Before you do anything else
Call or text us first: 901-340-6534. Tennessee law is clear on this, and so is TWRA — contact a permitted rehabilitator BEFORE you pick the animal up. We can often tell you in one text whether the animal needs us at all.
Also worth knowing: rehabbers do not pick animals up. If we can take the animal, you will need to arrange transport. We have a volunteer transport list and we will help you sort it out.
Get out a ruler. Seriously.
Opossums are the one animal where size settles it, and where guessing gets it wrong. Measure from the tip of the nose to the BASE of the tail. The tail does not count.
Under 8 inches nose to tail base. Too young to survive alone. Call us.
8 inches or more AND heavier than about 7 oz. Old enough to be on its own, if it looks healthy and uninjured.
Smaller than a dollar bill (about 6 inches). Definitely too young. No question.
Not sure? Call us. Please. This is exactly the animal we would rather see unnecessarily.
Baby opossums ride on their mother's back after they outgrow the pouch, and they fall off without her noticing. So unlike most species, a small opossum out on its own genuinely is often orphaned.
It looks dead. It is probably not.
Playing possum is real, and it is involuntary. A frightened opossum goes stiff, its eyes glaze over, its tongue lolls out and it drools. It looks exactly like a dead animal. This is not an act it can stop, and it can last anywhere from 40 minutes to four hours.
Watch for small ear movements. That means it is coming out of it. Please do not assume an opossum is dead or dying.
If you found a dead mother on the road
Check the pouch. Babies routinely survive in the pouch of a road-killed female, sometimes for a long time.
Do not try to pull the babies off. Nursing joeys are physically attached to the nipple and pulling causes fatal mouth injuries. Put the entire mother in a box and bring her to us. We will separate them properly.
Handling and warmth
Wrap it in a soft ravel-free cloth and place it NEAR a covered heat source, not directly against it.
Medical gloves for hairless babies. Leather gloves for eyes-open juveniles — they bite, and they are entitled to.
Covered in fleas? Do not bathe it. A flea bath will send a chilled baby into shock. Wrap it in a warm towel and the fleas will move to the towel on their own.
Some good news: opossums are famously poor hosts for rabies — their body temperature is too low for the virus to thrive. They do not carry the legal complications raccoons do. Still do not handle bare-handed, but you can relax slightly.
DO NOT FEED IT. DO NOT GIVE IT WATER.
We are begging. This is the single most common reason rescued babies die before they ever reach us.
NO COW'S MILK. This is the specific mistake people make with opossums and it is fatal. No goat milk, no kitten or puppy formula, no Pedialyte, no water from an eyedropper. Not a drop of anything.
What it actually needs is warmth, dark, and quiet. That is it.
How to contain it safely
A cardboard box or plastic bin. Punch the air holes BEFORE the animal goes in. Secure the lid.
A soft cloth on the bottom — an old t-shirt or fleece. Not a terrycloth towel; the loops catch claws and nails.
Heat under HALF the box only, so it can move away if it gets too warm. Always put cloth between the animal and the heat.
Dark, quiet, indoors. A closet or bathroom is perfect. Away from kids, pets, and the TV.
No handling. No peeking. No photos. Human attention is stress, not comfort.
Wash your hands afterward.
Call us immediately if you see any of these
Bleeding, an open wound, or a broken bone
It has been in a cat or dog's mouth — ANY cat contact is an emergency, even with no visible injury. The bacteria alone will kill it without antibiotics.
Small white specks that look like grains of rice — those are fly eggs — or flies hovering around it
Cold to the touch, wet, or crying nonstop
You know the mother is dead
What not to do
Do not try to raise it. Opossums are extremely prone to metabolic bone disease from an improper diet — they end up with deformed, broken bones. As the Opossum Society puts it, this cannot be learned over the internet.
Do not relocate it. Moving wildlife is prohibited in Tennessee.
Wildlife emergency? Text us at 901-340-6534