• ickplant@lemmy.worldOPM
      19·
      12 days ago

      We’ve had that asked here before, and while I never had a pet opossum, my research leads me to believe they make great pets once domesticated tamed. Of course, if you raise one from when they are a baby, it will be the best in terms of being a pet.

      In videos I’ve watched, they are gentle, curious, and affectionate.

      One sad thing about them is they don’t live long. 3-4 years in captivity.

      EDIT: Here is a short video where a lady who rescued a baby opossum talks about living with him: https://youtu.be/6VW73ZFZiLI

      • Zetta@mander.xyz
        13·
        12 days ago

        Isn’t that sad, that their lifespan is so short. One of the (many) reasons I’m a cat person over dogs is because of how much longer cats generally live.

        • ickplant@lemmy.worldOPM
          13·
          12 days ago

          It is very sad.

          My husband and I used to adopt older dogs from shelters and give them a few good years. They don’t get adopted much, people want young dogs and don’t want to spend a lot on vet bills.

          Anyway, we had 3 dogs die about 6 months apart, all were 13 years old. It’s like when Midnight went, Waldo and Dave said “it’s time to be with our brother” and decided to go too.

          It was really tough. We adopted two more older dogs after that. And then my teenage son begged us to take a break because it was emotionally hard.

          Anyway, now we adopted two young ones, and they are full of life and super active. Very different from our grey muzzles.

          When my son moves out, we will go back to adopting old souls, but it’s not for the faint hearted.

          • tpyo@lemmy.world
            4·
            12 days ago

            That is such a kind thing to do. They deserve love, too, just as much as a puppy. It’s very sad to see the old ones passed over time and time again. Thank you

        • dkppunk@piefed.socialEnglish
          4·
          12 days ago

          I had rats that I loved but I stopped keeping them as pets because of their short life span. Now I have bunnies who average 8-12 years. My bun who passed away last year was a few weeks shy of 13 years old.

      • Tar_Alcaran@sh.itjust.works
        7·
        12 days ago

        they make great pets once domesticated.

        *Tamed.

        Domesticating is a process that involves breeding to select for domestic traits. It’s what we did to cows, dogs, and horses. Somewhat for cats, though to a far lesser degree.

        Taming is teaching an individual animal how to behave (at home). It’s what we generally do with birds, rats, etc.

        When you take a wild animal and work out a way to live in a human house together, that’s taming. If you’re lucky, tame animals will teach their offspring how to be tame too.

    • anon6789@lemmy.world
      14·
      12 days ago

      I find the opossums to be very cute, but they are wild animals. They have a lot of sharp bits on them and climb and hide a lot and are nocturnal. They also have a pretty complex diet. The opossums have the most complex diet of all the animals I’ve taken care of, and it feels like cooking for another person.

      I can’t find a picture of their food prep, but going by memory I fed them chopped fruit, chopped veg, one or 2 eggs scrambled (I mixed the shells crush up in it to make an “omelette”), mealworms, wet dog food, dry cat food soaked in water, and whole dead baby chicks. They all have specific proportion for them to get their macros right.

      I’m looking forward to working with them more this year as I was a bit wary of them last year. I expected them to feel more substantial, but they felt like paper mache, like they’re more hollow than they look. It was really weird and with how uncooperative they were, I was scared of hurting them, so I just kept mostly to the raptors and squirrels.

      If you are curious about them, you still mayyyyy be able to contact your local animal rehab and volunteer for this year. Most will have volunteers coming back in April, as that is the start of the busy season (spring babies!) and you can get to know what these animals are like and what all is involved in there care. You don’t need to have any training to be a clinic volunteer, and you will be taught how to take care of them without having to worry about doing anything wrong. I think it’s an amazing experience and one of the best things I’ve ever done in my life.

      • CADmonkey@lemmy.world
        5·
        12 days ago

        I think it would better for the possums if I were to volunteer rather than trying take care of one myself.

        • anon6789@lemmy.world
          7·
          12 days ago

          I typically avoid animal posts, because I don’t want to get preachy to people. I love all the things ickplant shares and I think it is great all these posts encourage people’s love of animals, but we see so many people hurt or kill wild animals by trying to treat them like a dog or a cat. If you want a wild animal, by all means, volunteer. It’s (technically) free to you, and the animal will be safe and healthy and we always need volunteers. There’s some icky stuff, some sad stuff, but so much more amazing stuff and everyone you will work with is full of love for animals and for making your community a healthier and safer place for all these animals.

          If you or anyone else wants to know anything about being a rescue volunteer, I’m always up for answering any questions!