Possums

About 5 days ago I trapped a possum. Had the boys dispatch it. After she was dead, they noticed her stomach moving...yep,6 babies in the pouch. I have left several messages with the conservation departmentand wildlife sanctuary, nothing yet, so have been taking care of the babies since then. They are all doing well as far as I can tell, growing, active, getting quite a bit more fur. I have been tube feeding them, but they are even starting to drink a little from a dish. I've never raised possums, have raised several types of birds, baby squirrels, calves, puppies, kittens, even had to tube feed my eldest daughter, so do have experience, just not with possums. So, since the rehabbers don't look like they'll ever get back to me about these babies, I was wondering if anyone on here has any experience? When should their eyes open, and when is it ok to to introduce solids? Their ears are open, their mouths have all unsealed in the last day or so, they can walk around, and have pretty well formed eye slits.

I took care of a baby possum for about two weeks (just until the rehabber could take him) a few years ago. He was older than your possums, though. I think we had him on kitten milk replacer. Be sure to keep them warm! Have fun with the little guys!

Oh God... I'd feel so bad if I orphaned...any animal. Poor little babies... I'm glad you're taking care of them though! Good luck!

Hey Julie,

Thank you for trying to save those guys. We had the same thing happen with racoons. Keep them warm and keep feeding milk replacer. I have found that mine liked the canned milk much better than the powder. Good luck

Kudos to you for nurturing those babies I've heard that possums are really, really sweet animals, so good luck in finding a place to take them when they are ready.

That being said, however, possums are carriers for a horrible, HORRIBLE condition that debilitate horses. Because of that, *I* would never attempt to save even babies. As cold as that sounds, I've seen horses affected by EPM (Equine Protozoal Myeloencencephalitis) and I would NEVER wish that on any horse owner-so even when I find a possum, it does NOT get relocated to become another risk to someone else's horse.

I hope that you're able to find a sanctuary or some place for them-it's sure easy to get attached to them-but I'd hate for them to end up transmitting EPM somewhere else. BUT-I also know how sweet and affectionate they end up when tame. If it weren't for EPM, I'd be housing as many possums that my barn could hold :-D

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Luckily for these, I'm in the city so no horses anywhere near. I am hoping the rehabbers at the wildlife sanctuary will get back to me eventually and take them, so just trying to keep them alive until then.

Do you have a backyard with a shed or anything they can live and be "wild" in? It's not legal to keep a wild animal unless you have a license, but I suppose if they live freely in your backyard (and know where food is ) they aren't confined

I watched some show where they were trapping wildlife under people's houses...and then released them right back into the backyards. My hub and I couldn't figure out what the point of trapping them was.

as they get a little older you can start adding in raw egg (especially the yolk).. mine LOVED raw eggs and tomatoes (their two favorites)..
I did keep them on the milk replacer for a while even after they stopped nursing.. just for the added nutrition.. they will also eat cat food and pretty much any household scraps.. releasing them back into the wild is going to be a bit of a problem without the help of rehabbers.. since they need to be monitored for a while once released (you cant just turn them loose and hope for the best since they are dependent on momma for a while).. ..we had ours in outside hutches where their bedding, food and water was.. and started leaving the door open at night so they could start to wander. Every morning for several months we would find them curled up back in their snuggle cubes fast asleep.. as time went by they finally moved out on their own.. but we did have one female who would return with her babies looking for handouts and even found her back in the hutches asleep on several occasions

All 6 babies are still alive and well. They've all opened their eyes as of today. Still no word from the rehab people, guess they have their hands full.

Julie, we have had lots of them. My 2nd mom growing up did the same thing you are doing our local zoo took 2 and she took one. Murphey lived in a mitten, then stocking cap, a pillow case and finally a sleeping bag. He lived for years and she just treated Jim like one of the cats. He was fun and he really did think he was a cat. But what I remember is that she just raised him like a cat. But as he got older she introduced fruits as treats. She and my mom were zoo workers so they had experience in rehab stuff. I would keep calling the rehab place but try a zoo. Our zoo used them as pets they took out to schools. Good luck!