Gray Short-tailed Opossum
Class: Mammalia
Order: Didelphimorphia
Family: Didelphidae
Sub Family: Didelphidae
Genus: Monodelphis
Species: domestica
Range & Habitat
Brazil and adjoining countries of Bolivia, Paraguay, and Chile. They live in forested areas, living most of their lives in trees.
Reproduction & Growth
Short Tailed opossums are sexually mature at about 4 to 5 months of age. They can have 4 or 5 litters per year, and are able to breed at any time during the year. Their gestation period is usually two weeks long and the female can have a littler of up to 13 babies. Unlike most marsupials, the female does not have a pouch. The mother will spend the majority of her time in the nest, with the babies attached to a teat. At around 4 weeks of age, the young will begin to wander, only around the nest at first. When the mother leaves the nest, the babies will cling onto the mother's back and ride around with her. The babies will be weaned at about 8 weeks of age. Their lifespan in captivity is about 6 years.
Diet
In the Wild: Omnivorous, eating a variety of insects, fruits and vegetable matter
In the Zoo: Fruit, mealworms and kitten chow
General Information
Short Tailed Opossums (STOs) have a fully prehensile tail. "They are one of the very few pouch less marsupials, meaning their young actually gestate outside of the mother's body. The young still attach to the mother the way other marsupials do, they are simply not contained in a pouch. She has a circle of teats on her abdomen that the babies attach themselves to, the teats swell in the babies' mouths to keep them attached until they are ready to release and walk around on their own." The only socialization between STOs is during mating, other than that, they are completely solitary animals. STOs are nocturnal animals. They have opposable toes; on their hind feet they have a big toe that is opposable like the human thumb. STOs have pads on their feet and toes that enable them to climb up smooth surfaces, such as glass. "Like humans, STOs are one of the only mammals that develop skin cancer from sunlight alone - other animals need combinations of sunlight, genes and chemical carcinogens." They have 50 teeth contained in their triangle shaped jaw. When frightened, they may show their teeth. Their fur is short thick, and very soft. Since STOs do not have good eyesight, they have excellent senses of smell, and hearing making them sensitive to sound.
In the Zoo
Currently we have two STOs, one male (Scoot) and one female ie).
The information on this fact sheet was taken from www.knowyoursto.com by Molly Kalafut.
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