Hubby's Rescue - Need Advice

[hawklady]

Today DH happened on a road-kill mama possum with 9 babies still suckling her. He moved the body off the road so the babies wouldn't get hit, then went and picked them up when he got off work. They are not big enough to eat solid food. I have gotten them to take some canned milk from a baby animal nurser we picked up at a local pet store. I do have a dish of milk in the plastic storage tub they are in. All of them did take milk from the bottle. All have their eyes open and are mobile and quite alert. They like being held and will nuzzle your hand and play in your fingers.
I don't want to keep them as pets, I just want to get them big enough to be self sufficient to take care of themselves.
Last summer we had a rescue baby skunk "Rosebud" for a few weeks, but she was older than the possums. She did really good with dog food, cat food, and vegetables.
Any advice is appreciated.

[Belle]

Against my better judgement, here are some links that might help~

http://us.geocities.com/crawdadcreekrehab/OrphanedPossum.html

http://www.rainbowwildlife.com/baby-opossum.htm

http://www.babymagnoliasopossumrescue.com/

This one is kind of strange~

http://www.opossum.org/orphans.htm

[dilligaf]

feed them , soy based baby formula, goat milk or cat milk replacer... they do better lapping up the milk than they do sucking on a bottle... set the box or whatever you have them in half on a heating pad that is outside the box (leave half on floor so they can get away from heat if needed).. and has a towel over the heat pad... Give them a towel or something to hide in.. Feed either canned puppy chow or canned cat food until they begin acting like proper marsupial crocodiles... Then you can add a bit of fruits and veg and switch to small pellet dog or cat food... unfortunately possums take a good while until they are of releasable size... (to the tune of near two pounds).. oh and be sure you keep them in something they wont escape from, cuz they are good escape artists... :)

Honestly i would suggest you look up a local small mammal rehab facility and see if they can take them in... They are one of the easier critters to rehab but still alot of work and in some states is illegal even..

we have seven we are rehabbing at the sanctuary right now and busy season is just starting..

[momof23goats]

you do realize that these cute little things do grow up, and they do kill chickens, and such, don't you?
I would have killed them.

[Belle]

you do realize that these cute little things do grow up, and they do kill chickens, and such, don't you?
I would have killed them.
Yeah, that's what I meant by 'against my better judgement'. ;-)

[Indigo]

Also keep them away from horses/horse feed. They carry a nasty disease that can infect equines.

Indigo

[Animal Lover]

Try a rehab shelter. Some Vet hospitals might know where you can take them so they can grow properly and return to the wild safely. When I took care of robins until they were fully grown and healthy, then I took them to the Audubon society where they had thousand of acres without preditors as the two I raised in the house, were used to my cat and my dog and I was afraid to release them into the neighborhood. Momo is thinking of areas that are pretty populated and she is right, of course, so try and get them to a place where they can grow up and not interfer with local farming. Good luck. AL

[Micah68]

I would wait a couple weeks till they were bigger and then make a pot of possum stew just to see what they taste like.

if you aren't that adventurous, do all of us farmers a favor and just kill them

[Purity]

One got in our attic once and a certified wildlife specialist/trapper told me they can carry every disease known to man. And although I'm an animal lover, this type of creature is better off either taken to a wildlife specialist or euthanized before they get used to being around humans.

[dilligaf]

raccoons are much worse than possums as far as diseases go. in fact possums have a natural immunity to rabies whereas all raccoons are carriers of rabies.they dont tame even when raised as babies by humans.At about 4 months they become proper marsupial crocodiles and the cute and cuddliness of them goes out the window.


as far as possum stew out of the babies,lol you will be waiting more than a couple weeks unless your only making a bowl.At 4 months they weigh about a halfa pound or so.. lol.

[Micah68]

as far as possum stew out of the babies,lol you will be waiting more than a couple weeks unless your only making a bowl.At 4 months they weigh about a halfa pound or so.. lol.

oh well, I wouldn't keep them that long! I know I'm strange, but I don't believe everything tastes like chicken. :mrgreen:

I've tasted snake, bear, moose, prairie dog and all the normal stuff. Husband has tasted dog and all the stuff I have tried.

Normal stuff includes antelope, deer, elk, buffalo and what you can buy at the store.

[Hardpan]

I find this quite disturbing especially on a forum such as this. Many people are getting in to raising chickens and other small animals and you ask how to save these chicken killing, egg eating, disgusting filthy scavengers. They will rip open your feed sacks and kill any pet up to the size of fairly large cat if they can get them cornered.

The obvious answer is to eliminate all you can in your area now, not to be propagating them for trouble in the future for someone.

[Summerthyme]

Hardpan... I hear you, but most of us have our quirks, and quite often that includes having a hard time killing "defenseless babies" of any species, even if our common sense tells us it may come back to bite us.

But personally, I'd have gently placed them in a coffee can or bucket, added a rag soaked in diesel engine starter fluid (ether) and sealed it up. Come back in an hour and bury them. It doesn't make a lot of sense to raise and release a pest which may well coem back to bite you later.

Summerthyme

[Micah68]

I would never fault anyone for having a soft heart unless human lives were at stake.

[Martinhouse]

I have to agree with Belle, Mom and the others who would have gotten rid of those things.

I once found an immature baby possum right in front of the chickenhouse door. That means the mama was trying awfully hard to get in that door.

I've heard they carry distemper. My cats refuse to approach them And they smell really, really bad.

I have to bleach the cat dishes if a possum gets to the food, because they slobber really bad when they eat.

(Shudder)

Carol

[Jonas Parker]

Roast possum tastes like pork... just sayin'...

[Micah68]

Roast possum tastes like pork... just sayin'...

LOL, well at least it doesn't taste like chicken!

[momof23goats]

I kill them, and when I am not going it, I have a 14 year old down the road, that sets traps for me, and we get them in those. they are terrible ccritters. killing them is the best thing to do.