We recieved the call to collect a wallaby joey from a member of the public. The joey had been found 2 weeks earlier after mum had been killed by a car.

When we collected this little female Red Neck wallaby joey, it was a pitiful sight to say the least, she was extremely undernourished, she was dehydrated and she was cold. At this age she would normally have been able to maintain her own body temperature, but due to malnutrition and dehydration, she was only just hanging on to life.The family that had cared for her, had in their mind done what they thought right, but as we already know these animals are not like owning a kitten or puppy, they need specialised food, and specialised care.

We brought this little one home, Katrina tucked her up under her shirt to keep her warm on the journey home, as we had not come prepared, having been told the joey was quite large and fully furred. It was neither large nor fully furred, it was in fact a very young joey only just getting her fur, only about 180 days old.When we arrived home she was given fluid by injection as she was too weak take it by mouth. She was put in the humidicrib, and as she warmed up, we were able to feed her only very small amounts at a time, as her stomach was not able to take much in one go. Her weight was a mere 400 gram, it should have been at least double that.

It has now been a few days, and she is putting on weight fast, she is still not totally out of danger, but we are keeping our fingers crossed for her, she certainly is a fighter. We are once again reminded of the importance of getting help as fast as possible when finding a joey, hoping to make a pet of a joey can in fact end up in disaster. We will keep you up to date as to how she progresses.

28th May 2005

Little Miss is doing well in care, she is putting on weight at a steady pace now, and starting to interact with other wallabies in care. She is now outside in the nursery pen day and night, still in her pouch at all times, only venturing out for a hop after her bottle. She is still bottle fed 5 times a day and night, but now also eating some solid food

.30thJuly 2005

Little Miss is seen here 4 months after coming in to care, she has not progressed as well as I would have hoped, but as she has plenty of time before release she should catch up. Not having the right nourishment at such a young age has certainly compromised her development.

Little Miss has made friends with another orphan in care, it is a little Red neck Pademelon, same age as her, but the development is much faster in Pademelon's due to their smaller size.

 

The Pademelon now spends a lot of time out of their shared pouch, Little Miss still only ventures out after her bottle. Even though these two have separate pouches, it is rare they are not in just the one.

There are other wallabies in care, but these two, have created a bond somehow.This is not unusual behavior, we often have similar age wallabies sharing pouches, it is not encouraged, but at the same time, we let them choose. So far all of these friendships have lasted whilst they stay in care, after release they take up with their own kind.

 

January 2006

The Pademelon was released some time ago, the bond that formed as very young joeys did not last past final emergence from the pouch, and we were able to release the Pademelon with no distress to either of them.

Little Miss formed a bond with 2 other wallabies that came in to care some time after her, although much younger, they have become firm freinds, and I feel confident that we are finally able to release Little Miss.

She has taken a lot longer than is usual for this specie to become mentally ready for release and life in the wild, but the time has finally arrived, and she will go to the last stage in the pre release pen later this week with her 2 mates, both female Red Neck wallabies like herself.