Uploaded April 2011 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
These tiny, orphaned opossum babies would be very difficult to impossible to feed with a bottle, so instead they are being tube fed: a tiny catheter tube is threaded all the way to their stomach, and milk is squeezed in with a syringe. Because opossum babies this small don't have gag reflexes, they are not bothered by the procedure. (Please excuse the grubby hands - I did wash them very well, but I've been doing some hardcore gardening.)
For the first few feedings, it took much longer to get the tube in, and I went much slower to allow their stomachs to adjust and expand, but by the 49th or 50th feeding here they've become old pros. They are currently about five weeks old and are doing very well - if they survive they'll be released into the wild at about five months old.
These tiny, orphaned opossum babies would be very difficult to impossible to feed with a bottle, so instead they are being tube fed: a tiny catheter tube is threaded all the way to their stomach, and milk is squeezed in with a syringe. Because opossum babies this small don't have gag reflexes, they are not bothered by the procedure. (Please excuse the grubby hands - I did wash them very well, but I've been doing some hardcore gardening.)
For the first few feedings, it took much longer to get the tube in, and I went much slower to allow their stomachs to adjust and expand, but by the 49th or 50th feeding here they've become old pros. They are currently about five weeks old and are doing very well - if they survive they'll be released into the wild at about five months old.
