911 Advice for Opossums

“I found an orphaned eyes-closed baby opossum. What do I do?”
Baby opossums which still have their eyes closed are far too young to survive without their mother. Here’s what you do if you find a baby opossum:

Immediately look around for the mother. Opossums do not leave their mothers voluntarily until they are at least ½ lb. in weight. The mother may have been hit by a car or killed/injured by a predator or frightened enough for the baby to have fallen off her back (she travels constantly with her babies on her back). There will usually be more babies, so searching for the mom can be critical to the lives of the other opossums, especially if the mother is dead. Neonate or eyes closed opossums will not disengage from their mother’s nipple (teat) even if she is dead. They will continue to nurse, thus absorbing toxins as time progresses and becoming slowly poisoned.
Opossums whose eyes are open and are walking will usually not leave their mother even if she is dead.
Check for injuries/bruising. The baby should go to a wildlife rehabilitator if there are any injuries.
Get a box with lid and place a clean t-shirt along with the baby(ies) into the box. Punch airholes in the lid and secure the entire box with a rubber band. Opossums are escape artists!
MOTHER OPOSSUMS DO NOT COME BACK FOR THEIR BABIES! If you find an opossum(s) and the mother is nowhere in sight, then a wildlife rehabilitator needs to be contacted

“How often does the mother feed the babies?”
Opossums are North America’s only marsupial (like the kangaroo) and live in their mother’s pouch, where they literally attach to (swallow) and nurse from her nipples continuously until they reach 2-3 weeks of age. At that point they disengage from the nipple and start crawling around and sometimes out of her pouch.

“I have picked up the babies -- won’t my scent keep the mother away?”
Since the mother does not come back for her babies, you do need to intervene and pick up the baby(ies). Human scent will not interfere with their survival.

“How do I know whether the babies are old enough to survive on their own?”
Opossum babies leave their mother either voluntarily or by falling off her back while she is moving. If an opossum is at least ½ lb. or greater in weight, then they can survive on their own. The best way to tell is by contacting a rehabilitator who can help you determine the age of the opossum.

“How many babies do opossums have?”
Opossums have 13+ babies in one litter, although it is unlikely that all will survive.

“What do I do if I find a dead mother opossum?”
It is best if the body can be set in a safe location and/or into a box for transport to the rehabilitator. Babies which are still attached to the mother’s teat will need to be gently disengaged from the teat and fed with a special feeding tube for the first few weeks of its life. If you see babies milling about around the dead mother, try to get all of them into an animal carrier where they can be safe, either for transport to a rehabilitator or until the rehabilitator arrives at the site.

“The babies are blue and cold. What do I do?”
Opossums have a subnormal temperature and cannot endure the cold. They MUST be kept warm until help can be obtained. Please follow the stabilization protocol given below.

“My cat/dog just brought in a baby opossum. What do I do now?”
Cats puncture and dogs crush. If there are any injuries whatsoever, a rehabilitator should be contacted as soon as possible. Cat bites are almost always fatal, so if there is broken skin on the animal then its life is compromised... Keep your cats indoors!! Cats are the killers of millions of species of wildlife each year! Follow the stabilization protocol located at the end of this advice sheet.

Please follow the instructions below IF:

The babies are in imminent life-threatening danger;
The babies are injured;
You have determined that the babies are abandoned and/or orphaned.

If any of the above stated situations fits your particular scenario, then contact a state-permitted wildlife rehabilitator as soon as possible. If the baby opossums are determined to have been abandoned and you need to transport them to a rehabilitator, please do the following:

Use a small container such as a shoebox. Punch air holes in the lid.
Line the shoebox with a clean t-shirt or baby receiving blanket that you do not mind giving up.
Place the babies inside the shoebox and put a rubber band around the box and lid, securing it for the ride.
Babies must stay warm. Fill a clean tube sock with uncooked white rice and tie off at the cuff with a piece of string. Place the sock into a microwave and heat for 1-2 minutes. Place the sock inside the shoebox and put part of the t-shirt or other piece of clean cloth over the sock. You don’t want the sock to be so hot that it could burn the babies. The babies will crawl next to the warmth of the sock and stay there for the ride to the rehabilitator. Another option is to put a wet washcloth (wrung out) into a ziplock baggie and microwave until warm but not hot. This acts as a portable heating pad!

If it is going to be a length of time before you can get the babies to a rehabilitator, please do the following:

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO FEED THE BABIES -- TO DO SO COULD CAUSE THEIR DEATH

Follow the instructions above as per the shoebox or other small container.
If you have a heating pad, set it on low and place the pad on a non-conductive surface (your bathroom counter or washing machine lid will do just fine).
Place the container with the babies half-on and half-off the heating pad. This will allow the babies to move away from the heat if they need to.

Opossums require a specialized formula. Alone, most replacement formulas are not sufficient in ingredients to sustain a growing baby opossum. A rehabilitator has been trained to offer the formula appropriate for this species and knows the correct feeding schedule and protocol of rehydration. You also run the risk of aspirating the baby by using an incorrect feeding utensil (such as a baby bottle with nipple). Mom opossums also stimulate the babies after feeding in order to help them eliminate. This process is vital to their health and life. Baby opossums are incredibly fragile and do not take handling by humans well. They will die of stress if handled improperly. Keep baby opossums away from children, household noise (such as vacuum cleaners and so forth), domestic pets and bright light.

Opossums do not make good pets. They are wild things and have wild instincts. They do not trust humans and do not accept other domestic animals as companions. Please do not consider keeping these incredible and fragile creatures as pets -- to keep a opossum in a cage for the rest of its life is to doom it to a life of sadness and broken spirit.

For further information, please contact:

Diana Orr -- State-permitted for small mammals
Wildlife Rehabilitator specializing in the eastern cottontail and other native lagomorph/hare species
WildRescue, Inc. / Rabbit Rescue / Rabbit’s Rest Sanctuary
Copper Canyon, Texas Phone: 940-241-1242
wildrescuetexas@yahoo.com www.rescuedrabbits.org www.iwrc-online.org

911 Advice for opossums
Copyright Diana Orr All Rights Reserved August 2004