FAQs and tips

FAQs
Both of us at the passelry have other jobs and no children (a ludicrous amount of ferrets though). The money just goes back to the opossums and to the ferrets. We have no incentive to "push sales"(but charging less than average attracts a bad crowd). We just want to prepare new homes and help those with potatoes otherwise we just wouldn't breed.

Our experiences are different than others and we are constantly learning, but these are our current honest answers No shilling to sell babies, just what we've seen and learned over 10yrs of breeding and reading dozens of studies. These are all questions I've seen:

What are pets are they similar to?
STOs. There's really no other good comparisons. Diet, housing, temperament-- all unique to them. I hate not having a clear answer, but you just kind of have to experience them. 

Are the legal in *input state*?
From what I've found, they are legal through the continental US with the exception I've found is Georgia. Georgia is cracking down as they are riddled with invasive escaped-pet species currently. In the legal states they don't require a permit or special papers.

Individual counties can have there own regulations which you can find online. If you have any trouble or want to double check on a state (laws change) let me know and I will see what I can find.

Can they be potty trained?
Nope lol. Honestly I wonder if anyone who says the can be has actually had any STOs as pets. Other than not defecating in or by their nest, they have no need or instinct to hide poop. Males go everywhere. Females go in less places, but they pick those places. The vast majority of poop ends up by the wheel, especially if you have an appropriate wheel. We can take advantage of that and make that area easier to clean, but no matter what they pick where the go.

Do they smell?
This is hard for me as there are 14 ferrets one room over. From what I can tell, typically not much. On a good diet and a big enough cage, cleaned at appropriate intervals, they wont offend  the typical nose. Our hedgehog actually smells a bit worse. Boys smell more, but I think its due to their poop, not marking. Ive never really smelled their markings, but again, our home is more weasel than house

Will they get lonely?
Nope, the opposite.
Lonely is a concept for social species. Its a very important one too. It drives social species together. Being alone is actually one of the stresses that can make social species less easy to handle or do stress behaviors. Many years ago I would take in sugar gliders. While each is different, I had several  lone gilders that came because they were "aggressive", turn into cuddle bugs once excepted into a colony. I had one whose reaction to seeing another glider for the first time would break your heart.

STOs are solitary, their stress works the other way. As we feel stressed alone, they feel stressed to others of the same species. Its hard for us social animals to understand, but each species have different instincts. How strong is your instinct to catch and eat bugs? Groups helped keep us alive and raise babies. Other STOs take resources and reduce the available resources. Same goes for hamsters, even dwarfs that are more likely to tolerate each other (at least for a while). Sleeping together is an instincts to save energy maintaining heat, but they don't need that in captivity. They are never "bonded" only slightly more stressed.

What about two females?
For the love of the great holy weasel in the sky-- NOOOOO
I have seen recently, I think for the first time, a claim that two females can live together. That is 100% absolute, dangerous bullschist. Females are more violent than the males. When breeding they are more likely to attack the boy, than vice versa. I'm not sure if ladies would attack on sight like boys or, given how they mature, how long it may take to fight (educated guess would be between 1-2years). Some proportion may not kill each other, but be so stressed they die younger. Adding injury to injury its recommended in a 40gal, a touch and go size as is.

They can't afford being around other ladies. They have a heck of a lot of babies to grow up really fast. If they tolerated other ladies, less of their babies survive. If mother nature had a golden rule its that instincts develop based on what will pass on more of their genes (directly or through relatives in social species).

I'd be more worried about the claim they can co-habitat if there was a chance it could last, but, despite the fact a few lucky people will swear by it, people will lose opossums at a high enough rate they will stop trying. Please don't learn the hard way. If you intend on trying please have enough respect for our work to go elsewhere.

Which is sweeter, male or female?
There is a difference in temperment, but its subtle. They vary like rats, hamsters, and ferrets where the male may be a bit more laid back and the ladies are in-your-face. It is less obvious than other species and took me many years to finally notice it enough to switch my answer to "yes, there's a difference".

Their temperament also usually relies on:
-handling by 5-6weeks (our job)
-enrichment growing up (our job)
-low stress enclosure (we can help you with that)
-handling through the "terrible twos".  Many have a spicy/flighty stage starting at ~6w till 9-12w (with a lot of variability). We will handle the start, but frequent handling will need to continue for a while.

Do they bite?
Yep. They have the bite of a gnat, but they do sometimes bite. They don't like spooked especially when sleeping. Know which way the mouth it when  is reaching in the nest and be sure to scoop them up , not grab, if they are sleeping. That said 95% of my "bites" are then trying to eat my hand. They will hold, lick, chomp, and pull (It is hilarious) so while many of them ever don't me, its the most friendly ones I tend to feel the teeth of.

It is completely normal to feel some irrational offense to them biting. To us social animals, it feels so personal. We like peaceful conflict resolution so physical violence caries more significance, it threatens our group. Other species don't have words or the same social rules. Biting is nothing more than communication. To them a nip may be a simple "I'm trying to sleep here" or "I don't see any reason to move so I'd like to stay here".

Are they aggressive?
"Aggression" requires confrontation, willingly going to you to act in an antisocial way. I've never seen an "aggressive" STO, but I know what people mean so I'll use it for simplicity. Still I think its an important distinction everyone should know.

Some bluffing or nipping is normal (see above). New opossums or ones in their terrible twos can be nervous. Any opossum can be spooked, some just say "I'm not vibing with this" using a light nip.

When people say aggression they are usually referring to persistent antisocial responses (typically biting or bluffing) when approached-- in that situation, you are the one confronting them, they are reacting out of fear-- its often accompanied by fear behaviors (running, jerking, a frenzy to get away even if it hurts them). They aren't "aggressive". What we call "aggression" is a response to stress, but its important to stress (pun!) that they are terrified. Even if you've done everything you can-- in that moment its not up to you. If they are scared, they are scared.  

Its normal to find this upsetting or confusing, but aggression isn't a trait, its a symptom of a problem. To us it should be a red flag that they aren't happy and they need help. If you read  the picture care guide, at the top I explain that if they cant perform important behaviors they will be more stressed or fearful. They can't reason, their bodies are wired to do things to make them safe. Prevented from doing those things is like being locked outside during a zombie apocalypse. They have no hope or agency, just frantic scrambling until they are eaten. So if they seem "aggressive" make sure they can stay hidden from approaching enemies, have a safe place to barricade, forage supplies, and... I cant think of a zombie apocalypse analogy for wheel running.

Can you be allergic?
So far I haven't run across a case of someone else being allergic to them. I'm allergic to everything, including, ostensibly, the air (this is why I can't deliver/meet part way-- surviving indoors is hard enough) and I do alright with STOs. Where their little toes scratch gets itchy and occationally welts up, but I've never had hives or breathing issues with them.

Can they get along with other pets?
No.

How long do they live?
People say 4-6yrs, but I've never met one that could be confirmed to have been 6. Dont trust people who just tell you they once had one that lived forever without knowing how they kept them. People with the worse care seem to have the longest lived pets (see the "spotting bad advice" tab).

Ours act like normal, lively opossums until ~4-4.5. Then old age just sort of hits. They move less, sometimes kind of stiffly. They go on happily like this for several months and pass ~4.5yrs-- some a little less, others nearly 5. Autopsies don't show anything in particular. My best guess is that  heart failure often takes them. This is common in humans with no other clear cause of death. 

What foods to avoid?
Knowing what foods to avoid takes time and testing. Each species is different. Chocolate and grapes are very dangerous to dogs and ferrets while rats can eat them. At this time I’m respecting the common potential dangers: grapes (just in case), chocolate, avocados, caffeine etc. and I check parrot and small mammal no-no lists to get some ideas.

What are common health issues?
Unfortunately they are so uncommon and don't always attract caring homes. We don't have a good data base. I've done a few of my own autopsies, but haven't found anything definitive like cancer. The main issue I know of is hair loss (discussed below). 

Why do I see balding?
Hair loss (alopecia) on the rump is a very common health issue. Alopecia usually leads to diarrhea, less or unsuccessful litters, cannibalizing young, a stronger smell, and I would suspect lower life spans. Also, can you imagine being sick 24/7 with no help? It is a much more serious issue than I think is fully appreciated, but it doesn't kill them right away and some are more resilient that others so the problem hasn't been addressed past random speculation. Until now

The cause has been debated for years. The STO community's first guess was that it was caused by not enough protein. I had strong suspicions against that and help reservations against pumping up protein levels. People tended to have wildly hit or miss success when increasing protein. Then I thought it was genetic as I saw if I got a mom that had it, the babies would while I had lines that never got it. I'd even retire females on that basis if there was any hair loss during nursing.

Then, through experience and learning, I am reasonably confident its a nutrient deficiency, though I only have leads as to what exactly. Currently I think its iron, zinc, or chitin (exoskeletons of insects), but things change as I learn. (more on that soon)

Do they get parasites?
I'm sure. Just about every animal can get parasites, including parasites. Sa far I haven't seen any in decal symptoms, but if I find any I'll update.

Do they change behaviors with puberty?
Babies are kind of hyper, they run more and poke at more. Its very important to make sure they don't hit the floor in any space that is not enclosed. So far mine have calmed down around 6mo.

Do they need a UVB light?
As general rule nocturnal animals don't. Tenrecs are the only exception that comes to mind. Tenrecs have been seen basking in the wild and can have medical issues without a uvb bulb or vitamins with D3. STOs rarely come out during the day and hate bright lights. You also shouldn't get them wet, but they can be fed after midnight.

Other: Do you deliver/ can you meet/ do you do pet/reptile shows?

Unfortunately not. I am, for all intent and purposes, allergic to the air. But rather than just the typical runny nose and hives, my blood vessels constrict and I have short strokes. Cars are dangerous, even with a mask. This is why you may see shower curtains taped in various places in our home and I will ask visitors to remove their shoes. Its also going to be fairly hot in the summer and cold in the winter as the HVAC system is unusable. I hate it, but strokes are really annoying.

It does mean I'm VERY flexible as to pick up times though.

Other: How many STOs do we have?

I don't know.

Other: do we breed Virginia opossums

No, we are only interested in producing animals that make "good pets". STOs are the perfect, safe, legal-without-permit, compact version of their North American cousins which can be accommodated by most educated, caring homes. I have a great love and appreciation of the more "exotic" pets, and would love to hear about yours, but breeding and homing them is not a can of worms I'm interested in opening. 

Other: do we breed hedgehogs/tenrecs/ferrets

No, just STOs. There are a lot of good hedgehog breeders out there (https://www.petersexoticcreations.com) and we know so little about tenrecs I would need to start from scratch like I did with the STOs. I've already spent 100's of hours researching and writing on STOs; siting and watching their antics and rituals; popping out of bed at 2am to check if the adrenal gland could be involved in their hair loss etc. (https://www.quillvalleyexotics.com if your interested in one). This may seem hypocritical, but breeding our ferrets would feel gross, like breeding one's children, but I can point you in the direction of some good ferret breeders. They are all in Ohio and don't ship.

Other: can we pet your ferrets?

Yes. Breeder bred ferrets are really something to behold if you've only seen mill-bred, pet shop ferrets. Brian, Arin, and Suzan would love to meet you. We just ask that if you've had any flu like symptoms you refrain from seeing them-- ferrets can get several respiratory illnesses from people. Actually, given my health issues, it would probably kill me too... lol...

Lets talk about breeding:
How to breed:
I've known many people to stop breeding when their spuds lose a tail or their life. We've never had so much as a bite mark (knock on a combination of cellulose, hemicelluloses, and lignin). Many people also struggle with getting ladies to reproduce or cannibalize-- not issues we have. As to how we do it, I prefer to talk with people individually. There's nuance and if done wrong it can lead to injury or death.  Poor care will lead to sick babies more prone to later balding. This is not an area I want a misunderstanding.  

I will only help those who use methods and care that I am comfortable with. I do not have the one "the correct way",  or that anyone in particular shouldn't breed, but if I help someone produce babies, I feel responsible for them.  

*Don't get me wrong, many, more than not, still reproduce in horrid conditions (they breed in labs). It why, on average, mill-like breeders produce more. They have more to work with.

**I don't loan out opossums for breeding. We take great care in preventing diseased, parasites, and mating can be dangerous done in certain ways. I've  explained our methods and found people ignore it. I'm so grateful my boy came back unharmed. Fortunately they were unsuccessful.

Why to breed:
You'll see, ad nauseum, people say 'don't breed for the money because you wont make money/will lose money. Breed because you love the species'
That's BS. First off if  losing money was a ubiquitous experience there wouldn't be backyard breeders. Don't get me wrong, it can be true in many places (ball pythons are a good example), but those that lose money often don't last long. 

As far as "for the love the species", nothing has made me want to quit more. I do all that I can to find safe homes, but when they leave our home, its out of my hands. Its so friggin hard to see when they do end up in the wrong hands. I've seen them end up in terrible places: backyard breeders, selfish owners, etc. Often I've seen it first hand, but sometimes people hide it, but I see my potatoes anyway. I can often tell them apart from other, unrelated opossums. Spend enough time with anything and you'll start seeing individuality novices don't.

Some people are better at handling it, focusing on the good they are doing to improve heath and spread good care. I'm not. It breaks me. If it wasn't for STO's desperate need of help and my own unique skills to do it, I'd never breed. I've tried breeding other species before. I don't have the fortitude, I'm too sensitive. I don't breed because I love the species, I push through it despite loving the species.

Tips
It is very, very important to remember each individual is different.  Just because one STO tolerated something in particular doesn't mean another will. Some people are nervous on a second floor balcony, others dangle their feet over a hundred feet cliff. Both are normal. Each STO is an individual. The more you look the more you see. Dotty and Dylan strut from their cages, Quartz hates even being away from her enclosure. Their differences are one of the best parts of getting to know them, why I love having so many. The best way to keep them happy is to do as many things that in general keep STOs like because eve if some tolerate less desirable conditions, it doesn't mean its not stressful.

They communicate by hissing and yelling at each other. They are antisocial, their communication is not nice. Any kissing sounds or having your breath hit them when you talk will startle them. Even the calmest STO will jerk away. I'm terrible about laughing at their antics. I often have to cover my mouth when interacting with them.

These little ones are FAST and they can, should they desire to, turn into jello the second all four feet touch the floor. They are also all endowed with the ability to poof from one area to another. Mice are easier to catch. Even for experienced owners catching an escapee could be a long process. That said, I've gotten VERY good at it. We actually try to get them used to the "hawk grab" as babies (reaching down from over head and grabbing them quickly), and I can just swoop in (pun?) and grab many, but its a toss up if they are out. Only Dotty and Dylan have been completely fine with it outside of normal spaces.

Never stick with a food because "they like it". Kids like cupcakes-- most people don't give kids exclusively sugar (not that I haven't met a few). Like human joeys, opossums are terrible at choosing what's actually healthy. You are, but at first they wont know its food. Would you eat some mystery berries? We mix food with other food, put it in crested gecko food/applesauce, blend the new kibble (with a coffee grinder) and put it in the old kibble etc. Its frustrating and feels like it takes for ever, but once they have it they will eat it for their (probably longer) life.

Opossums don't find value in physical contact the same way people do. Its something they do when otherwise comfortable. Humans hug for comfort or go near others when scared. To an unsure opossum being picked up makes them think a hawk has them and they have seconds to live! You can help making them comfortable by scooping rather than grabbing and if they get very scared (like a sound went off near by, toy fell down next to them etc.) give them some space before resuming.

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