My Virginia Opossum

[aldebono]

so did you find her after the dog bite and take her in, or did you already have her? props to you for taking the time to care for her needs after an injury like that, most people would see a opossum, and either kill it or take it to the vet. it looks like she would make a cool pet, but i think i'll stick to snakes lol

I put an add on Craigslist for babies to rehab and release (she is actually my second opossum). An apartment complex called and said one of their residents' dogs attacked her. She still has the scar above her hips.

Mine liked vegetables, but only certain kinds. Miss P went nutty for steamed broccoli and raw corn on the cob. She liked baked sweet potatoes too.

Like your possum, Miss P had been bitten by a dog, but she was a full grown adult. She was so torn up that when I saw her lying in the snow I thought that she was dead and when I found out that she wasn't I brought her into the house so that she could die in peace. A few hours later she woke up a little and I helped hold her up so that she could drink. The next day the @%&$## possum ate most of my Kentucky Fried Chicken, at which point her box was moved out of the kitchen.

She was injured in November. That March I took her to a protected area and let her go. She had some dandy scars and her tail had a permanant kink at the end, but at least she got well enough to go back to being a wild possum. Funny thing is, P always seemed to know that she was being helped. She would fuss and growl a bit if I did something horrible to her, like bathing. But that was it. She was also very clean and used a litter box with cat litter and a few dead leaves on top to make it seem "natural."

Miss P is so cute. I love their sweet little faces!
I am amazed that she is so friendly being an adult opossum. I don't think they are as aggressive as people think, it's mostly show.

I love that she ate your fried chicken, she probably thought she hit the jackpot!

I also was really surprised at how clean they are and how they really don't have any sort of body odor. She does however express her scent glands when I potty her and ugh.... We thought she had a urinary tract infection at first because it's green and smells like death. It's amazing what you learn when you have to be that personal with them.

My fiance was really unprepared when I asked him to put his fingers in her pouch to clean it while I was holding her at bath time. They definitely have a pouch lubricant that is a rusty red color and reminds me of betadine.

My mom and I saw a hit opossum circling in the ditch in the middle of Gainesville. I jumped out and threw a towel over it and the poor thing went stiff and "died". I was laughing so hard because I forgot they played 'possum! I kept it in a large, short tupperware bin on my porch and fed watered "her" for two days until she had time to recover. She definitely had some head trauma but I figured if she could get out of the bin she was feeling good enough to go on her own again.