Book & Magazine Websites
For Short-Tailed Opossums, Marsupials & Exotic Pets
There are only a few books and booklets specifically addressing short-tailed opossums. Some books about South American marsupials or marsupials in general are also helpful resources.
I do not endorse or vouch for the accuracy of the information found in these websites.
Short-Tailed Opossum Specific Print Resources
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Just Playin' Opossum: The South American Short-Tailed Opossum Monodelphis domestica: By Naomie Poran, PhD in 2000. The stapled booklet is $13 18 pages text, 8 pages pictures. It is available from the author. Dr. Poran was the scientist who initially introduced STO to the pet market in the mid-90s. She helped start many of the color variations, such as ivory and white feet/ears. The booklet has an interesting perspective on them from a scientific background. The website used to be found here, but now it appears to redirect to a porn website: http://www.opossums.ws/justplayin.html |
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M. Domesticus: The Little Animal That's Too Good To Be True: By Pat Storer and Betty Thomas in 1994. The book is $20-$25 and 116 pages. This is one of the few books directly addressing gray short-tailed opossums. It is primarily focused on breeding, with complete descriptions of the young's development and many illustrative pictures. It is out of print and can be difficult to find. It usually needs to be ordered online or found used. ISBN: 1888144084, Publisher: Country Storer Enterprises. |
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Odd Pet Directory: By Jill Warnick. Pages 33 and 34 have information about short-tailed opossums, some breeders (some current and others out of date), and two pictures. It costs about $20, so it is probably best for people curious about STO and several other of the exotic pets it mentions: bushy tailed jirds, chinchillas, chipmunks, coatimundi, degus, domestic skunks, dormice, duprasi, fancy rats, ferrets, flying squirrels, giant pouched rats, hedgehogs, prairie dogs, Prevost's squirrels, pygmy mice, short tailed opossums, spiny mice, sugar gliders, and wallabies. |
Coming Soon: Know Your STO: Short-Tailed Opossum Guide: By Molly Kalafut. This book is due to be published in 2007. The focus is on keeping STO as happy and healthy pets.
Other Book Resources
Many of these books are focused on biology and technical subjects, and may not be of too much interest to the average pet owners. Those interested in the general biology of the 60+ South American opossums might find them useful resources. It's a good idea to check the "Search Inside the Book" feature with Amazon.com before deciding to purchase the books.
Marsupial Nutrition: By Ian D. Hume. While probably too general (and expensive) for the average pet owner, this book has some small and fascinating sections on many of the different opossums.
Walker's Mammals of the World: By Ronald M. Nowak, $112.05. Very interesting section on each type of South American opossum, including a couple pages about STO.
Biology, Medicine, and Surgery of South American Wild Animals: By Murray E. Fowler and Zalmir S. Cubas, $119.99. Page 213-218 deal with the 60+ South American opossums, with some specific mentions about STO. Definitely an interesting reference.
A Field Guide to the Mammals of Central America and Southeast Mexico: By Fiona A Reid, $39.50. The first 11 pages are about the South American opossums in general. It doesn't really specifically addressing STO but definitely interesting about the biology of opossums in general.
Laboratory Animal Medicine, Second Edition: By James G. Fox, $125. Only one brief mention about STO on page 1012 (mentioning they can be safely bled from the cardiac artery under anesthesia).
A Neotropical Companion: By John Kricher, $18.33. Only 2 pages (p. 313-314) about neotropical South American marsupials and opossum.
GliderCENTRAL: Books, Magazines and Media. The website geared towards sugar gliders and Australian marsupials (STO are South American marsupials), but it does mention some general marsupial books.
Books: Sugar Gliders, Opossums & Other Marsupials: From ExoticHobbyist.com. General marsupial books, many for Australian marsupials (STO are South American marsupials), but many are general marsupials or South American marsupials.
Magazines
Critters USA: Animal Networks offers "Critters USA" magazine. It is a guide for buying and caring for small animals, including advertisements, classifieds and directories for veterinarians, clubs, rescues/shelters, etc. It is also available for order from (888) 738-2665 x4936.
Rare Breeds Journal: "Digest of the Alternative Livestock Industry" - Seems to be geared more to large livestock, but they mention some of the smaller exotics, and the breeder's list contains breeders of small exotics too.
Exotic VSM Veterinary Magazine: This magazine is bi-monthly and focused on veterinarians for non-traditional species.
