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Virginia Possum
The Virginia Opossums live in deciduous forests, open woods, bushy
wastelands and farmlands. They actually build their homes in leaf
nests, fallen trees, abandoned burrows or other protected places.
Although they do not travel a lot, they will move from an area in
2-3 days if there is not a constant food supply. Have you ever heard
of the expression "playing Opossum"? When a Opossum is threatened,
it may roll over, shut its eyes, stick out its tongue and pretend it
is dead. If it doesn't do that, it may try to bluff its attacker by
hissing, screeching, salivating, opening its mouth wide to show all
of its 50 teeth, and sometimes it excretes a greenish substance.
Oppossums only live for 1-2 years in the wild because of so many
predators (dogs, cats, birds of prey and cars). If they are in
captivity they will live up to 10 years.
Description
The Virginia Opossum is North America's only marsupial. It is about
the size of a house cat. It is 15-18 inches long and weighs about
4-14 pounds. Its body is a gray or black color. Its head and throat
are a whitish color. It has a pointed pink nose. It has no fur on
its ears. It has a long scaly tail, but short legs. There are five
toes on each foot, but the back legs have an opposable thumb, so
it's like it has four fingers and a thumb on each hind leg.
Breeding
The Opossum has a gestation period of less than 11-13 days. After
that time, any number from 4-20 babies, each smaller than a dime,
climb up through the hair of the mother and enter a vertical opening
of her pouch. There they will attach themselves to a teat and nurse
for 2-3 months. Once they have developed a little more, the babies
crawl out of the pouch and cling to the mother's back for an
additional 2-3 months until they are ready to make it on their own.
A daily diary should be kept with a record of time the possum is
fed, the amount taken, whether urine or feces have been passed and
any other information that might be useful if the possum is handed
to another carrier or the possum has to be seen by a vet.
Pouches are almost the most important part of a young joey's life!
Ensure that they are plentiful in supply, you will need them! The
material should be made of natural fibers to enable it to breathe,
preferably cotton as an inner liner and wool or wool blend as an
outer.
The size should be just large enough to accommodate the joey in a
curled up state and your hand at once. Any smaller and you will find
the joey hard to retrieve, and larger makes it difficult to warm.
Pouches should be changed and washed frequently. Do not allow a joey
to remain in a soiled pouch. Pouches should be thoroughly rinsed
after washing to remove any residue of soap or fabric softener.
Possums sleep in a fully curled position, which the joey will
achieve as it rolls into the pouch. Kicking and jostling around
whilst inside the pouch is normal and not necessarily a sign of a
frantic escape attempt To make a baby possum feel more secure, put a
small piece of sheepskin or small fluffy toy in the pouch and when
not being worn, a quietly ticking clock in the cage or box is also
soothing.
Joeys spend all of their time in close intimate contact with mum
while still in the pouch. It is a good idea, once your joey has
bonded to you, to groom your joey until emerging stage, as this will
make them feel secure, reducing the risks of stress related
illnesses. It also reduces the chance of bacteria entering their
systems.
Diet
The Opossum is an omnivore. It eats almost anything it can catch,
like rats, mice, moles, slugs, snails, shrews, worms, frogs, large
insects and other small animals. It also eats fruit, nuts, bird eggs
and even garbage. Fruit flavored yoghurt for the
gourmet young possum! Fresh water should always be available,
especially in hot weather. If they are not eating well, some honey
dribbled over veggies and fruit may encourage them. When feeding
older possums there should be a little bit of food left over in the
morning, then you know they are having enough.
Nutripet or Nutigel (available from the vet) helps to build up an
undernourished animal.
Offer your possums a selection of these foods below.
| Mellaleuca |
Broccoli |
Cooked Potato |
| Gum leaves/tips |
Apples |
Mixed Vegetables |
| Plumbago |
Grapes |
Fruit Yoghurt |
| Roses |
Apricots |
Porridge with honey |
| Bottle brush |
Banana (sm amount) |
Boiled Rice |
| Wattle |
Melons (all types) |
Peas |
| Almond Blossom |
Corn on Cob |
Sweet Corn |
| Fuschia Leaves |
Kiwi Fruit |
Cauliflower |
| Geraniums |
Carrots |
Strawberries |
| Celery Tops |
Oranges (no peel) |
Plums |
| Tomatoes |
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Habitat
Opossums are nocturnal animals. They do not hibernate, but will hole
up in really bad weather in the winter. They are also very good
climbers. They use their prehensile tails for stability while they
are climbing, not for hanging.
Possums need branches for climbing up and on, draught free, dry
nesting boxes up high and some logs on the floor for them to sit on.
Branches or thick pieces of bark are appreciated as they like to
gnaw off the bark.
Change the branches around and put new ones in regularly. A variety
of different types of eucalyptus leaves and blossom should be
offered to them daily, they seem to like them hung around their
branches. Fresh water should always be available.
Provide a feeding platform, well off the ground. Possums in the wild
do spend a small amount of time foraging on the ground but mainly
feed off blossums, fruits and leaves in the trees.
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