Where to get help for baby opossums – Toronto Wildlife Centre

Where to Get Help for Baby Opossums:

Wildlife Rehabilitation

Baby opossums should receive care from a licensed wildlife rehabilitator. Wildlife rehabilitators are trained to provide care for wild animals. They are licensed to do so by provincial and/or federal governments.

Baby opossums need specialized formula, species-specific housing, and medical treatment that you cannot provide at home. A permit is required to keep a wild in your care for longer than 48 hours. Please contact a wildlife rehabilitator right away for help with the baby opossum you have found.

Help for baby opossums in the GTA

If you have found a baby opossum in the Greater Toronto Area, please fill out our online Request Assistance Form to leave us a message. Our hours are 9am-6pm, seven days a week (yes, even on holidays!).

Please note that Toronto Wildlife Centre is sometimes at capacity for common baby species, like opossums. If you have received an email stating that we are full for baby opossums, you will need to seek assistance from another wildlife rehabilitator. Please see the OMNRF list of authorized wildlife rehabilitators and/or the map on our website for more information.

If the baby you have found is not an opossum, please go back to our species selection page.

If you cannot reach a wildlife rehabilitator right away

Keep trying. Wildlife rehabilitators are very busy, especially during the spring and summer. If you get an answering machine, leave a message and make it easy for them to reach you. Call around to others in the area. Be willing to arrange transportation for the animal once a rehabilitator is found. Remember that there is no government funding for wildlife rehabilitation in Ontario, and all rehabilitators are funded entirely by private donations.

You cannot keep the baby opossum or care for them yourself – they need specialized care that you don’t have the means to provide. Keep them in a cardboard box in a dark, quiet, place. Make sure they have a heat source, like a hot water bottle. Don’t give them any food or water until you’ve spoken to a wildlife rehabilitator. Further temporary care instructions can be found here.