Short-Tailed Opossum Diets

What Owners Feed Their STO

"What do you feed your short-tailed opossum?" That's one of the most frequently asked question to the Short-Tailed Opossum Yahoo! Group. This is a compilation of quotes about food and diet information from group members.

Diet FAQ Poll

CONNIE_CRCA

ExoticPets - http://www.members.shaw.ca/exoticpets

What kind of food you feed them (dry, wet, live)?

Eukanuba cat food, dry ...fruits, vegetables and boiled eggs, mealworms, crickets

How often?

Dry food is left in the cage at all times ,,and they don't tend to overeat. They have fruit every day, vegetable every day or every second day mealworms a couple every second day, crickets sporadically

Favorites?

Mealworms, oranges, apples, blueberries, apricot and peach baby food, yams, peas

Dislikes?

Avocado, cantaloupe, strawberries

Treats?

Canned crickets, chicken, though not all like it

Mommy STOs?

I increase the eggs and mealworms for protein

Baby STO?

Fruit and vegetable baby foods or I blend apples etc for them...this is when they are first eating. afterwards I add dry cat food, boiled eggs and mealworms. boiled eggs seem to be a huge favourite as well as blueberry baby food. mealworms are left til the last to introduce them to.

DRAGONTMR1

What kind of food you feed them (dry, wet, live)?

Nougat gets: -dry food consisting of Totally ferret diet mixed with Eukanuba kitten (I have a ferret, too.. can you tell?). -fresh food includes: boiled whole egg (LOVES), scrambled eggs, papaya, mango (LOVES mango), banana (LOVES), kiwi, star fruit (iffy on this, but my Gambian loves it, so he'll get some when I give it to Matisse), pear, apple (doesn't like much), various other fruits, some dark green veggies but he doesn't touch them anyway. -live food: Mealworms, superworms, crickets, silk worms. I can't bring myself to ever giving him pinkies, because I have hand raised baby orphaned mice and rats many times in my life... I'm a strict rodent person as well. I love my rats... heck, I can't even feed him cockroaches, because I keep exotic roaches as pets, as well! I have Madagascar hissing roaches and a colony of lobster roaches that I consider just as much of a pet as my STO.. I handle them all the time, too. -canned food: baby food of different types, sometimes if I'm eating a fruit cup I'll give him the rest of it, but not often at all because of all the added sugars inside. Also, canned mealworms and crickets. Sometimes canned kitten food or ferret food.

How often?

Dry diet is always available. egg is offered nightly (sometimes every other night) as are live. 2-3 different types of fruit or mixed with baby food is offered nightly as well.

Favorites?

Mango, banana, definitely loves silk worms and superworms over the other insects. He'll usually just play around with the cricket.. poor thing.

Dislikes?

He doesn't really like the kibble, which is why sometimes I'll go a day without giving him extra food, just to see if he'll eat it. doesn't work though.. he WILL eat it, just not as much as I think he should.. favoring the fresh over it. Also, he hates veggies.. heh. OH and the harder to bite into fruits, like apple and (with skin still on) grapes.

Treats?

Live food is usually considered a treat, and only really given one to three a night, or every other night. He'll come rushing to me nightly, though.. as you can tell, LOL. My boy seems to like mushy over hard. warm over cold. moving over not-moving. fresh over dry.

HYJINXANNIE

What kind of food you feed them (dry, wet, live)?

A combo of dry kibble (75% MAZURI Insectivore Diet with 25% IAMS Kitten Food), fresh (cooked & raw), jarred & live.

How often?

Kibble free choice. An evening "supper dish" of a changing variety, which can include: raw hamburger, cooked chicken, boiled egg, fresh avocado, various fruits & veggie flavors of baby foods, applesauce. Live crickets - about 5 large weekly. Live mealworms - about 10 weekly. Live superworms - one or two weekly.

Favorites?

The live foods are so appreciated and the only food that they grab for before the live - is fresh avocado!! They also like applesauce, boiled egg & meats like cooked chicken & raw hamburger.

Dislikes?

Not fond of any fresh fruits or vegetables - except for the avocado. They did enjoy fresh figs - but I can't find them too often. I have tried chopping up a vast variety of fresh fruits - from bananas to mangoes to papaya to kiwi to pomegranates and they turn up their pointy little noses! They act like have NO teeth instead of 50! ...or they're too lazy to chew!

Treats?

Freeze-dried crickets. Haven't tried the mealworms.

What do you feed mommy STO?

I increase their protein prior to breeding and continue with higher protein (egg & fresh meat) during pregnancy & after giving birth. I also add about a ML or two of Half & Half while they are nursing.

What do you feed baby STO?

I wean the babies with applesauce in one dish and a combo of MAZURI Insectivore Diet soaked in Half & Half in the other dish. I continue with both till they are about 8 weeks old....adding other items slowly to introduce them to fresh meats, eggs and baby foods. I generally wait till about 3 months old before I offer them mealworms or crickets.

CRITTERSCI1

What kind of food you feed them (dry, wet, live)?

DRY KIBBLE: I leave a bowl of dry kibble in the cage for my STO's at all times and free choice. (Dry kibble consisting of Spike's Delight Premium Hedgehog Diet Mazuri Insectivore Diet and Mink Gro-Fur/ Select Diet

I have tried Iams kitten food with mine but they wouldn't touch it. I even tried mixing it with their regular food and they ate around it.

BABY FOOD: My STO's love the apple-blueberry and the Hawaiian Delight as far as fruity things go. Haven't tried them on fresh fruit though. Sweet potatoes are a big winner with my male STO but my female STO would rather poop on it that to eat it. However my female loves pears while my male hates it. Baby food is given every other day, free choice.

PINKIES: I have not given them any yet to find out.

INSECTS: Crickets, mealworms and the occasional Madagascar Hissing Cockroach from the pet store are always big favorites of my STO's. You are probably wondering what the heck is a MHC and why do you decide to try them?! We sell the MHC's where I work and they were put on sale because they kept multiplying quickly...I got curious and wanted to see if they would eat them. If they didn't I could return them with my receipt. Surprise, surprise!! They loved them! They hunted the nasty little MHC's down like undercover FBI agents! It was pretty funny to see! I like to feed them insects three times a week.

What do you feed mommy STO?

I haven't let my STO's go on a possum date yet, so I haven't gotten that far yet. I'm still enjoying them as pets! :-)

What do you feed baby STO?

Well, I still consider my STO's babies even though Ben, my male is going to be a year old this spring. They will always be my babies and I haven't even thought of them making their own babies yet...So I will not reply to this part yet. :-)

Treats?

On occasion besides the MHC's, I like to give my STO's yogurt. They don't seem to care what flavor it is other than as long as "Mommy" is eating it, we want to eat it to. Hehehe!!! (I mainly have black cherry or strawberry banana yogurt.)

JAMIYA0427

Let's see, what I feed Berry. He has two food bowls. One always contains a small amount of Science Diet kitten food. He doesn't eat much.

The other bowl contains one of the following: approx. 15 wax worms (twice weekly) hard boiled egg (about half an egg when I have some - once a week usually) baby food - favorites are applesauce/pear/banana mixture, sweet potatoes, chicken (or turkey), beef. He used to eat veggie/turkey mix but not anymore.

He will no longer eat fresh fruit (used to eat soft bananas and pears). Never liked apple, grapes, kiwi, peaches.

Other Comments About Food and Diet

I feed mine applesauce, dry cat food, dried fruit pieces, yogurt, and crickets (they LOVE crickets!)

bmossotti, 02/24/2004

"I bought her Short Tailed opossum food but she doesn't seem to be eating it... She loves Meal worms & dry cat food."

buzzworm, 10/03/2003

"Definitely try the meat baby foods... Monster likes the turkey kind better than the beef kind."

coldstarr9, 02/26/2004

"My little Stitch is a very picky eater, and I find he likes Kaytee Ferret Food available in his cage all the time. They are actually quite moist as dry pellet foods go, and the same general nutritional needs apply to STOs as ferrets. I find the very favorite protein sources of my guy is hard-boiled egg yolks and feisty crickets! He loves to chase them down."

Diane_Deignan, 04/29/2004

"She is a very picky eater, so I'm always glad to get suggestions from people who also have "picky" eaters. I have recently found that my STO likes those freeze dried liver treats made for dogs. I find the ones made by Fosters and Smith to be the best. They break up easily and it's an easy way to give them that extra protein. My STO absolutely hates the Brisky STO pelleted food, so I have been trying different dry cat foods, etc. to see what she will actually eat."

dobbelusic99, 04/28/2004

"We feed our opossums a mix of dry foods including Mazuri's Insectivore Diet, Spike's Delite, and Milk Specialties Mink Gro-Fur (also known as Select Diet). Our breeding females also get a frozen (thawed) pinkie every week and everyone gets 3-6 frozen mealworms or crickets every day. They also get some type of blended fruit. Either applesauce or applesauce and bananas or applesauce and peaches.

The baby opossums like the blended fruit better than chopped fresh fruit so everyone gets the blended fruit."

gaildick, 05/04/2003

"My STOs only eat baby food and alive insects. They refuse all the dry-foods I offer them."

griesi_79, 03/25/2004

My STOs get Crickets or Mealworms about 4 times a week (not everyday - I don't want them to become picky). When I buy crickets I'll usually buy 24 and give Maya and Opie each 12. Now that I have the babies, I'm also having to buy much smaller crickets for them and can't really regulate how many they get since they tumble all over each other racing for the treat! With mealworms, I'll give them each a fairly huge handful. Maya eats hers out of a dish and Opie sits on my hand and will eat them endlessly if I let him.

herpgirl2003, 03/27/2003

My Dewey is a real live insect lover. I give him 20-24 large crickets/weekly (all at once when I do my weekly pet shopping as those critters reek to keep around...lol). I also give him about 4-6 superworms weekly or 20 mealworms. On occasion I offer him the beetle phase of the mealworms I raise. He loves to crunch them. In the summertime, he has had live grasshoppers, moths & earthworms. I leave a crock of Iams Kitten food in the tank at all times.

Each evening I make up a "supper dish"...trying to vary it a tad daily but the 'staples' generally are: boiled egg (he prefers the yolk), fresh avocado (sometimes even goes for it BEFORE the worms!!), applesauce, either cooked ground turkey, chicken, or beef. I have also offered raw ground beef & he seems to prefer that to the cooked. I try all kinds of fresh fruits/veggies - - generally all of which he turns up his pointy nose at. He does like fresh fig though..... He loves baby foods: banana, banana & strawberry, banana & pear, etc. He will also eat the chicken & veggies but not any other of the meats like turkey, beef, ham w/veggies.

hyjinxannie, 12/02/2004

"He eats kitten food, and loves his wax worms, which we give about every 4 days or so (about a dozen worms - they're pretty small). He used to eat bananas and pears, but he hasn't eaten them much lately. He will eat hard boiled egg, especially the yolk (although I have only given it to him a few times, as a treat). He doesn't like any of the hedgehog food I have tried."

jamiya0727, 05/18/2003

"...As a fellow VERY busy mom I've found our STO to be the easiest little guy to feed. I give him pelleted kitten food and baby food and wax worms. Kitten food is always available in one bowl. The baby food I pour into his other bowl and refrigerate the rest for later. I alternate between fruit, veggies, and meat (or some combination thereof). Wax worms I give him a couple times a week. When I have the chance, I give him part of a boiled egg, chopped up. This works much better than trying to keep fresh fruit on hand - he ate so little of it that the rest would go to waste, and he didn't like the same things my kids did anyway. In fact, after a while he really wouldn't eat ANY fresh fruit, even the things he used to like. Baby food has been a godsend - and it's cheap, too!"

jamiya0427, 09/23/2003

"I feed my STO Spike's Hedgehog diet as the dry staple food always available. Also he gets mealworms every night. And every night he gets one or two items out of this list:

Tuna fish {in water}
Applesauce
Baby food
Banana
Strawberry
Carrots

I've tried salad veggies with him but he didn't like it. He only took a couple bites out of the tomato and left it."

lizzyrd, 05/14/2003

"I feed her Totally Ferret Diet for Young Ferrets. I supplement this with insects like crickets, waxworms, and fruit."

Skadiwolf, 02/24/2004

But as for diet, I have been feeding my possums Brisky's Short-tailed Possum diet with much success. I supplement with live food (crickets, waxworms, etc.) at least once a week. As for fruit, my possums love honeydew melon, watermelon, and apples. I also top their food with Bugs 'n Berries for an occasional treat. I'm an advocate for formulated diets, but it's also important to have variety for their own entertainment and enrichment."

socksylady, 09/17/2003

"Baby food is a good substitute for fresh fruits, which are a great supplement to their diet (mine especially love apples). However, in the wild, they are mainly insectivores and require plenty of protein. Hence the suggestion for kitten and ferret food (high protein). These are good, and my possums love them, but I personally prefer to use these on occasion instead of everyday, opting for an insectivore specific diet for everyday feeding (hedgehog food, Brisky's STO diet, etc.). I usually feed live food once or twice a week, depending on how often I get to the pet store to buy it. Aside from providing the much needed protein, live food also provides them with another source of water which is very important. I do feed fresh fruits to my STOs at least once or twice a week, but have not tried any veggies.

Personally, I think the best thing to do regarding diets is look at what they need and how often, and then tailor it to what works best for you. I believe variety is important not only for their diet, but for the animal's enrichment as well. I certainly wouldn't want to eat the same pellet food every single day! :)"

socksylady, 10/11/2003

I also have cat food out everyday; I sometimes give Rusty soft cat food too. Every evening he gets fruits or veggies, his favorites are peaches, applesauce, corn, grapes, and the chicken and veggie baby food. I also everyday give him 2 to 3 mealworms or crickets. Once or twice a week I give him a pinkie mouse. I am planning on breeding lobster roaches for my Marine toad so I may give Rusty some to see if he likes those. Those roaches are fast so that may be exciting to see him catch one of those.

swamprats1212, 12/02/2004

"I feed my STO Spike's Hedgehog diet as the dry staple food always available. Also he gets mealworms every night. And every night he gets one or two items out of this list:

tuna fish {in water}
applesauce
baby food
banana
strawberry
carrots

I've tried salad veggies with him but he didn't like it. He only took a couple bites out of the tomato and left it."

sweetheart296272002, 05/14/2003

"My little STO doesn't seem interested in any of these prepared protein diets -- but she loves those mealworms and crickets! She also eats free-choice mixed veggies and fresh fruit."