No matter how cute Pennsylvania opossums are, it is illegal to keep them as pets. You might want to know more about them because you might have seen an abandoned baby opossum inside your house. They might look very helpless and your natural instinct may tell you to take care of them. You might be looking for “ways to take care baby opossums” or “the right diet for baby opossums” but it’s not going to work.



What’s next?
The next best course of action is to contact a wildlife rehabilitation center and let them take care of the baby for you. You might want to keep them as pets and you are looking for an excuse to keep them. Keep in mind that opossums are wild animals. They can take care of themselves when they are about 6 weeks old.

Short Life Spans
Scranton opossums can survive for as long as 2-3 years while in the wild. If they are in captivity, they might live twice as long they have received the proper care and diet from a qualified keeper. However, they can become ill from a limited diet, exercise and the stress of captivity. You can save yourself from a heartbreaking experience by investing in a good dog or cat.

What They Eat
Scranton opossums love the variety in a meal. They are able to survive by eating small snails, insects, garden pests, grasses, and roadkills. It might be difficult for you to hunt insects every day on a large scale. If you are handling baby opossums, you need a special formula for their milk. Cow’s milk or the milk that you get from your local dairy is not compatible with them. You might also need to visit a veterinarian twice a week in order to check the health of the baby opossums. Any caring or maternal instinct that you might have should be suppressed because they don’t need human care.

Diseases
While in captivity, opossums can develop urinary tract infection or genital diseases. Opossums become obese and suffer from cataracts when they are kept as pets. If the opossums have lived on the wild for a while, they might miss their activities and they might have done a lot of running or climbing trees. If the opossums are kept in a cage for sanitary reasons, their body movements might deteriorate fast. Even if you go to a qualified veterinarian who can address, the opossums’ health problems, you might just be wasting money because they only have short life spans.

What to Do?
When you find an abandoned opossum, and if it is in good health, you can try to relocate it. The new place should be more than 10 kilometers from your house. You can also call a pest control company to get rid of the opossums for you. If the opossum is really sick, contact a vet and see what other options you have in taking care of it. However, no matter how cute and furry they may look, don’t keep them as a pet as it’s not well worth the investment.

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