Crèche your possums

Crècheing both Ring-tails and Brush-tails is important for their well being and improves their chances of survival. They become less reliant on their human mum at an earlier age than without a buddy, their natural instincts seem to develop much quicker, they are also less likely to be stressed and are generally much happier with a possum friend to cuddle up to and keep them company.

Star came to us as at 300gms, having just lost her mum in an animal attack and was extremely nervous. She would barely feed and flinched at the slightest noise or movement. However when crèched with Luna who was raised by us from 160gms, they immediately formed a strong bond and if Star was ever startled or distressed, Luna would make a bee-line to her and would comfort and protect her. They have since moved on to an outdoor area and are often still seen together happily eating leaves and climbing trees.

Crècheing has also helped us rehabilitate possums that may not have made it on their own. For example: Little Blink was born with one eye* and abandoned at 80grams. She was also injured and had stitches to her back leg, which restricted her movement. We weren’t sure that she was going to develop her balance, coordination and climbing skills, and half expected to have to make the hard decision. But we were lucky to find her a buddy when she was still less than 400g.

After a bit of physio from her human mum, to help stretch out and strengthen her back leg and lots of encouragement and learning and developing her skills by playing chasing games with a very healthy and energetic little boy (TJ), she can now move more freely and is a happy and healthy possum. She is still a little uncoordinated at times, but when seen playing with TJ we are happy knowing she has a bright future. 

Brush-tails can be a little harder to crèche than Ring-tails especially the male / female mix. Ring-tails will more instinctively cling to each other as babies, provided they are not too stressed and scared. While many Brush-tails will take to their new buddy without incident, we have had several sets whose initial instinct was a little stand offish, more an expression of ‘who are you’ and ‘what are you doing in my pouch’ than anything else. Often it starts with a little Mexican stand-off, staring at each other then lots of remonstrating, chirps and squawks, a little pushing and shoving and maybe even a ear bite, each trying to push the other out of the pouch. But they soon learn to tolerate someone else in their space, they learn to love each other and are happy with a friend to play with. 

It can take a few sessions of introducing them and then spending time holding the possums in the pouch together, either trying to stop them running away or being a mediator when they start to have spats, but the persistence is well worth the time. We have found the younger they are crèched the easier it is, as they are less like to have started to claim their territory.

It is quite satisfying to watch a pair of happy little Brush-tails playing a game of ‘tag you're it’ around an aviary. Although I am not sure the neighbours would agree when the game gets a little boisterous, with two possums bouncing around the aviary at full speed creating an awful noise at 2am. 

In the last year alone, we have successfully crèched 4 pairs of Brush-tails, three male / female pairs [including TJ & Blink] and one female / female pair [Star & Luna], along with four pairs of the much easier Ring-tails. 

* Please note that on veterinary advice a possum born with one eye has a good chance of developing the skills to cope with limited sight. This may not be the case with every possum, especially with an older one that loses its sight due to injury. Please always seek the advice of a vet or discuss the case with a Possum coordinator, to ensure the best interests of the possum and its well being are considered.
Acknowledgement: This article written by Mrs Noah.