Female opossums will give birth to up to two litters per year, and successful males will mate with multiple females throughout the breeding season. Kits are born blind and hairless without well-developed rear limbs.

Each litter typically has an average of eight or nine infants, although more than 20 infants can be in a single litter. Opossum mothers will not retrieve lost youngsters. The opossum, (Didelphis virginiana) is a nocturnal animal that lives in North America.

Several years ago, biologists from the Cary Institute put opossums and other species, like chipmunks, squirrels, mice, and catbirds to the test, giving each animal 100 ticks to eat. Opossums give birth to two litters per year, each resulting in an average number of eight babies.

Opossums are solitary animals except when coming together to mate or when females have young. Opossums are marsupials, who carry their young in a pouch. The infants are so small at birth that 20 could fit into a teaspoon. They use their instincts to move toward the mother's pouch, where they nurse and continue to mature for about 14 weeks. Most litters consist of 6 to 9 young. After giving birth to embryo-size offspring, a female opossum carries her young in her pouch as they continue to develop. Mothers give birth to underdeveloped opossum babies. Female opossums often give birth to very large numbers of young, most of which fail to attach to a teat, although as many as thirteen young can attach, and therefore survive, depending on species. A female can give birth to a litter of four to 25 joeys that are each about the size of a kidney bean. It is a marsupial, which means that the females give birth to tiny young, who grow in a pouch. Opossums will give birth to between 6-25 young one to three times a year, usually between January and July.

Opossums killed and ate far more ticks than any other animal, leading scientists to estimate that just one opossum eats, on average, 5,000 ticks in a single season.

Opossums are nocturnal, and emerge from their dens to forage for food at night. The opossum gives birth to bumble-bee-sized young in an almost embryonic stage of development but capable of crawling along the mother’s body to her pouch, a characteristic of all marsupials, from kangaroos to wombats. Opossums usually give birth to 20 babies in a litter. Until you are able to contact and place … Reproduction of the Opossum. Unlike many other possum species, these solitary, nocturnal creatures are highly adapted to living near humans, even in urban areas such as Sydney. Baby opossums make a sneezing, hissing, or sort of a "choo choo" sound, when it's in distress or calling out to mom or its siblings. 11-13 days after mating over 20 infants may be born, although an average litter consists of 8-9 infants. Babies immediately crawl into the mother's pouch, where they continue to develop.

During this state—which can last up to six hours—the opossum’s breathing and heart rate decrease.