# Short tailed opossum babies



## Henry-flash (Oct 13, 2006)

I've kept this to myself so as not to tempt fate, but now babies eyes have opened I am pleased to be able to share that my pair of STOs have successfully bred for the first time. I collected them back in September and I'm still slightly in shock that they bred at the first attempt having read so often that they are very difficult to breed. It would seem I just struck lucky! 

The female gave birth on the 17th January to 7 babies, unfortunately the next day she had lost 4 and at this point I was expecting none to be reared having read that they rarely rear small litters. I was amazed when day after day the 3 remaining 'jelly beans' were still present and growing rapidly. She began leaving them in the nest after 11 days and they've continued to thrive since. 

Below are some very poor photos.

Day 2, three babies remain:










Day 4:



















Day 11, one can just be seen inside the nest:










3 weeks old:



















I will aim to take a few more up to date photos soon as they have grown quite a lot in the last week.


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## PETERAROBERTSON (Jul 2, 2008)

Nice animals.
Well done on the babys.


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## samurai (Sep 9, 2009)

Congrats, I hope to get one of these guys at some point. Do you know how many babies you have?


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## Henry-flash (Oct 13, 2006)

PETERAROBERTSON said:


> Nice animals.
> Well done on the babys.


Thanks Peter :2thumb:



samurai said:


> Congrats, I hope to get one of these guys at some point. Do you know how many babies you have?


I have three babies. I'm hoping there will be a male amongst them who I can hold back to pair with an unrelated female I have. The other two will be for sale in due course, so long as they continue to do well!


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## Matt Lusty (Aug 20, 2008)

Congrats! Sadly my pair have mated twice but not produced any young  Maybe next time lol.


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## Tarron (May 30, 2010)

Congratulations.

Marsupial 'birth' fascinates me. How something akin to a foetus can be born and crawl up, what must a long trek for a newborn foetus, to the pouch and latch on to a teat for the rest of its development, is amazing.

Also, the evolution of this process fascinates me too.


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## feorag (Jul 31, 2007)

I totally agree - it's fascinating how the babies do that!

I shall enjoy following their development! :2thumb:


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## Henry-flash (Oct 13, 2006)

Thanks all! Marsupials are fascinating full stop in my opinion!

I'm quietly hopeful that my female Parma Wallaby has a joey in pouch at the moment. Watch this space :2thumb:


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## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

I miss my STOs so much!! Awesome little critters!!!

And parmas are number one on my wish list!! :flrt:


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## Henry-flash (Oct 13, 2006)

Amalthea said:


> And parmas are number one on my wish list!! :flrt:


They were top of my list for many years. Fantastic little(ish) things!


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## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

One day..... *dreams*


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## carlycharlie (Jan 16, 2008)

So pleased you got them to breed Peter :no1:

Sadly I lost one of my females last night.......was fine when I went out for dinner with friends & dead on getting home a few hours later 

So far had no luck getting them to breed again...........will have to try my remaining pair later this month. Now have a young single male without a wife :bash:


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## Henry-flash (Oct 13, 2006)

Thanks Ken :2thumb:

Really sorry to hear about your female, that is really sad news. I'd offer you one of these if there were a female amongst them, but I guess they're closely related!


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## carlycharlie (Jan 16, 2008)

Henry-flash said:


> Thanks Ken :2thumb:
> 
> Really sorry to hear about your female, that is really sad news. I'd offer you one of these if there were a female amongst them, but I guess they're closely related!


The female I lost was mum of one of the pair you had...........from the older babies/first litter last year (think you had a male from that lot). The females parents are still doing ok, but then again so was this female! She was my fave STO & was uber friendly............miss her loads already.


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## Henry-flash (Oct 13, 2006)

My male is incredibly friendly, my female not so much:lol2: I can forgive her after producing these little beasties though!

They're starting to get adventurous now. I caught one of them trying to leave the nest when mum came out to feed this evening:


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## freemar (Jul 23, 2011)

Is anyone selling any STO's desperate to get one!

Thanks


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## goldbelly (Mar 19, 2012)

freemar said:


> Is anyone selling any STO's desperate to get one!
> 
> Thanks


 
Same hahaha! Really want one


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## Amee (Jul 14, 2012)

*STOs*

Hello,
Do you think you'll have any more STOs in the near future?


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## Ophexis (Feb 19, 2010)

This thread is over 2 years old and the OP hasn't posted anything in nearly 4 months. I think you might be waiting for a response for a while!


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