# anyone familiar with this?



## hshelton (Feb 23, 2010)

http://www.newscientist.com/data/images/ns/cms/dn11814/dn11814-1_567.jpg

Its called a short tailed opposum. I REALLY want one! I love opossums, they're my favorite animals at the wildlife rescue I volunteer at. From what I've heard, they are similar to rats, minus their food and they are not as affectionate. Just curious if anyone has ever owned one or know of anyone who has. I haven't been able to find to much info about them.


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## Knoahe (Jun 11, 2010)

I have one!  In my opinion, they are actually quite different from rats. They are more on the go constantly, and fun to watch, like mice or other types of small animals. Also, if you have any questions I would be more than happy to answer!


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## hshelton (Feb 23, 2010)

Lucky! Are they friendly because I've heard they are but that they will bite on the occassion. Like I said, I do work with opposums but not this kind, although we do have tons of babies which I find do like being held and scratched on but only the babies other than our program possum Olympia. I'm having a really hard time finding good info on them. Do you have a picture of yours?


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## hshelton (Feb 23, 2010)

This is one of our baby opposums after I scratched the side of his face for a while, he fell asleep lol


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## Knoahe (Jun 11, 2010)

hshelton said:


> Lucky! Are they friendly because I've heard they are but that they will bite on the occassion. Like I said, I do work with opposums but not this kind, although we do have tons of babies which I find do like being held and scratched on but only the babies other than our program possum Olympia. I'm having a really hard time finding good info on them. Do you have a picture of yours?


Mine is a feisty little girl and is very playful, but she has never bit me hard or aggressively. But, I have heard of others being somewhat aggressive as in their personalities. [Though mine is grumpy when I wake her up too early, haha] I do have pictures, but they aren't the best of quality because she is ALWAYS on the move. 

I'll upload the pics tomorrow because they are on my other computer. 

I to love opossums, but I have never been close to typical possums that roam around here. [But I find them extremely adorable! I envy your wildlife rescue, there's none close here.]

Oh! And that baby possum is so cute! He looks like a sweet-heart.


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## Knoahe (Jun 11, 2010)

Here's some of her taking a peek out of one of her fleece pouches, haha!  I will try to upload some more tomorrow, this computer is terribly slow.


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## hshelton (Feb 23, 2010)

I've read a warning about waking them up too early lol I just found out that the closest breeder to me is in Tennessee..the exact same place, city and all, that I came back from on tuesday :-\ Might have to make another trip there if I decide to get one.


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## PandaBee (May 14, 2010)

i suggest checking out knowyoursto.com. The woman who runs it is all about the STO. she even wrote a book. Her site has tons of info on pretty much everything you would want to know about the STO. In fact, this was where I went when i was first interested in the STO. It's where I got the info that helped me decide that the STO was NOT the right pet for me.


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## Knoahe (Jun 11, 2010)

hshelton said:


> I've read a warning about waking them up too early lol I just found out that the closest breeder to me is in Tennessee..the exact same place, city and all, that I came back from on tuesday :-\ Might have to make another trip there if I decide to get one.


Yes, it is not a pretty sight, haha. I got mine from a fellow in Illinois, but I had to buy it a plane ticket just to get here [Kentucky]. It costs A LOT overall and the expenses just keep adding on. To actually even get it to me, I had to pay about 300-400 dollars. Not to mention they need to be spoiled often with new exciting toys! 

Panda, I also checked out that site before getting mine, she is helpful. STO's are a lot of work and some people that get them probably regret it because they decided to get one anyways and thought it wouldn't be so bad/difficult. 

When I think about it, STO's are actually very different from rats. LOL like, their diets are completely different almost, they cannot have cagemates what-so-ever, very large glass/tank type cages are best for them, they constantly entertain theirselves, and they are some-what more aggressive generally in their natures.


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## hshelton (Feb 23, 2010)

That site was the only one I found too lol. I have no problem spoiling my pets haha. I would really need to find a vet first before I decide to get one and it would probably be a year or more before I got one. Do you have yours in a tank? I would guess so but I just think tanks are difficult to hang stuff in. Do you think they would be able to get through the bars of a cn? just curious.


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## Knoahe (Jun 11, 2010)

hshelton said:


> That site was the only one I found too lol. I have no problem spoiling my pets haha. I would really need to find a vet first before I decide to get one and it would probably be a year or more before I got one. Do you have yours in a tank? I would guess so but I just think tanks are difficult to hang stuff in. Do you think they would be able to get through the bars of a cn? just curious.


I have mine in about a 25 gallon tank, and finding the vet first would be a good idea. I have a mesh top on mine which makes things easier to hang. I am pretty sure they could get out of the CN, haha.


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## hshelton (Feb 23, 2010)

figures lol my vet sees rat but I don't know about more exotic animals. We used to have an exotic vet but they closed a few years ago


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