this post was submitted on 03 Mar 2026
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Opossums
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We’ve had that asked here before, and while I never had a pet opossum, my research leads me to believe they make great pets once domesticated. Of course, if you raise one from when they are a baby, it will be the best in terms of being a pet.
In videos I’ve watched, they are gentle, curious, and affectionate.
One sad thing about them is they don’t live long. 3-4 years in captivity.
EDIT: Here is a short video where a lady who rescued a baby opossum talks about living with him: https://youtu.be/6VW73ZFZiLI
Isn't that sad, that their lifespan is so short. One of the (many) reasons I'm a cat person over dogs is because of how much longer cats generally live.
It is very sad.
My husband and I used to adopt older dogs from shelters and give them a few good years. They don’t get adopted much, people want young dogs and don’t want to spend a lot on vet bills.
Anyway, we had 3 dogs die about 6 months apart, all were 13 years old. It’s like when Midnight went, Waldo and Dave said “it’s time to be with our brother” and decided to go too.
It was really tough. We adopted two more older dogs after that. And then my teenage son begged us to take a break because it was emotionally hard.
Anyway, now we adopted two young ones, and they are full of life and super active. Very different from our grey muzzles.
Anyway, when my son moves out, we will go back to adopting old souls, but it’s not for the faint hearted.
That is such a kind thing to do. They deserve love, too, just as much as a puppy. It's very sad to see the old ones passed over time and time again. Thank you
I had rats that I loved but I stopped keeping them as pets because of their short life span. Now I have bunnies who average 8-12 years. My bun who passed away last year was a few weeks shy of 13 years old.
*Tamed.
Domesticating is a process that involves breeding to select for domestic traits. It's what we did to cows, dogs, and horses. Somewhat for cats, though to a far lesser degree.
Taming is teaching an individual animal how to behave (at home). It's what we generally do with birds, rats, etc.
When you take a wild animal and work out a way to live in a human house together, that's taming. If you're lucky, tame animals will teach their offspring how to be tame too.
Fixed, thanks!
How long do they live in the wild?
1-2 years
Half that, about 2 years.