Cage Ideas
For Short-Tailed Opossums (STO)
By Molly Kalafut
This cage setup is for my one short-tailed opossum, showing connected CritterTrail 3, CritterTrail Revolutions and 10 gallon aquarium tank. The CritterTrail tubes make it easy to rearrange and change, plus gives him more room for exploring, playing, running, climbing and hiding.
At Least 20 Gallons
Many websites say 10 gallons is the minimum cage size for short-tailed opossums but I firmly believe it is too small for an adult STO. There is barely enough room in a 10 gallon tank for nesting area, food, water and litter box, much less an exercise wheel and climbing materials. The poor opossum is forced to make his bathroom either close to his food, or close to his nest. Most pet owners - and indeed most hobby breeders - use at least a 20 gallon long tank and even up to 100 gallons.
CritterTrail (My Favorite!)
The Crittertrail Three is a great deal with an easy-access nesting area, three solid platform levels that are safe for short-tailed opossum feet, climbable wires and tubes, built-in wheel and included water bottle and food dish. It is reasonably priced, attractive to look at and can be connected by tubes to other cages for an expanded environment. It also provides a lot more room for food, water and litter dishes, climbing materials and toys than a 10 gallon tank. My short tail opossum also enjoys the CritterTrail Revolution, which is a cage and an exercise wheel. While it is a good add-on accessory to the CritterTrail3 cage, the CritterTrail Revolution is too small and cramped to be used as the only cage.
Cage Location
Keep the cage in a warm and generally quiet place out of direct sunlight and away from drafts. While many keep their short-tailed opossum in wide open areas such as kitchens, living rooms or dens, some owners try to keep the STO in rooms that have a door that closes. This can help keep the environment quiet, warm and undisrupted for the short tail opossums plus contains them in the room in case of an escape.
While some short-tailed opossums are curious about cats and dogs or ignore them, some are disturbed by them. Cats sitting near the STO's cage and staring at them can be a very distressing predator intimidation tactic. Some STO become stressed and aggressive if they are constantly smelling animals that prey on them (like snakes), or animals they consider food (like rodents).
Escape-Proofing
While some short-tailed opossums are content to stay in their cage even if the door is left wide open, others are notorious escape artists and find ways to escape that confound their owners. Keep tight lids on tanks and aquariums; preferably ones that lock into place or put heavy weights on top. Wire cages should be checked for any STO-sized openings, plus all doorways locked into place when closed. Some owners use twist-ties as a preventative measure. STO are able to leap and climb to the top of cages easily, plus some can scale smooth sided glass walls using their suction-cup like feet.
Check Out STO Owner Cage Pictures
Check out the STO Yahoo! Group's cage page for pictures and ideas of cage environments to buy or make.
The picture shows the habitat for my one short-tailed opossum. On the far left is a "mist" waterfall. The CritterTrail 3 connects to a CritterTrail Revolutions (the entire cage is a giant wheel) connected to a 10 gallon tank with an under-tank Repti-Therm heater and reptile waterfall, and then on the far right (seen below) it is connected to a "lazy lookout" and "lookout tower".
The entire setup has 3 different types of water bottles, 2 dry-food dispensers (the yellow squares on the left - one for Eukanuba chicken & rice cat food and one for Eukanuba lamb & rice cat food), a litter box, 2 kinds of running wheels, ladders, branches, hammock, log for hiding, two nest box areas and concealing vines.
