orphan baby possum

[huntress4203]

not sure where to post this but here goes. I have an orphan baby possum (mother was run over and this is the only one left alive). He/she is bigger than a mouse, smaller than a rat. About 3-4 weeks old, has baby teeth and can hiss but doesn't bite. I know to deed it like a kitten but what do they eat in the wild and how do I prepare it to live there? I'm not looking to keep it as a pet.

Glo

[Ravenlost]

When we found one about that size a couple years ago I kept it in a cat carrier and fed it small amounts of canned catfood and veggies. It really liked bananas! Possums eat just about anything! They also like baby food, boiled egg, etc. Once it got pretty large we set it free, but it would come back to the carrier to sleep for a week or so.

[Phantomfyre]

Here's some info:
http://www.opossumsocietyus.org/injured_opossum.html
http://www.opossum.org/orphans.htm
http://theopossumpage.com/pagelinks.html

Hope this helps!
Diana

[Kmac15]

People on the poultry forum would tell you what to do with it.....SHOOT IT..it will grow up to eat you chickens and vegtables from your garden.

[jersey girl]

Just lost a bunch of baby ducks to one. I know what I would do.
Joanie

[Meg Z]

I've lost poultry to possums, too, but I'd still raise one. They're much more likely to share the cat food around here, than catch a bird. They're lazy, and cat food moves slower.

As stated by others (and I didn't follow the links) they're omnivores, and eat just about anything. If I were you, I'd contact the closest wildlife rehabilitation center when it's old enough to release. Some rehab centers, particularly those who are also open to the public for whatever reason, like to keep a few animals around to show people what they do...and of course, the animals need to be...not necessarily people friendly, but people tolerant. If the center doesn't need it, they'd still do a better job releasing it, and would make an effort to release it in an area where there is less likelyhood of it becoming a pest.

If you choose to release it yourself, drive it to the middle of the biggest national park you can, away from folks. They aren't territorial, so that won't be a problem for the young one. Make sure you release by a water source.

Good luck, and enjoy raising him/her.
Meg

[Rocky Fields]

Hey.

Did you take the baby possum to be checked for rabies?

RF

[foxtrapper]

Kitten milk works well and is readily available. For critters like a young possum I hold a syringe (sans needle) with the milk in it in my fist, and lay my fist on the table. The critter will nurse the syringe, and I can gradually shove the plunger up. You can also use a kiddie type toy baby bottle.

A young possum will quite willingly work with you as a suragate (sp) mother. If you crawl around on your hands and knees, they will climb up and ride on your back and head. Then off you go exploring interesting possum like places and things.

By the end of summer it'll be large enough to go off on its own.

[huntress4203]

thanks to those who had something constructive to say and to those of you that didn't, well God bless you anyway. I came here for help, not "opinions". No wonder I dont post much......

Glo

[Danaus29]

I was wondering what got into the compost bin and ate the overripe bananas. Must have been a possum.

I had one that ate all the sunflower seeds the birds didn't finish. It was really neat to watch.

[texican]

Originally Posted by huntress4203

thanks to those who had something constructive to say and to those of you that didn't, well God bless you anyway. I came here for help, not "opinions". No wonder I dont post much......

Glo

Well, not to be too snarky, but a similar analogy would be to go onto a Christian faith type site, and mentioned you'd found little baby Satan, and how should one care for it.

This is a homesteader site. Coons and possums aren't endangered. They're the bane of our existence. A few I'm sure would show sympathy for the devil.

My SO moved here from a Philly suburb, and the vets at her clinic would tell her about feeding the coons each night, and how great it was to have 'wildlife' in their backyards. These were educated people. Ignorant of the fact that increasing the vermin population actually depressed any real wild populations of small fauna.

If you want to help it, feed it lots of baby kitten milk, every hour, on the hour. When it gets a few months old, give it small eggs, then chicks... by the fall, bantam chickens will be just about right. By Christmas, it should be able to eat a full sized hen about every three days, unless its a female, and then it'll need one a night, to feed her babies... (If you let her out at night, she'll breed). My grandparents tell me of the depression catching em, and fattening up on sweet taters.

good luck, and try not to get bit, too much... unless you've had your rabies booster shots already...

[NWMO]

Had a similar situation where a student brought 5 baby possums to school in her back pack (momma possum was dead in the road as the girl walked to school). Things were pretty calm all morning, but really broke out when the girl started "loaning them out" to other girls who carried them to class in their back pack or purses. Of course, where did the whole situation come to a head? School cafeteria......they, girls and possums, ended up in my office....no one, animal rescue or rehab location, would take them.....I can still hear them scratching in a cardboard box!!!

[texican]

Originally Posted by Wind in Her Hair

They showed up for cat food for years and years. - along with a hand-raised orphaned raccoon, etc.

Aha!!! So the mystery is solved... The legend of the Three Amigos, two possums, led by a wily raccoon... who raided and pillaged the farms nearby... those were you're chilluns!!!

[Ravenlost]

Originally Posted by Rocky Fields

Hey.

Did you take the baby possum to be checked for rabies?

RF

Possums are not carriers of rabies. Their body temp is to low.

[Sonshine]

I had found an orphaned possum several years ago, but I took it to a wild life refuge. I figured they had more time and experience than I did at taking care of it.

Katrina

[Simpler Times]

I have chickens and I have had problems with possums eating the chickens/eggs. When I do that tells me I am not giving enough attention to my chicken house and enclosures. I have also raised baby possums and would do it again. They are really interesting little animals and are wonderful for a kid to raise. The experience allows one on one contact between animal and human so that the human can grow to appreciate the concept that everything has a purpose and sometimes, although purposes of individual beings often conflict both among us and among us and wild creatures, it does not give us an inherent right to blow away everything that conflicts with our particular purpose. (btw, I know that was a run-on sentence). Possums have opposable thumbs like humans and can hang on to their mother or your hair or whatever. When mine got big enough I fed them dry dog and cat food soaked in milk or water. They eventually graduate on their own to finding and eating bigger and better things. That might be grasshoppers or it might be chickens. They are, as someone said, opportunistic.

[Ravenlost]

Originally Posted by Simpler Times

I have chickens and I have had problems with possums eating the chickens/eggs. When I do that tells me I am not giving enough attention to my chicken house and enclosures. I have also raised baby possums and would do it again. They are really interesting little animals and are wonderful for a kid to raise. The experience allows one on one contact between animal and human so that the human can grow to appreciate the concept that everything has a purpose and sometimes, although purposes of individual beings often conflict both among us and among us and wild creatures, it does not give us an inherent right to blow away everything that conflicts with our particular purpose. (btw, I know that was a run-on sentence). Possums have opposable thumbs like humans and can hang on to their mother or your hair or whatever. When mine got big enough I fed them dry dog and cat food soaked in milk or water. They eventually graduate on their own to finding and eating bigger and better things. That might be grasshoppers or it might be chickens. They are, as someone said, opportunistic.

Exactly!

[poorboy]

Would do it just the same as the 10 caught in my live trap, and the groundhog , and the two 'coons. just this year,kill it, we have away to many varmints since no one buys fur in this area anymore!

[Christiaan]

Originally Posted by Rocky Fields

Hey.

Did you take the baby possum to be checked for rabies?

RF

Possums don't get rabies, their metabolism is too low. Most small rodents don't pass rabies either. They die of it before they can transmit it to others.

[Christiaan]

Got a young possum in the live trap a couple of weeks ago. They are cute for the first few months. I let him go into my neighbors pasture. She doesn't believe in predator control, so it will be OK over there. If it had been a coon that would have had a very different ending......................