- High quality dry Cat food for adult short-tailed opossum and High quality dry Kitten food for young short-tailed opossum. ( see recommendations below)
- Treats such a s insects, meal worms and cooked eggs ( You can get Freeze dried cricket/grasshoppers, super worms. 1-5 bugs a day is okay.)
- Rodents ( They like Baby mice pinkies.)
- Fresh Food- meat (fish, chicken breast, ground turkey), hard-boiled egg, scrambled egg, small amounts of fresh fruit (e.g. ...
- Water- The importance of water to your Short-tailed opossum cannot be emphasized enough!!! She or he can become dehydrated quickly. ...
What do short tailed opossums eat?
Short-tailed opossums are omnivores that mostly eat insects, rodents and fruit in the wild. Their diet should be high in digestible protein, low in fat, with reasonable fiber and calcium. Most STO are fed soft fruits and vegetables, a high quality dry food, and supplement with live insects and/or rodents.
How do you take care of a short tailed possum?
Short Tailed Opossums are basically odor-free and their cage only needs to be cleaned about once a week. Care and feeding: Provide your Short Tailed Opossum with fresh water daily in a water bottle. For younger opossums that are not too strong, one without a steel ball works best.
Do short tailed possums make good pets?
Short Tailed Opossum Behavior and Temperament. The short-tailed opossum can become a pet that is friendly and docile. It can easily be handled by people and is curious, active, and entertaining. They should be kept as solitary pets because of their tendency to fight with other opossums.
Where can I buy a short tailed opossum?
When looking for a short-tailed opossum to purchase, options include breeders (hobby, small-scale or large scale), retail pet stores, exotic animal shows and auctions, or exotic animal rescues and shelters. Resources can include newspaper and online classified ads, online message boards and mailing lists.
What can I feed a wild possum?
What do you feed wild possums? Wild possums typically feed on berries, nuts, seeds, vegetables, small animals, nectar, rodents, insects, worms, slugs, snails, and other common possum foods.
Do short-tailed opossums like to be held?
When raised from a young age, short-tailed opossums can be friendly and docile. They can be handled easily by people and are curious, active, and entertaining. However, because of their tendency to fight with others of their own species, they do best as solitary pets.
What do opossums like to eat most?
Opossums generally eat fruit, grains and insects, but will also eat out of compost piles, garbage cans and pet food dishes if they can get access. They have been known to eat fish, birds and mammals as well.
How do you tame a short-tailed possum?
8:589:59Brazilian Short Tailed Opossum Care - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipAnd leave them alone for at least a day or two you could sit around them and talk to them and kindMoreAnd leave them alone for at least a day or two you could sit around them and talk to them and kind of put your hand by the cage.
How long do short tail possums live?
Gray short-tailed opossums are sexually mature at five to six months of age, and live for up to forty-nine months in captivity.
Are opossums friendly?
Opossums Are Gentle Wild Neighbors Opossums are peaceful animals that prefer not to fight although they may hiss, growl, and even bite if cornered. It is much more likely that the opossum will faint or “play dead” at the prospect of a confrontation.
Do possums like peanut butter?
Moreover, possums enjoy feeding on sweet things, and particularly on marshmallows and peanut butter.
Is cat food good for possums?
The possum diet A little known fact about a possum's diet is their need for high amounts of calcium. Due to this fact, possums readily eat the skeletal remains of rodents and other roadkill animals. Unfortunately, possums are also known to eat dog food, cat food and table scraps.
Do possums eat carrots?
Possums are not picky eaters, and there's very few foods they don't eat. In terms of vegetables, they will eat anything they can get their paws on. Once they find their way in your garden, possums will eat potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, peas, beans, herbs like coriander, basil or parsley, chards, broccoli, and many more.
How do you befriend a wild possum?
Let your pet rest its feet in the crook of your arm so that it can feel safe and properly supported. Allow your pet opossum to sit in your lap and eventually crawl onto your shoulders and arms, which is its nature. Once you have gotten to this point, you will truly have a tame pet opossum.
Do possums eat sunflower seeds?
Sunflower seeds, in particular, are a favorite food of raccoons and opossums, and these animals will often make bird feeders in the area a regular foraging stop.
How smart are opossums?
Opossums Are Smart Critters For one, they have a remarkable ability to find food and to remember where it is. When tested, opossums outscored rats, rabbits, cats, and dogs — but not humans. 2 They also can find their way through a maze more efficiently than rats and cats.
What do possums hate?
Sprinkling blood and bone fertiliser around the base of ornamental plants and fruit trees can act as a significant possum deterrent. They hate the smell, and will be less inclined to munch on treated plants!
Do possums like sweet potatoes?
Well, a possum is a scavenger. They subsist on a diet of bugs, slugs, and roadkill. So having a nice juicy sweet potato for a meal is like winning the lottery.
How do you attract possums to your yard?
You will have to have a food source to attract opossums. Planting gardens with fruits, vegetables and flowers will attract insects, snail and slugs. Opossums eat insects, snails and slugs. Opossums are also partial to overripe, fallen fruit on the ground.
Will possums eat rice?
These animals also feed on various grains, seeds, and nuts. They love to eat all sorts of nuts, seeds like sunflower seeds or grains like oats, barley, spelt, rice, corn, sorghum, and various other types of grains.
What is the importance of a short tail opossum cage?
Height and Length of the cage is important as (STOs) short-tailed opossums love climbing, need space to forage and need space for the exercise wheel. A solid bottom is also important.
Where do short tail opossums come from?
It is actually a marsupial that lacks a pouch. STOs (Short-tailed opossums) come from South America, south of the Amazon river, Brazil mostly. They can grow to about 4″ to 6″. Males are usually bigger than the females. STOs are very clean, curious, and make friendly pets. The color of their fur is grayish brown and they have a lighter tone underneath. They have a prehensile tail used to carry nesting material and also to hold onto branches.
What to use to nest a swarm of swarms?
Place strips of fleece or Strips of Plain paper roll to act as nesting material. You can also place a bonding pouch.
What does it mean when an opossum snarls?
If your short-tailed opossum is snarling and showing his or her teeth it means leave them alone.
Do short tail opossums urinate?
Short-tailed opossums are clean; they tend to choose a corner to urinate or defecate in. It is, therefore, easy to train.
Do you need a bass pan for a critter nation cage?
If you go the substrate bedding way, that is you do not want to go with fleece or mats and the type of cage you have does not have a place to pour substrate, for example, the critter nation cage, you will need some metal bass pans. These bass pans are made by bass equipment company. You can give them your specifications/ measurements. The bass pans will give your cages a place to pour the substrate. See video of bass pans in critter/ferret nation cage.
What do short tail opossums like to do?
Avoid PVC material that may off-gas. Short-tailed opossums are fairly tidy creatures and will usually pick a corner area to use as a potty; place a litter pan in that location to make cage cleaning easier.
What do you need for an opossum nest?
Bedding should be provided for the opossum. Corn cob litter or shavings ( avoid cedar) work well. A nest box is also required, either a commercial, woven nest, or a plastic container like a margarine tub will work, but be sure there are no sharp edges. Tissue or shredded paper (avoid inked newspaper) will be used as nesting material.
How old do you have to be to bring home a short tail opossum?
Purchasing Your Short-Tailed Opossum. Bringing home a baby that's three to four months old is best, but adults will bond with you as well. Always check first with local adoption agencies, rescues, and exotics rehabbers to see if they have or can locate a short-tailed opossum in need of a forever home.
What is the short tail opossum's temperament?
Short-Tailed Opossum Behavior and Temperament. The short-tailed opossum can become friendly and docile. It can be handled easily by people and is curious, active, and entertaining. Because of their tendency to fight with others of their own species, they do best as solitary pets.
How hot should an opossum cage be?
The temperature of the enclosure should be kept at 70 to 80 F.
What temperature should an opossum be?
The temperature of the enclosure should be kept at 70 to 80 F. Bedding should be provided for the opossum. Corn cob litter or shavings ( avoid cedar) work well. A nest box is also required, either a commercial, woven nest, or a plastic container like a margarine tub will work, but be sure there are no sharp edges.
What is the color of an opossum's muzzle?
Natives of Brazil and neighboring countries in northern South America, the short-tailed opossum has a thick, grey-brown coat, a muzzle similar to a rat, and very sharp teeth. They have large ears but they are very thin-skinned.
How to pick up a short tail opossum?
Some STO readily climb onto your hands, arms or clothing and can be picked up around the middle. They can also be safely picked up by grasping their tail and giving their front paws something to cling to. Many owners enjoy using a “bonding pouch” to play with their STO, wrap them in a towel in their lap, or let the STO run around with them in a closed area such as a bathroom or bathtub. Bribe liberally with treats! STO that are scared open their mouth to show 50 small teeth, however it is usually a bluff and most rarely bite, if ever.
What temperature should an opossum be?
Short-tailed opossums are comfortable at most normal indoor home conditions. They need a temperature range between 70-85°F. The preferred humidity range is 40%-50%. More or less humidity is not usually harmful, though some STO suffer from dried and cracked ears if the humidity is too low.
How many miles can a short tail opossum run?
My short tails have been clocked at running up to 8 miles per night in their wheels! Nutrition. Short-tailed opossums are omnivores that mostly eat insects, rodents and fruit in the wild. Their diet should be high in digestible protein, low in fat, with reasonable fiber and calcium.
Why do short tail opossums use exercise wheels?
The need for an exercise wheel cannot be over-emphasized because it is a great source of healthy exercise and is typically the short tailed opossum’s favorite toy. Adults spend hours every night running in the wheel. They take short breaks to eat or drink, or run around their cage, and then go right back to the wheel. Since they are nomadic in the wild with large ranges, it has been speculated that the exercise wheel provides them an instinctual outlet for their energy. My short tails have been clocked at running up to 8 miles per night in their wheels!
What is the best food for a STO?
Most STO are fed soft fruits and vegetables, a high quality dry food, and supplement with live insects and/or rodents. Most animal experts recommend dry food containing 30%+ protein, 9-13% fat with up to 5% fiber and make the dry food available all the time.
How much chance of death in a short tail opossum?
At one time time in the pet trade, there was an approximate 25% chance of injury or death per mating attempt. Short tail opossums are nocturnal; they are most active at night or in darkness, and spend much of the day sleeping.
What is the wrong name for a possum?
Incorrect names include “Pygmy Opossum” and “Dwarf Opossum”, and many websites incorrectly spell their name as ‘possum’, ‘opposum’ or ‘oppossum’. Like cats and dogs, short tail opossums have very individual preferences and temperaments.
