should not be fed beef and pork. nine0003
In captivity, the animal is given chicken meat, insects, eggs, yogurt, cottage cheese, bone meal, a small amount of fruit and newborn mice.
The cage should be cleaned as often as possible (at least once a week). Opossums need constant access to water.
Possum is a nocturnal animal, they sleep during the day. True, domestic opossums often adapt to the rhythm of the owner's life.
Also, opossums have a low body temperature - and because of this, they do not get fleas. nine0-150 g, females 80-100 g. Sexual dimorphism is well expressed: males are larger, more muscular than females, the fur of males is thicker, longer, more wavy.
Hairline short, dense. The coloration is dark gray, lighter on the abdomen. The muzzle is elongated and pointed. The eyes are small, protruding. The tail is not very long, prehensile, almost completely devoid of hair, except at the base where it is thickened with deposits of fat. The limbs are shortened, five-fingered; the rear ones are slightly longer than the front ones. The bag in which the cub develops in other marsupials is absent. The twelve nipples are arranged in a ring. nine0003
Habitat
The species is distributed in eastern and central Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay.
Opossums inhabit forests of various types. They lead a terrestrial lifestyle. They can climb trees quite well. Nests are built in shelters, inside empty hollows, in the trunks of fallen trees or among stones, and, as a rule, near water.
In nature
Activity mainly in the evening and at night.
Opossums are solitary animals. Animals do not tolerate the presence of individuals of the same species nearby and enter into a fight. Conflicts rarely end in serious injury. nine0003
The diet of house opossums includes insects, small rodents, succulent fruits, seeds and carrion. In a human dwelling, animals hunt rodents and insects - therefore they are welcome guests in houses. This is a fairly active predator and a very skilled scorpion hunter.
Warning and threatening sound signals are typical: “Cican”, hiss; chattering teeth.
Breeding
There is no breeding season. Females bring no more than four litters per year.
Pregnancy lasts 14-15 days, there are usually 5-12 cubs in a litter. Only the female takes care of the brood. Since the possum is not developed in house opossums, unhooking from the nipple, the cubs end up in the nest, where the female leaves them. She returns only to warm and feed the cubs. At the age of 4 weeks, the cubs can already move independently. Sexual maturity is reached at 4-5 months. The ability to reproduce remains in males up to 39-months of age and up to 28 months - in females.
Captivity
Opossums are easily tamed in captivity and become completely undemanding. They like to sit on their hands and on their heads - an instinct from childhood when they traveled on their mother's back.
The cage in the house must be mandatory, first of all, to protect the animal itself. A personal house and a cage is their territory, which they will protect and feel at ease on it.
Opossums are solitary animals that in nature meet with a partner only during the breeding season.
Long-term joint keeping of males and females excludes the birth of cubs, and keeping with a pregnant female can cause the death of a male. Therefore, in captivity, heterosexual animals live not only in separate cages, but even in different rooms, so that they cannot smell each other.
Potty training for possums is no more difficult than for a cat or a ferret. Place the tray next to their sleeping place, as well as in those rooms where you release the animal. nine0003
Opossums do not require frequent bathing. A healthy opossum has no odor. Opossums are quite clean animals and they themselves monitor the cleanliness of their skins.
The animal should be kept away from warming means (battery, microwave oven, refrigerator), protected from drafts, as well as from direct sunlight.
The life expectancy of opossums directly depends on their diet. Possums will not live long if they are fed only factory-made food. The diet of the opossum should consist of natural fresh or frozen foods, but in no case from prepared foods.
