# Meet Smudge the virginia opossum :)



## suity (Aug 4, 2009)

Hey everyone  this week I picked up a young virginia opossum. He's the cutest little guy ever and I've called him Smudge. He's only eight weeks old so he's still tiny and living in a large dog crate right now. Hopefully when I have him litter trained he'll be free roaming the house without any sort of cage.

Here's a few pics  he's very tiny but he's settling in so well! He loves to explore the house, but he also loves to cuddle 























































I got him this big teddy as it's the same size and shape as his mum. he likes to cuddle up to it while he's asleep 









Hope you enjoyed the pics. Big thanks to byglady as she gave me lots of good advice before I brought him home .


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## NaomiR (Jan 26, 2009)

gosh he's LOVELY I want him :2thumb:


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## carlycharlie (Jan 16, 2008)

Stunning & defo on my wish list :2thumb:


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

Gorgeous baby:flrt:


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## animalmadfliss (May 23, 2010)

OMG! I need to stop looking at these posts, its making me want more and more animals.
So cute.


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## Pobie (Apr 26, 2010)

sooo cute


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## pop (Mar 4, 2010)

He is so cute!:flrt: 

How big do they grow?


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## Denise44 (Sep 28, 2008)

*Cutie pie*

he is MEGA CUTE he has the prettiest face, i love him:2thumb:


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## goodwin1234 (Mar 23, 2008)

No way! That is the cutest thing i've ever seen haha He looks a big scruffy rat :Na_Na_Na_Na:

So whats the story behind him? Was he an orphan or are these generally kept as pets?


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## Katnsean (May 9, 2010)

:flrt::flrt::flrt::flrt::flrt::flrt: enough said x

P.s:flrt:


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## Cookaaaaay (Mar 8, 2009)

Beautiful  :mf_dribble:


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## jennie1981 (Aug 17, 2009)

awww how cute


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## HABU (Mar 21, 2007)

possums... man i see 10 a day here at least... road kill

they are everywhere... we americans just shake our heads and i get funny looks around here when i tell people that my friends in the uk keep them as pets...

but i think it's cool...

people here do occasionally keep ***** and skunks... but i've never heard of them as pets here...

those possums there are the luckiest ones in the world...

wacky critters... yours is very cute... how can anyone hate that face?:2thumb:


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## Cillah (Mar 28, 2010)

Awwh how cute !


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## Nix (Jan 23, 2008)

What a little cutie! Love the name too, smudge suits him/her (I missed that bit) cause because he/she is so scruffy. Awesome!


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## suity (Aug 4, 2009)

Aw thanks guys, I'm glad you like him !! He's quickly becoming a favourite in my house !!

They do grow quite quickly, they get to the size of an average house cat and I'm expecting him to be fully grown definitely within 9 months or so, maybe sooner!

As you say, habu, they're considered vermin in America. I think that's just as mad as they probably think I am for keeping one as a pet haha ! I think they can make the perfect pet and I don't understand why they aren't kept more often. They're friendly and easily domesticated, they have been living alongside humans for thousands of years and tend to settle into the home environment very well, they're docile, easily litter trained, clean, don't smell, non-destructive... Not to mention they're super cute haha! I know he's only been here a week, but I can't see any negatives to him and can't imagine there ever will be any.

The reason I got him is firstly because it's a species that has fascinated me for years, and secondly because I do animal education shows for kids here in Ireland. I love getting young people as excited about nature as I am, and I took him along for a talk yesterday and everyone fell in love with him, and he even seemed to love the attention.

Hopefully I answered all the questions, if there are any more please ask !


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## LiveYourLife (Jun 11, 2009)

He is very cute :flrt:

Are there v.o's readily available from breeders? How much did he cost you?

Have been reading up on care for these guys & the advice would be appreciated! Wont be getting one for a few months once I have thoroughly researched though :blush:


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## carlycharlie (Jan 16, 2008)

suity said:


> Hopefully I answered all the questions, if there are any more please ask !


 
Here's an easy question for you - how old is he? :lol2:


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

suity said:


> Hey everyone  this week I picked up a young virginia opossum. He's the cutest little guy ever and I've called him Smudge. *He's only eight weeks old* so he's still tiny and living in a large dog crate right now. Hopefully when I have him litter trained he'll be free roaming the house without any sort of cage.
> 
> Here's a few pics  he's very tiny but he's settling in so well! He loves to explore the house, but he also loves to cuddle
> 
> ...





carlycharlie said:


> Here's an easy question for you -* how old is he?* :lol2:


 

Come along Ken pay attention:whistling2::lol2:
We now have 3 happy quakers in our sanctuary aviary:flrt:


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## carlycharlie (Jan 16, 2008)

Shell195 said:


> Come along Ken pay attention:whistling2::lol2:
> We now have 3 happy quakers in our sanctuary aviary:flrt:


OK OK...........been up all night with a poorly prairie dog :blush: lack of sleep is kicking in & just taken some yeast tablets to ease the tiredness to help me get through the next nightly phase of round the clock care :gasp:

Glad the Quakers hare settling in well :2thumb:


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## Emsylove (Mar 16, 2009)

do they get on with dogs? 
could they live in my bedroom?
can they be left at home whilst im at school?

sorry about all the questoins me and my brother are plotting!:whip:


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## suity (Aug 4, 2009)

LiveYourLife said:


> He is very cute :flrt:
> 
> Are there v.o's readily available from breeders? How much did he cost you?
> 
> Have been reading up on care for these guys & the advice would be appreciated! Wont be getting one for a few months once I have thoroughly researched though :blush:


This little guy took me a very long time to find!! I've been searching for about two years for a baby, I came across a few but they were mostly non tame adults. They are about, but there's not many people breeding them. Your best chance is to put a wanted ad in the exotic sale section, that's how I found this guy's breeder. They usually go for anything between £300 and £500. I'm hoping to find him a girlfriend soon for when he's bigger 

What other advice would you like?  their diets aren't too difficult, plenty of veg, a little bit of fruit, and a little bit of protein. But like sugar gliders you have to make sure they get enough calcium. So far I can't get smudge to eat veg, only soft fruits, which will not be healthy for him longterm so tomorrow I'll try him with a big selection to see what I can get him to eat.

And to the poster above me . They are such docile creatures, so as long as they are introduced from a young age and it's done safely there shouldn't be a problem. But every animal is different. Personally i'd be more worried about the dog.
A bedroom would probably be okay but when he's fully grown more space would not hurt. I'm hoping to be able to give smudge the run of the house while I'm home and when he's a bit bigger. And some time outside would probably be benificial also.
They will sleep most of the day anyway, so should be fine while you're at school. Remember to consider if you want to go to uni or not though and who would look after him if you did... They might frown upon you keeping a possum in your dorm haha .

The best people to ask on their care are byglady or stubeanz. I only have one week experience, they have much longer!! But if you have any more questions I'll try my best.

Got some pics of smudge's first time outside in the garden today, he seemed to love it!! Will post them here soon


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## suity (Aug 4, 2009)

Smudge's little day out in the garden, he seemed to love it


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## chappers (Apr 5, 2009)

great little animal, i remember Furless friends in Derry used to get them in all the time before the closed, the owner even had one himself as a pet at home, along with a mass of other random mammals. lol


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## Stacey010884 (Mar 7, 2009)

He's gorgeous!!! Congratulations on your baby boy! Such a smashing little lad! I love the photo of him on the arm of the couch! <3


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## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

Am so jealous!!! This is a critter I've wanted for a very long time (I grew up in the US and saw them wild... And as road kill... regularly)!!


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## kellystewart (May 11, 2010)

He is just too cute...I would really love one of these guys


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## Pinkchi (Nov 23, 2009)

Oh my goodness he is gorgeous!

I want one!


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## Emsylove (Mar 16, 2009)

cuuuuuuuuuuute
how long do they live


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## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

They're relatively short lived  Only about 4 years or so


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## kwoods (Apr 9, 2010)

Soooooo Cute! 
I want one!
Congrats on your new baby. Looks like you are going to have lots of fun!
I'm very jealous!! :mrgreen:


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## stubeanz (Mar 28, 2007)

congrats on the little one i currently looking for a couple of males and this the first breeding ive heard from this year : victory:
just like suity says you need to watch their calcium/phosphate levels as like sugar gliders they can get metabolic bone disease!
stu


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## xvickyx (Jul 21, 2009)

Awwww he is so cute


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