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this post was submitted on 25 Mar 2024
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Opossums
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My new spirit animal
I swear if God exists, he meant for opossums to be pets. They can eat just about anything a human can and then some (though I've heard they have some specific dietary needs if you keep one as a pet), they can't get rabies, they're very docile and rarely bite, they readily adapt to urban environments, and they're very expressive.
The only catches are that A) I've heard pet opossums do have some specific dietary needs, B) their lifespan is like spinning a roulette wheel (sometimes they only live 2-3yrs, sometimes they live 10+, evolution selected for breeding over lifespan), C) they're nocturnal. However "A" could be fixed with opossum-specific pet food, and "B" and "C" could probably be "fixed" with several generations of selective breeding.
I want a pet opossum. :c
Pet food would need to be very specific. They need certain foods on a balanced schedule or they get very fat, very quickly. It's mainly a blend of greenery, dog food(Purina Complete Puppy Chow is our go-to), fruits, crushed egg shells, raw egg, and additional proteins are added 3 times a week. That's just for adults, younger need their own diets, usually with supplemental goats milk until at a certain weight.
This diet is also to combat Metabolic Bone Disorder, or MBD. MBD causes twisting in the limbs, which is crippling on its own, but it also shortens their lifespan. Once MBD starts, there is no cure. You can only increase calcium intake to try and stop it from worsening too quickly, but nothing stops it completely. If you ever see an Opie with a gnarled limb, there's a decent chance they're suffering from MBD.
They're MAINLY nocturnal, but they require sunlight on the daily basis. It helps them as much as it can us, but you have to be careful, as their paws, ears, and tails will sunburn.
They can be highly affectionate, but even our unreleasables that came as Joey's will happily remind you they're animals. Might not break the skin, but those bites can really catch you off guard.
They stink. Literally. They use the bathroom in water(preferably running, but a wet litter box works). It smells awful. There's no getting used to it. You're going to have to dump it daily, and you will watch an opossum eat it's own turd. They carry leftover nutrition, so this is a natural thing, but still. It's a lot less cute with a handful of wet shit being shoveled in its mouth.
I love the little buggers, they are absolutely awesome, beautiful creatures, but they are a lot of work to keep in the best health. I'm not completely against them as pets as a possibility, but I think it's one people need to be heavily educated on before adopting. Look at how rodents are already treated. I can only imagine opossums would be in even worse condition with people already going "Yeah, they're nature's trash compactors! Eat anything!"
Thanks for the reply!
Couldn't that be solved with "Purina Opossum Chow" or something? Like, it was my understanding that part of the difficulty of owning or rehabbing an opossum was that there currently aren't any pet foods for opossums, which is why you have to give them a smorgasbord of foods.
Huh, that's interesting, I didn't know that.
Counterpoint: cats and birds can be affectionate but will absolutely bite you, sometimes for seemingly no reason.
Similar to the food situation, I'd think that could be resolved fairly easily, it's just that right now you can't go into a pet store and buy a "'possum potty". We figured out a way of making cat piss and shit not smell when they use a litterbox, I'd think you could come up with something for opossums; like an opossum fountain that uses the running water to automatically wash away the feces, which then gets run through a filter and sterilized by a UV-C bulb before getting reused. It probably wouldn't completely eliminate the smell and you'd still have to smell it when emptying the refuse chamber, but it'd probably make it a lot less smelly.
I'm guessing you do rehab for wild animals? How well connected are you? I've been looking into places around me (Texas, DFW-area) that'd let me volunteer and get hands-on experience with rehabbing animals, however the only places I've seen that seem to openly take volunteers (aka, have a volunteer page) only have administrative roles. The one place I saw that had a volunteer page for hands-on volunteers was a bat place, and as much as I love bats, they had some very strict rules listed and implied a zero-tolerance policy for breaking the rules (intentionally or unintentionally). As someone with ADHD, that seems like a recipe for disaster. As such, I'd like to find a way to volunteer that allows for a bit more flexibility regarding potential episodes of absentmindedness while also allowing me to work with the animals and learn how to rehab them. Do you know of any places in the DFW area that might let me do that?
Theoretically? Yes. If someone would actually go through the effort of mass producing a balanced feed, it would be an absolute game changer. The issue would come down to making sure things like the fat and protein weren't an issue, mainly due to the fact that in captivity, they're lazy bastards most of the time. They'll move and explore, but nowhere near to the levels of the wild, even with enrichment. Food comes to them? Why put in effort?
It's not one of the more commonly dropped facts, but those are also the only parts of their body that are completely hairless! Their ears are velvet soft, and the tail goes from fairly scaly to surprisingly smooth at the tip. They also have rough tongues, but produce an amazing amount of saliva, so getting slubbed(when they hang their tongue out and rub their face all over something. It's a marking technique, and quite the sign of affection) is a unique experience.
I cannot overstate the stench. It is a cloying, vaguely sweet scent that clings to everything it touches. I'm certain there's a way you could empty the refuse into a sealed container, but if there's any level of open air, it will get into the walls. Even better, they may dip their tail in it, while actively shitting, accidentally. It gets into the floors. Bleach cannot completely remove the smell from the bedding.
I do volunteer at an Opie focused rehab, but I am way out of my league with Texas operations. Every state is different, with some completely banning rehabilitation centers outside of state control(if they have any).
I know it's not rehab, but genuinely, if you want to do something with animals, check out any shelters around you. They do a lot of work just keeping those babies fed and warm, some might be looking for an extra hand, even if it's just helping walk and clean cages. That's honestly a lot of what we do. Clean cages, make meals, help babies go to the bathroom.