Meet Little Sméagol

As some of you know i do wildlife caring, and on tuesday i got a call from the head wildlife carer asking if i wanted to care for a baby possum!

So i said yes and mum picked him up after work..

Fell in love at first sight.. He is adorable..

Called him Sméagol cause at first he seems really sweet, but then he hissed and was grumpy like Gollum, and he has these HUGE creepy hands like Gollum hahahahaha

They grow up really quickly!
Found the growth rate chart, he was 150 grams when i got him, and in 4 days he is already at 175 grams!

At 150 grams, that means he is 120 days old!

In 10 days, they will get to 210 grams!

10 days after that they are at 280 grams

and only 10 days after that they are 400 grams, and will be climbing around all night being a nuisance hahaha


The first night he was shy and hissed at me, but still drank his milk, even though it was a challenge for about 15 minutes until he decided to drink each time haha

But ever since he has been adorable, no more hissing, giving me kisses, and wanting to climb out and play with me, even though hes a little too young haha

Of course they bond to one person, so now he has bonded to me and thinks i am his mother, so when he is older he will be climbing and chasing after me..

He is going to LOVE my room haha

Fargo isn't allowed to meet him yet, he has quickly seen him once, and whispered 'helloooo' hehe

But here are some pictures!

First night home:

Shy, and big hands haha

He is like a little monkey





He is so cute! The coolest thing is his tail, it automatically wraps around my wrist or finger!



He gets more alert and wakes up when its feed time, so he will sit up ready for his bottle

and last but not least...
This is how we sleep.. Because he is only a baby, its better to keep them with your warmth, so he sleeps in his big warm pouches, and i have my hand in there all night, and he cradles into me


Of course 4 hourly feeds are fun, for some reason i dont mind waking up at 3am, i end up staying up longer watching a tv show hahaha

He's soooooo adorable!!!!! I wish I had more time caring for wild life like I used to long ago....

Sooooo cute! that's awesome you're able to foster baby animals. Will he be able to be released or will it be too imprinted on people?
You should get him some stupid fat hobbits

Haha Love him!

Are you able to foster animals in America? Like chipmunks, squirrels, racoons? :20: I am not sure what you have there haha

Yes he will get released, we have released 5 possums on our property! Just put them in a big cage for a while, then you leave the door open.. They still stay in there, then get more curious, but will always go back to their pouch during the day to sleep haha and then after a while they just never come back!
Although one of mine came back after about a year! He was HUGE!

The carers said i should try not allow him and Fargo to interact much, because when hes in the wild, he might think all birds are friends!

HAHAHAHA Ashley, i swear, when i was trying to give him his milk the first night, he was like:

Oh we loves milks doesnt we precious?!
NO!!!! No more milk
But precious we must have milk
No, she doesnt like you, nobody likes you!
But she does precious, she does!

Thankfully he was a perfect drinker after about 3 feeds, he gobbles it straight up without messing around! :09:

Yes you can as long as you get license to do so. And yes we have all those animals you've listed. Not as many precious ones like you have in your area Tab!

LoL@my precious.....I just re-watched that the other day....

Awww i would love to foster a squirrel or chipmunk!!

We can do possums, wallabies, kangaroos, and bats.. and people used to be able to raise koalas, but now they no longer let you apply for a permit, because they are alot rarer, they already have enough carers i believe! :20:
Dont have to have a permit to raise anything else though!

HAHA I love the lotr and hobbit films, Gollum is the best character

Yes he is!!!!! I love the hobbits! But my favorite gotta be the Elf!

Conflicted about the milk LOL

And yes, you can foster animals with the right permits.

My favorite was also always the elves, I was disappointed that Elrohir and Elladan were left out. I've always loved his books, but sometimes I feel like I'm reading a history book rather than a novel. Which is kind of cool in it's own way. LOTR will always be my favorite out of all Tolkien's work.

Kenji's lucky he came with a name, I had Melkor at the top of my list for CAG/TAG names XD My friends always tell me that it's a terrible name for a parrot but I loved it. To be named after the most powerful Ainur is pretty cool, even if he did turn to the darkness where he became Morgoth and was eventually banished from he world

What a little sweetie! Gee, you'll have your hands full raising a possum joey, Tab! You might need to become a night-owl for the next little while? He looks like a little Ring-tail (is he?) - they're my favourite. We get Brush Tails locally and they sound like a herd of elephants when they gallop across your roof at night.

Copperarabian said:

Conflicted about the milk LOL

And yes, you can foster animals with the right permits.

My favorite was also always the elves, I was disappointed that Elrohir and Elladan were left out. I've always loved his books, but sometimes I feel like I'm reading a history book rather than a novel. Which is kind of cool in it's own way. LOTR will always be my favorite out of all Tolkien's work.

Kenji's lucky he came with a name, I had Melkor at the top of my list for CAG/TAG names XD My friends always tell me that it's a terrible name for a parrot but I loved it. To be named after the most powerful Ainur is pretty cool, even if he did turn to the darkness where he became Morgoth and was eventually banished from he world

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Oh gosh, you have completely lost me :52: hahahahaha :09:

I have never read the books! Watched all the extended lotr films and the hobbit in 24 hours... but definitely not a lotr geek kind of thing, i am just obsessed with gollum, my background on my computer changes throughout his scene of the hobbit :54:

They are all very cool names, i like those unusual uncommon names! Even though most people cant pronounce them But hey you will be getting a macaw one day right, so at least you will have the name lined up!

Betrisher said:

What a little sweetie! Gee, you'll have your hands full raising a possum joey, Tab! You might need to become a night-owl for the next little while? He looks like a little Ring-tail (is he?) - they're my favourite. We get Brush Tails locally and they sound like a herd of elephants when they gallop across your roof at night.

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Hahaha well i did it when i was younger, mum used to do the late night feeds though

But for some reason, since the end of last year, i have always woken up in the middle of the night, then i check facebook, check the forum

So even when i dont have a joey, i am still awake at 3am!! So its not that bad!!

Just heading to bed earlier, usually about 10, then i wake up at 12, then next feed at 4am, then can sleep again until 8! then i can just feed, then go on with my day like usual!


He is a little brushtail!!! But his tail isnt like a brush yet HAHA He is all furred up, but its not thick fur? I think when they reach about 300+ grams, thats when they start getting really hairy!

Oh and i have a huge story for you, was so busy yesterday haven't had time to reply to the PM

There's the little troll. HAHAHAHAHAH! Look at those fingers! Reminds me of the guy from "Tales of the Crypt" (Crypt keeper).

You KNOW I'm only messing with you, Tab, right?

Sméagol is adorable, he really is. I can't wait until the day he starts using Fargo's playgym.

Oh SOOO cute! Until they pee on your tent roof all night long! :smile009:

JerseyWendy said:

There's the little troll. HAHAHAHAHAH! Look at those fingers! Reminds me of the guy from "Tales of the Crypt" (Crypt keeper).

You KNOW I'm only messing with you, Tab, right?

Sméagol is adorable, he really is. I can't wait until the day he starts using Fargo's playgym.

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HAHAHA Hey, it's Fargo, Klaatu and Kitai you will have to be dealing with soon, you are picking on their little brother :09:

Oh !!!! You know, i think i never told you this story..

When i was 11, and we had our first possum, Tilly, she slept in a cage in my room...

And one night... i woke up... and Tilly was latched, straight in the middle of my head...

I didnt do anything, i just hopped up, walked into mums room and said- Why is Tilly on my head?

She had SOMEHOW just escaped her cage, ran up the bed, and of course thought i was her mums fur, and just sat there

So i am looking forward to the nights when Smeagol is climbing around, jumping from the nets, swinging back and forth, and then landing on my head :54: hahahaha

WHAT a visual! Awesome!!!!

ROTFLMAO!!! I'm a night owl meself and do exactly as you do: get up in the middle of the night and check out fb and the forum. No wonder you always seem to be online when I am! (Still giggling at that).

Can't wait to hear the big story. Might it entail Houston not having any problems???

oh my gosh how adorable you are so lucky and he is lucky to have you as well!!!

What a cute little baby!

Hahaha thanks guys!

Oh he is so lucky he got me as his mum.. This is the story of what happened that night, about 2 hours after i had him

*Phone rings*
Head wildlife carer: Hello, blah blah blah, it seems there was a mix up with the possums... You have got the wrong possum

- umm... its a possum... they are all the same :20:

Carer: You were meant to get the 200 gram one, instead of the 150 gram one, because i had promised another lady a smaller one, because apparently she always gets stuck with bigger ones...
Even though this lady has been doing it for 20 years, but "apparently" NEVER?! had a baby one... rightttt...


Ok.. Its a 50 gram difference.... 50 grams..... Its not like its a huge difference..

But i already had named Smeagol and fell in love with him..

So mum said: Look, we would have to drive 2 hours to get this possum to the other lady... I have been working all day, i just have to try and sort this out!! Could the other lady please give me a call?!

This other lady called and said:
YOU HAVE MY POSSUM

Mum was in shock.. She said, Umm, i am sorry, we have no idea what is going on, we were just handed a possum..

and this lady was SOOOOO rude, and said- I want that one, its smaller, i dont want this one its too big.. This should of all been explained to you.. blah blah blah

Mum is still in shock at this point, because my mum is very posh and well spoken..

So mum said, look, can you just give me a few minutes, i can try and sort something out, and then i will give you a call back?

and the lady just hung up :O

We didnt have her phone number or anything hahaha

I just said- She isnt getting Smeagol, over my dead body

So we called the head carer back up, and she said..

I am sooooooo sorry, alot of these people are very rude and dont have any communication skills, look, just let Tabitha keep her possum, its fine! Dont worry about it !
I will just have to find another home for this ladies possum... Because she doesnt want it anymore


Thats horrible.. Just because its 50 grams heavier, she doesnt want to care for it...

So i said to Smeagol- Aren't you glad you got me as your mumma and not this other lady

Smeagol is going to be 200 grams in a few days, so what, then he would of been too big for this lady again? hahaha


Mum was still confused for a while, just saying- It is a possum?! haha

LOL How funny that you woke up with Tilly latched to your head!

tab_xo said:

Copperarabian said:

Conflicted about the milk LOL

And yes, you can foster animals with the right permits.

My favorite was also always the elves, I was disappointed that Elrohir and Elladan were left out. I've always loved his books, but sometimes I feel like I'm reading a history book rather than a novel. Which is kind of cool in it's own way. LOTR will always be my favorite out of all Tolkien's work.

Kenji's lucky he came with a name, I had Melkor at the top of my list for CAG/TAG names XD My friends always tell me that it's a terrible name for a parrot but I loved it. To be named after the most powerful Ainur is pretty cool, even if he did turn to the darkness where he became Morgoth and was eventually banished from he world

Click to expand...

Oh gosh, you have completely lost me :52: hahahahaha :09:

I have never read the books! Watched all the extended lotr films and the hobbit in 24 hours... but definitely not a lotr geek kind of thing, i am just obsessed with gollum, my background on my computer changes throughout his scene of the hobbit :54:

They are all very cool names, i like those unusual uncommon names! Even though most people cant pronounce them But hey you will be getting a macaw one day right, so at least you will have the name lined up!

Click to expand...

Just want to say again, it is so cool you are raising that baby possum

You should read them sometime, they are really amazing. Especially return of the king :heart:
Elrohir and Elladen are Lord Elrond's sons, And melkor/Morgoth was Sauron's leader, Morgoth also created Shelob(the giant spider). I'm totally geeking out XD My best friends mom also likes Smeagle, she has a little statue of him that came with one of the extended editions.

Actually, Since adopting Kenji I'm not all that sure if I want a macaw or not anymore. I spend almost all my spare time with Rosie and Kenji, I can't imagine how another parrot would fit into my life in a way that they still all get the attention they deserve. I still have Sundance willed to me, but I've been thinking about talking to his parronts about him going to one of my closest friends instead when that time comes. I know some people can handle a bunch of parrots, but I don't think I could do that lol