thomasbcolley
01-28-2017, 10:52 AM
I am new to this forum and don't really know specifically where to post. I will post some backstory, and you guys can direct me to an appropriate subforum. My animal is not a squirrel, but she is a opossum. This still seems to be the most appropriate website.
About a year ago, my employer brought a female baby virginia opossum back to our shop. The opossum's mother and siblings had been hit and killed by a car on a rural road. There may have been other survivors, but none of us realized at the time that opossums have such large litters, and I was so distracted by the cute little baby to consider the importance of returning to check. I feel kind of sad that I didn't go back to investigate, but that's in the past.
I named the opossum "Poe" and decided that I would raise her. I did a lot of research and managed to successfully nurture her to an apparently healthy adult size without any indication of significant medical issues such as metabolic bone disease, which I've read is the most likely issue to arise.
About three months ago, the opossum became host to fleas. These fleas were brought into the house by a dog. In a bit of a panic and under the faulty conclusion that frontline might hurt the opossum, I shaved her and attempted to remove the fleas manually. This worked out alright, but it's been three months now, and she isn't growing her hair back. Here and there, she has very sparse patches of hair, but overall it is not growing back. I can still see the striations from the clippers I used to trim her. It's bizarre.
So now I have questions regarding how to most effectively keep her warm as summer approaches. (During the winter it is reasonable to give her a space heater. During the summer, the central AC will be on, and a space heater will be problematic.)
I also have some unrelated questions about long-term nutrition. Right now, she eats mostly cat food and sparse fruits and vegetables.
Thanks
About a year ago, my employer brought a female baby virginia opossum back to our shop. The opossum's mother and siblings had been hit and killed by a car on a rural road. There may have been other survivors, but none of us realized at the time that opossums have such large litters, and I was so distracted by the cute little baby to consider the importance of returning to check. I feel kind of sad that I didn't go back to investigate, but that's in the past.
I named the opossum "Poe" and decided that I would raise her. I did a lot of research and managed to successfully nurture her to an apparently healthy adult size without any indication of significant medical issues such as metabolic bone disease, which I've read is the most likely issue to arise.
About three months ago, the opossum became host to fleas. These fleas were brought into the house by a dog. In a bit of a panic and under the faulty conclusion that frontline might hurt the opossum, I shaved her and attempted to remove the fleas manually. This worked out alright, but it's been three months now, and she isn't growing her hair back. Here and there, she has very sparse patches of hair, but overall it is not growing back. I can still see the striations from the clippers I used to trim her. It's bizarre.
So now I have questions regarding how to most effectively keep her warm as summer approaches. (During the winter it is reasonable to give her a space heater. During the summer, the central AC will be on, and a space heater will be problematic.)
I also have some unrelated questions about long-term nutrition. Right now, she eats mostly cat food and sparse fruits and vegetables.
Thanks