03/12/2025
Helping possums out with food should always be considered healthily. They have to stay fit to survive. Laying down somewhere feeling poorly, fat and worn out is not an option for a possum. They need healthy food. Fruit & veg. And not too much fruit.
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Possum supplementary snacks should be small amounts and varied.
A guide for Brushtails only, very little fruit for Ringtails, with veggies, if they are in need: they are primarily leaf eaters and need to be in charge of their own fruit intake: they have different dietary needs to Brushtails.
If they’re short on native food, Ringtail possums can have small amounts of the following (seeds removed), squash, capsicum, eggplant, pumpkin, cucumber, zucchini, turnips, spinach, kale, sweet potato, corn, green beans, carrot, a few raw almonds.
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Feeding bread, biscuits, pet food/bird seed, meat products, sweet stuff, junk/fast food, altogether inappropriate foods, will cause a possum’s health to deteriorate, making them prone to illness and predators. The Possum digestive system is designed, primarily, to process plant life, so natural foods only, none of our ‘invented’ stuff. If they need to catch insects or anything else for other nourishment needs, that is their prerogative and should be left entirely up to them.
Healthy food for Brushtails: all these foods should be fed in sensible, small amounts and a variety, not too much of one thing. And they should be encouraged to forage for themselves, not become dependent. Possums need their natural plant diet for their well being.
🥬 baby spinach leaves/ kale/celery leaves
🍠sweet potato
🌽corn on the cob
🥕carrot
🎃pumpkin
🍎apple
🍊orange/mandarin
🍐pear
🍉Melon: - too much can make them bloat
☀️pawpaw
🍌banana
🫐blueberries
🥒cucumber
🥜raw unsalted peanuts - a few as a treat
☀️raw natural almonds - a few as a treat
🍓strawberries
🥝kiwi fruit
🍇grapes
🥭mango
🥦broccoli/cauliflower, small amount to avoid gastric
💦water
🪴Plants for possums: their natural plant food is the healthiest food we can provide for a possum:https://www.aws.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Native_wildlife.pdf