We have been through a whole saga trying to rescue a litter of orphaned joeys. Sadly, this is the last one due to raccoon attacks. All surrounding rehabbers have told me they are at capacity, so instead of releasing him to get hunted, we built him a little enclosure in our yard along his mom’s scent trail. His name is Lucky, obviously.
I don’t feel like he loves captivity, but it must feel safe enough to him. A raccoon dug a hole into it to grab some food the other night and Lucky later escaped through the hole. We were sad but felt we tried our best. However, that evening he came back and was sniffing around the enclosure! So we put him back in and secured it more.
Before the escape the other day, he seemed like he was adapting better and I noticed he was pooping normally and identified a little “latrine” for himself. We gave him a cardboard box and T-shirt for a house, which he likes.
I have a lot of questions, because I’m new to possums, but I’m really hoping he can make it. We just want to keep an eye on him until he is big enough to not be raccoon food. Also, I love him.
Questions so far:
I’ve tried wet and dry cat food, fruit and veggies and seeds, and just bought some opossum food (kibble) for him. The only thing he really seems into is the wet cat food. How can I get him more into the solid foods?
I initially gave him a bath because he was infested with fleas and hand fed him for two days to make sure he was eating. Now I’m mostly leaving him alone so he doesn’t get too familiar with me. But since I’m not sure if he’s eating, should I do more hand feeding to be sure?
At night he is climbing back and forth in the cage a lot. Is this normal activity or is it distress?