Infant Opossums

Feeding infant opossums is a very tricky process, as they need to be tube fed. Here is Crystal Faye, Animal Care Coordinator and Director, feeding an infant opossum. Baby opossums can’t nurse or suckle from their mom. Mom has something like feeding tubes instead of teats, so experienced wildlife rehabbers like Crystal replicate the process by tube feeding.

If you should see an opossum on the side of the road, and it appears dead, if it is safe to do so, please stop to look anyway. Even though Mom may have died, the babies (joeys) in her pouch could be alive. It only takes a minute and you could save many opossum lives!

Did you know? Opossums are North America’s only marsupial?

Why do we want opossums? They eat can eat up to 4,000 ticks in one week!

Note how incredibly tiny this baby is!

Infant Opossums