Opossum Diet

Instead, we will provide you with information academically and clinically researched and compiled by our founder, Dr. Anita M. Henness, DVM. Not to be discounted is the further nutritional research of our Board of Directors and hundreds of members. When observations and technical research indicate, modifications to our recommendations have been made.

In the original article, NOS Recommended Diet: Latest Recommendations and Clarifications - 'POSSUM TALES, Vol. 10, #2-3, April- July, 1996; Revised February 2006, Dr. Henness explains how problematic a complete study of the nutritional needs of opossums would be:

Experimental Diet Studies

Experimentally determining opossums' precise dietary needs would require that one cage many seemingly healthy opossums; they must be fed diets with one nutrient at several levels ("too high" to "too low"), for a specific length of time; one observes, takes blood and other tests, does post mortems...deaths can be expected in experiments. This must be repeated over and over, for EVERY analyzable nutrient! In non-domestic animal studies, one must always factor in the potential/actual effect of stress from caging and repetitive handling for noxious procedures in a species unaccustomed to intimate human contact. The above doesn't address issues of the source from which subject opossums are "obtained." Are they trapped from the environment? Or are females kept in captivity to provide serial litters? A sort of "sanctioned" version of puppy mills. And do the persons conducting this experiment know opossums require certain medications? Will they permit antibiotics or other treatment? Will they recognize illness? And then deal with it appropriately, or will they kill the animal? This is a nightmare for animals. Particularly with non-domestic species, more often than not, it yields data of questionable value. Of course, ethical and moral issues haven't been considered: purposefully placing wildlife in injurious situations which MIGHT or MIGHT NOT yield information useful in helping other opossums. Worse yet...helping another species (humans!) exclusively! Enter CLINICAL RESEARCH. This is, predominantly, how we in NOS have come to our current level of knowledge with, admittedly, much more to learn than we already have learned. But, what has been gained, has been FIRST for benefit of the individual, as he/she was fed and provided care. The sum of results from one test or treatment in many opossums – proven and reproducible data (i.e., the scientific approach) – is what, ultimately, appears in these newsletter articles, diets, the Medication List, and much more. We all must share information, so that our body of knowledge on the opossum can continue to expand...and so we may thoroughly debunk the TERRIBLE DIETS!"