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An instinct to care for other people and animals
that are in need is something that is found in any
compassionate person, and finding a baby animal
can make people want to take immediate action to
try and help the situation. Baby opossums are also
amazingly cute, whether they are pink and hairless
having just been born, or they are starting to
grow their own fur and are inquisitive about their
surroundings. The natural instinct if you come
across a vulnerable animal is to try and pick it
up and take it home so that you can feed and water
the animal, but is this really the right course of
action?
Why You Shouldn't Feed The Animal
One of the biggest problems with baby animals such
as opossums is that the nutritional content of a
mother's milk is very specific and is designed so
that the baby can digest the nutrients and pass
any waste very easily. Many people will look to
use puppy or kitten milk replacement to try and
feed the animal, but if you find an orphaned
animal it is usually best not to feed it in case
you do more harm than good. Cow's milk is quite
toxic to a baby opossum, so that should certainly
be avoided, while almost everything found in the
domestic home is not able to be passed by a baby
opossum.
We can answer: Should I Hire A Professional Or Remove Opossums Myself?
Try To Reunite The Baby With Its Mother
Although the natural instinct when you find a baby
opossum is to pick it up and to try and keep it
safe, the best steps that you can take is to give
the mother a chance to recover her baby, as it may
have climbed out or fallen out of her pouch. Make
sure that the baby is safe and generally appears
to be healthy and alert, and then back off to a
safe distance to see if the mother returns. If she
hasn't returned after two hours, then you may need
to start taking the right steps to help the
animal.
Find out Why Do Opossums Play Dead?
Getting The Baby Opossum To A Wildlife
Rehabilitator
There are specialist skills required to heal and
raise a baby opossum, and your first step should
be to contact your local veterinarian or your
local wildlife department to find a wildlife
rehabilitator. They will be able to give you
guidelines for any first aid required, and can
then guide you on how to transport the animal to
the rehabilitator.
For more information, you may want to click on one
of these guides that I wrote:
How
much does opossum removal cost? - get the
lowdown on prices.
How
to get rid of opossums - my main opossum
removal info guide.
Example
opossum trapping photographs - get
do-it-yourself ideas.
Opossum
job blog - learn from great examples of
opossum jobs I've done.
Should
I Feed A Baby Opossum I Found?