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Orphaned Possum

A

Anonymous-0

Well-known Member
Today my half beagle dog founed a baby possum in the yard. My 10 year old son took it away from him and has decided he wants to keep it. It is about 4" long, not including its tail. I told my son that we would put the dogs up tonight and put the baby where the dog found it and the momma possum would come back tonight to get it. Well the dogs went up at dark and about 10 p m I let them out to relieve their bladders and as luck would have it, that was the exact time the momma was out there. She ran off of course and so far, has not come back. I gave the baby possum some pediolyte today but it will eventually need something more substantial. My little boy loves animals and he wants to keep this little critter alive. Does anyone know what we could feed it with a medicine dropper to try and save it? Thanks.
 
My brother found one he wanted to make a pet out of years ago that was half grown. It did well on cheesey puffs. If it's four inches long it may be big enough to start on kitten chow. I know my mom has some get in her cat food every year and they do good on it. If it ain't big nuff to eat, try some of that canned cat or dog milk from a vet supply joint.

Good luck.

Dave
 
KMR milk or milk powder will bring just about anything through. If it can eat, the kitten food is probably the way to go. You may have to help it start a little and make sure it drinks plenty. Diarhea/Dehydration is the killer, don't over feed it. Enjoy.

Dave
 
I'd suggest putting it back out for Momma. ALL baby critters are cute, but they all grow up. Wild animals don't often make good pets. Lots of stories abou pet raccoons mauling and sometime killing babies. Not trying to rain on your son's parade, just my thoughts.

Larry in Michigan
 
Check with F&G Dept. Most states it is illegal to keep wild animals without jumping through a whole lot of hoops. That should deter you son.

Gordo
 
we have rehabbed and released a number of different orphaned animals. for the possum, you are prolly going to need to bottle feed for a while as it is still on mothers milk. see if you have a pet store near you like petsmart. they sell a product called esbilac milk substitute for puppies and kittens that are orphaned. mix it with whole milk, the milk needs to be heated to dissolve the esbilac. you can add some liquid vitamin drops, (gerbil or hamster type) and i add a little karo corn syrup just to make it a little more palatable. (give the little guy a light dusting of flea powder to get fleas off him) dont use cedar chips as a bedding. a few old towels work better.
 
(quoted from post at 21:18:51 08/13/08) Today my half beagle dog founed a baby possum in the yard. My 10 year old son took it away from him and has decided he wants to keep it. It is about 4" long, not including its tail. I told my son that we would put the dogs up tonight and put the baby where the dog found it and the momma possum would come back tonight to get it. Well the dogs went up at dark and about 10 p m I let them out to relieve their bladders and as luck would have it, that was the exact time the momma was out there. She ran off of course and so far, has not come back. I gave the baby possum some pediolyte today but it will eventually need something more substantial. My little boy loves animals and he wants to keep this little critter alive. Does anyone know what we could feed it with a medicine dropper to try and save it? Thanks.
Click to expand...

Hope you don't have horses.Possum's carrry a disease called EPM. And it's deadly to horses.I know had to put down a mare last year that had it.If I see possum's around my area they are dead possums.
 
Opossums are, in many areas, an invasive and non-native species. They raid bird and duck nests for eggs and baby birds, and can be devastating to the populations of both. There are efforts in many states to control their numbers by any reasonable means. Since there is such an effort here, and since I keep chickens, I try to kill opossums when I see them.

Opossums have sharp teeth, small brains, and a fairly nasty disposition. I don't think they'd be very trainable as a pet, even if raised from infancy.

As humans, our brains have evolved to consider most baby animals as "cute" and worthy of attention and affection. It's part of what ensures that we take care of our own offspring, which (when you think about it) are otherwise quite a lot of trouble. And reverence for life generally is a good thing, and something you'd want to instill in your son.

But there are exceptions. Killing a baby animal is not easy for most people, including me, but objectively that is most likely the right thing to do with the opossum.
 
Those critters are bad news.We shoot whenever we see 'em.Do everyone a favor and get rid of it.
 
A few years ago, a raccoon took up residence in a wood duck nesting box. I found it while cleaning the box. I went back out with the pistol, opened the lid and fired three or four rounds. I didn't want tihe coon to get in the habit of raiding nest boxes. After I pulled her out, stone dead, I heard a lot of mewing. Three or four coon kittens. I felt horrible, but ended up killing them too since I had no way to care for them. The little gremlins didn't even have their eyes open.

Larry in MIchigan
 
I've done them before. Walmart and the like sell a kitten milk formula that works well. I always found that making a fist with my hand, having the dropper end sticking out worked best. The critter could push my fist with their paws and work the dropper like normal. I'd have to squirt slowly to match their draw. Not hard to do.

Regular cat food works well as the possum gets older. You can leave it in there now for it to explore and nibble on, and it will as it gets older.

They can make a pretty neat pet.
 
Good luck teaching reason to an animal that is a throwback to the first mammmals that replaced the dinosaurs. I don't think some animals are capable of domestication and this is one. Any farmer knows not to totally trust a bull!! Cut your losses and forget it. Siegfried and Roy found that out.
Paul
 
True Story: A kid back home found a dead possum and "rescued" one baby. He raised that possum and it rode everywhere on his shoulder. He was always gnawing on the possum's tail, as the critter rode on his shoulder. About half of the tail finally fell off. I remember the boy saying that he fed the possum bread, milk and fruit.

It was quite a sight to see that stub-tail possum riding on his shoulder, LOL..
 
I'd say put it out (for mama) or put it down.

When cornered they can get nasty. They have some mean teeth.

I'd hate to see your kid go through that series of painful rabies shots when kids do kid things around animals. Especially wild animals. Coons are half way pretty cute but I wouldn't trust one of those either.

Every other day I read in the paper about someone's perfect pet pit bull that is the kindest pet ever until it bites some kids face off.
 
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