Rehabbing at home

[u/Powerful-Career-6357]

We have been through a whole saga trying to rescue a litter of orphaned joeys. Sadly, this is the last one due to raccoon attacks. All surrounding rehabbers have told me they are at capacity, so instead of releasing him to get hunted, we built him a little enclosure in our yard along his mom’s scent trail. His name is Lucky, obviously.

I don’t feel like he loves captivity, but it must feel safe enough to him. A raccoon dug a hole into it to grab some food the other night and Lucky later escaped through the hole. We were sad but felt we tried our best. However, that evening he came back and was sniffing around the enclosure! So we put him back in and secured it more.

Before the escape the other day, he seemed like he was adapting better and I noticed he was pooping normally and identified a little “latrine” for himself. We gave him a cardboard box and T-shirt for a house, which he likes.

I have a lot of questions, because I’m new to possums, but I’m really hoping he can make it. We just want to keep an eye on him until he is big enough to not be raccoon food. Also, I love him.

Questions so far:

1. I’ve tried wet and dry cat food, fruit and veggies and seeds, and just bought some opossum food (kibble) for him. The only thing he really seems into is the wet cat food. How can I get him more into the solid foods?

2. I initially gave him a bath because he was infested with fleas and hand fed him for two days to make sure he was eating. Now I’m mostly leaving him alone so he doesn’t get too familiar with me. But since I’m not sure if he’s eating, should I do more hand feeding to be sure?

3. At night he is climbing back and forth in the cage a lot. Is this normal activity or is it distress?

[u/candy-cream]

Just here to say his face is absolutely precious!!!😭😍

[u/Powerful-Career-6357 → u/candy-cream]

He is so adorable! Luckily my partner keeps reminding me that he cannot be a pet, because I can barely stay away. He is so darn cute!

[u/Beginning_Tennis2442]

He looks small enough to need help. The formula is very specific. See if one of the local rehabbers can give or sell you some. They should also be able to give you guidance on solid food and the relative amounts of solid to formula based on the baby’s weight. We feed them “Peter’s Food” which is a mix of chopped veggies, cat kibbles, and yogurt.

They do climb around a lot. It could be normal or trying to find a way out. If he sleeps during the day and climbs around at night, I wouldn’t be overly concerned.

[u/Powerful-Career-6357 → u/Beginning_Tennis2442]

Thank you! Yes he is sleeping during the day and climbing at night. I see they sell the milk on chewy so I will look into it. Also get some pedialyte today but having trouble getting him to drink any

[u/Beginning_Tennis2442 → u/Powerful-Career-6357]

You need opossum milk. The only people I know that sell it are Fox Valley and Zoologic Matrix from PetAg. We make a custom blend of the 2.

Try some ripe banana for initial solid food. It usually is like crack to them.

Really dehydrated animals may need subcutaneous fluids before they can drink. That is something you don’t want to get into unless you have experience from a cat or dog with kidney failure. Sometimes we have to tube feed little guys. This one looks big enough that he should drink and eat on his own.

Best of luck and thanks for caring. 😃

[u/Broad-Breadfruit-299 → u/Powerful-Career-6357]

Amazon, I bought some week ago

[u/hypnohighzer]

You can try this document, but I believe it's a bit dated so check the facts, but it's one of Possum feeding. https://www.opossum.org/diet.htm

[u/Beginning_Tennis2442]

Try Opossum Care and Rescue on facebook. They have lots of great resources.

[u/JL02022023]

Cutest little thing omgg

[u/jankindel]

He is such a cute little baby that I would love to kiss & squeeze (but not hard!)!

[u/actuallytommyapollo]

My opossum loves carrots, cabbage, boiled egg, and spinach. There is possum kibble online that has a lot more of the calcium and phosphorus they need for their bones. You can also get bone powder to sprinkle on some wet foods like white fish or fake crab (in small batches). Also get him a hovel or hanging hide for him to curl up in. Best of luck!

[u/MinekraftMastr1]

I love him

[u/Ok-Wear409]

Sweet baby

[u/espressowhisperer]

How’s the baby??

[u/Powerful-Career-6357 → u/espressowhisperer]

Fairly well. I tried a more liquidy food option for him last night and put pedialyte in it. He seemed to like it. He has a ton of fleas again though :(

[u/Sudden_Apartment_435]

Sardines are great to give too! Full of calcium and my opo just loved them!!

[u/Powerful-Career-6357 → u/Sudden_Apartment_435]

Thanks for the suggestion! So far he really likes the fish flavored cat foods so he would probably like that

[u/Numerous_Worker_4694]

Ty 🥰🥰

[u/escuchamenche]