Can I get sick or contract anything from holding a stray baby opossum?
So my sister and I found a small baby opossum in our backyard a few hours ago on a high surface that he was about to slip off of in the cold rain. We felt so bad and after trying and failing to reach him we heard the Momma gave up and seems to have just left. My sister quickly put on 2 sets of winter gloves and a cardigan so she could hold him. He was a little bit startled and shaking at first. We had him inside for about 2 hours before we put him back out in a box with some water and banana mush (not sure if he’ll eat it). Now we’re thinking, why would we do something so crazy? Can we contract anything from him, like rabies or ticks/fleas? We had him on our beds, how do we know if we do have something and what do we do from there? Honestly we’re just panicking and would appreciate some answers.