What Possum ?

By now you might be asking, "How do I tell the difference between Brush and Ring tail possums?"

The first difference is the most obvious... it's their tails !

Ginger, Female Juvenile Brush-tail 

In South Australia the Brush tail Possum's tail is all fluffy & bushy and usually dark gray to black, where as the Ring tail has a white or light creamy tip, somewhat like it's been dipped in a paint pot. (There are regional differences and variations)

Both have a bare patch on the underside of the tail to help with grip. 

Cooper and Mini, Juvanile Ring Tails 

Other less obvious differences are the size of an adult Ring-tail is about 1/2 that of an adult Brushy which can get into the 4kg size range (or as a comparison, small dog/large cat size)

The ears of a Ring-tail are more rounded and their faces more mouse like than the Brushy. The eye colour of a Ring-tail is usually lighter brown than the Brushy, which can be almost black and Ring-tails generally have a dark nose, whereas the Brushy has a pink tip. Both have fur that ranges from mid to dark gray over cream to white base, but again (as these photo's show, there are many variations)

Mini, Female Ringtail showing colouration and facial features.

Star & Luna, Brush-tails showing different colouration & facial features.

Then again... as a baby, Pinkies (fur less) or slightly furred possums look a lot like a baby macropod (Kangaroo, Wallaby etc)

Baby Brush-tail.

Setting up a cage for Possums

As with any wild animal where there’s a intent to keep it in captivity the common consensus is that the accommodation needs to be practical, but also approximate the natural environ where the animal is normally found.

 

Ok, cages or aviaries are not at all natural places for possums, but that’s part of the practical side… the idea is to provide a ‘jungle gym’ of branches etc so the possums can learn to balance, jump, and explore the strengths of branches etc without harm, in a way that allows us to get in and extract them for treatment, to clean up and provide food & water.

Recreating this environment:

Morialta National Park, South Australia

In this cage:

Larger cage can be split into 2x small ones.

 After several attempts we feel that we’ve achieved a fair approximation in both our indoor cages and the aviaries outside.

Converted shed/Aviary mk1 showing branches and ropes. water bottles for branches of leaves.

In the wild possums utilize drays [nests built from leaves and twigs] in the top layers of a tree, or inhabit hollows in the tree itself [often created when branches have dropped off during storms or drought]

Tree hollows: ideal possum homes

Home made Dray [home for 2x happy Ring Tail possums] with a small standard box on shelf to the right

As a baby, our possums have to learn how to transition from branch to nest for themselves, normally they would learn from the safety of their mum’s back. We have found a few days with their possum box on or just off the floor prevents injury from the inevitable ‘spill’ as they scrabble in and out. A few days later the box is securely fitted to the side of the cage approximately 20cm off the ground with access to a branch directly outside the entrance. After a couple of weeks the box is lifted to near the top of the cage.

1st level

 

The cage base is normally the same material as the sides so a little ‘debris’ loose leaves and twigs make it more natural.

An old blue or green sheet draped around the back & sides of the cage can give the possum some sense of security, but also keeps direct sun off the cage, stops possum wee and poo from splashing onto walls etc.

At first a container for their formula is positioned near a branch, this is removed as they are weaned off milk. In care, possums will rarely take a drink of water unless it’s extremely hot, in the wild we believe it’s even rarer instead they get their moisture from the leaves [and fruit] they eat, however it is a lawful requirement for water to be available for any captive animal so be prepared to change the water daily as the container is an ideal place to wee and poo!!

Several bottles of water are hung and wired in place around the cage to allow ‘live’ branches of leaves to be presented to the possums in an almost natural way. This helps them develop their stretching as well as searching instincts. These branches will last overnight if put in water or only a few hours if not.

2x Ring tail possums enjoy fresh leaves.

There are a couple of trains of thought regarding supplementing a possum’s diet. Most agree that because of the limited capacity of a carer to source leaves and the restrictive size of a cage compared to a possum’s normal ‘range’ we cannot completely fulfill a possum's dietary needs unless we supplement the natural leaves with ‘human prepared’ foods like pieces of apple, melon, sweet potato, kiwi fruit, spinach, silver beet, almonds etc.

Some carers will place all the fruit into a bowl in the cage or aviary, we prefer to make the possums exercise their senses and work for the food. By using the branches, twigs or bird feeder spikes, we hang and place the fruit in different places around the cage/aviary making a 'treasure hunt' for the possums each night..

Our possums are also hand fed a few mealworms every few days as an added ‘treat’ once they’re old enough to be relocated outside in an aviary. We feel that hand feeding should be kept to a minimum to prevent imprinting or overly domesticating the animal, however I've found the mealworms hard to present any other way.

The basics of setting up an aviary is no different except everything is larger or there’s more of it. As the possum box will also be bigger generally a shelf is used instead of damaging the aviary by fixing the box to the walls.

The biggest difference is cost… in Australia you can get a decent size cage for upwards of $150 but a custom made aviary big enough to house possums will cost in excess of Australian $700-800. We found a standard shed will cost $300-400 so a handyman [or handy-lady] could easily convert the shed for $100-150. (which is what I did… twice!)

converted shed/aviary mk2.

* Please note this blog conveys the author's ideas and opinions only, another carer may have found contrary things work well for them. We cannot say who would be most correct, however our possums have all been fit and healthy when passed onto carers with larger aviaries for longer term care, so what we're doing cannot be too wrong. We are constantly open to new ideas and ways of improving the orphaned possum's chances of survival.