Veterinary Clinics of North America: Exotic Animal Practice
Behavioral and Nutritional Aspects of the Virginian Opossum (Didelphis virginiana)
Section snippets
Opossums in the clinical setting
Injured Virginia opossums (Didelphis virginiana) traditionally have been treated by wildlife rehabilitators. Over the past 20 years, however, private practitioners have been examining opossums more often for various medical conditions. Opossums typically present because of receiving impact injuries from vehicles or trauma from domestic animal attacks, being orphaned joeys from an injured jill, receiving injuries from being trapped accidentally, or being a nuisance species. In other cases,
Behavioral manifestations of disease
Trauma is the most common problem in opossums that present to veterinary practices. Common signs include paralysis, paresis, fractures, labored breathing, shock, and bleeding. Pacing, hyperactivity, and pawing at the mouth are often associated with head injuries. Immediate care is required in most cases, and maintenance of body temperature and cardiovascular support is essential. Radiographs should be performed in every trauma case after stabilization, unless life-threatening injuries that
Opossums as pets
The longer a captive opossum spends in the hospital, the more it loses its instinct to survive in the wild. Opossums tend to bond and habituate to human contact, especially younger animals. Animals that cannot be rehabilitated and released back to the wild may be considered for euthanasia or permanent captive placement. Captive opossums ideally should not be kept as pets, but some caretakers feel responsible for long-term care and adopt captive or infant opossums. Often there are legal
Oral and Gastrointestinal Morphology
The gastrointestinal morphology of the Virginia opossum is consistent with that of many other mammalian omnivores. The dental formula is 5/4, 1/1, 3/3, 4/4, and the salivary glands include large mandibular and smaller parotid and sublingual glands. The distal esophagus has raised, transverse rugae and is comprised of smooth muscle fibers. The opossum's distal esophagus, pylorus, and ileocecal junction have been studied extensively, because the smooth muscle arrangements in these areas closely
Summary
Virginia opossums are widely distributed throughout the United States, except in the most arid regions, and wild individuals are commonly brought to practitioners for medical attention. It has been estimated that there are 100,000 or more opossums in the state of California (W. Sakai, personal communication, 2008). Opossums' popularity as pets seems to be growing, and it is likely that pet opossums will be more common in veterinary practice (Fig. 8). Clinicians must be aware of natural opossum
Acknowledgments
The authors wish to acknowledge the wildlife rehabilitators of the Wildlife Center of Virginia, particularly Amanda Nicholson and Dani Stumbo, for their assistance in reviewing the nutritional information in this article. The authors also thank Dr. William Krause and the late Dr. Anita Henness for their pioneering work and inspiration.
References (38)
- et al.
Milk composition in the North American opossum (Didelphis virginiana)
Comp Biochem Physiol
(1996) - et al.
Chemical analyses of American opossum (Didelphis virginiana) milk
Comp Biochem Physiol
(1968) - et al.
Sugar gliders
Marsupial care and husbandry
Vet Clin Exotic An Pract
(2004)Common procedures in hedgehogs, prairie dogs, exotic rodents, and companion marsupials
Vet Clin Exotic An Pract
(2006)- Henness A. Possum tales: newsletter of the National Opossum Society. Available at: www.opossum.org. Accessed July 6,...
- et al.
Life history accounts and range maps: California wildlife habitat relationships system database
What every veterinarian needs to know about Virginia opossums
Exotic DVM
(2005)- et al.
Marsupials
Disease of marsupials
The opossum: its amazing story
Behavior of new world marsupials
Animal physiology: adaptations in function
The use of allometry. Scaling: why is animal size so important?
Use of pharyngostomy tubes in opossums (Didelphis virginiana)
Exotic pet behavior, birds, reptiles, and small mammals
Pain-induced aggression in animals: snake, opossum, turtle, ferret, rat, raccoon, and pigeon
Psychol Today
Opossums of the Americas: cousins from a distant time. Life of marsupials
Cited by (11)
Pet Virginia Opossums and Skunks
2014, Journal of Exotic Pet MedicineCitation Excerpt :Opossums will eat any given quantity of food, consequently portion control is crucial. Malnutrition can also occur and lead to conditions such as metabolic bone disease and secondary nutritional hyperparathyroidism (Fig. 7).9 Nutritional deficiencies may occur more readily in young opossums fed an inadequate diet or one with poor calcium content.
Captive marsupial nutrition
2014, Veterinary Clinics of North America - Exotic Animal PracticeCitation Excerpt :These cells, in addition to endocrine cells in the pancreas, aid in secreting peptides that control various digestive functions, such as gastric acid secretion, pancreatic secretion of electrolytes and enzymes, and contraction of the gall bladder. In the stomach, 90% of the enteroendocrine cells are located in the pyloric region and secrete a variety of hormones, such as gastrin, gastric-inhibitory peptide, secretin, cholecystokinin, and pancreozymin.27 The Brunner’s glands secrete their products into mucosal depression located on the duodenal wall.
A syndrome of ischemic leg necrosis in northern gannets (Morus bassanus)
2021, Journal of Wildlife DiseasesRickets in white-eared opossums (Didelphis albiventris)
2020, Pesquisa Veterinaria Brasileira