A wallaby, a bandicoot- the fun never stops!
Hello friends & fellow rehabbers!
Sorry for my absence; I got a really nasty cold about ten days ago, so I just was takin’ it easy and letting the bloody thing run its course. Didn’t do as much on the ‘net as I usually do, but I did relax and got caught up on my “Green Man” cross-stitch project. It is about half-way done; can’t wait to complete it and move on to the next project. (What’s next? Galahs? Kookaburras? Seasonal stuff? Can’t decide!)
This past Monday I did a fundraising day for FAWNA (For Australian Wildlife Needing Aid) at our local mall- it went very well, and we also got some new volunteers to join up; in particular, two new folks who want to train to become venomous snake rehabbers. We have a hard time getting people who are willing to do bats & flying foxes, venomous reptiles and birds. Not everyone wants to handle them, naturally everyone seems to want to work with “cute & cuddlies”- macropods, possums, gliders, etc. Speaking of which:
It never rains but pours. Got called Monday night to let me know that I had a Red-Necked Wallaby joey coming to me in the morning, so I spent a busy evening going through all my pouches, flannels, liners, bottles, teats, etc. and ordering in a certain type of food (Wombaroo, when before I’d been using Divetalac with my other critters, but this little guy had been started on Wombaroo 0.7 already).
The next morning, I was all ready to take delivery of the wallaby when the phone rang- and guess what? It was the vet’s office asking me to come down and identify and take care of a baby bandicoot! Cool- I’d never seen a live bandicoot before, but had once heard one growling back at my snoring hubby on a camping trip. Did a bit of juggling and ran down to get the bandicoot. Poor little thing was 24 grams, completely hairless but for some adorable whiskers and had been mauled by a cat. None of the wounds were deep and they were clean, and he’d been given an antibiotic injection by our wonderful vet. Prognosis wasn’t good, but I took him anyway, called our “Other Native Mammals” coordinator and got loads of advice.
All went well for the morning- got him to drink (a miracle! They are very hard to feed) some glucose/H2O solution, and got his body temperature where it should be. Afternoon feedings went okay, but by late afternoon his temp was dropping and I hadn’t been able to get anything out of him whilst toileting. I lost him about eight o’clock that evening.
Meanwhile, back on the wallaby front, the person who was supposed to deliver the joey to me didn’t make it over to my place, so I had to arrange to go pick the little guy up at the high school. So I got all the deliveries handled (Wombaroo, scales) and got the bandicoot situated, and off I went to get the joey. Got him home and found a wonderful bundle of joy! He has the sweetest little face and the most velvety fur, and the longest, most graceful legs that he just loves to s-t-r-e-t-c-h all day long. He is none to steady on his feet- at six months old he is still a pouch baby- but a makes a few short hops then somersaults back into the pouch. He is a fussy eater, but is otherwise a little angel. For some odd reason the cooing of Widget (my turtledove) seems to calm him down; maybe there was a flock near where he was found.
Anyway, I’ve named him Jason- a good strong boy’s name- after the hero in Greek mythology. The name so far it has mutated into all sorts of cute baby talk pet names- JayJay, Baby Jay, the Jayse, Jayjoey, and so on. He seems to like all the names, although I think what he is really responding to the most is my voice. Well, whatever works, right? As long as I can keep him stress-free, well-fed and get him on a regular routine, all should go well.
Jason will be with me ‘til about Christmastime, then he will go to a pre-release site to be introduced to other joeys. After that he will then be released back into the area in which he was found.
Am officially on call now and under mentoring for “other Aussie mammals” (a separate licensing category)- I did want to pick up at least one more license in this next fiscal year, and if all works out I may have two by next winter: “other Aussie mammals” and “Bats & Flying Foxes”. Not much else for me to do after that but for venomous reptiles and sea animals, and then *fingers crossed* be one of the very few people selected each year for a Raptor rehabber’s license. But I need much more space for that; really must find a bigger place in the next few months.
Cross posted to my personal journal rachaels_lj and rehab_wildlife.
Blinkie by ladette
Sorry for my absence; I got a really nasty cold about ten days ago, so I just was takin’ it easy and letting the bloody thing run its course. Didn’t do as much on the ‘net as I usually do, but I did relax and got caught up on my “Green Man” cross-stitch project. It is about half-way done; can’t wait to complete it and move on to the next project. (What’s next? Galahs? Kookaburras? Seasonal stuff? Can’t decide!)
This past Monday I did a fundraising day for FAWNA (For Australian Wildlife Needing Aid) at our local mall- it went very well, and we also got some new volunteers to join up; in particular, two new folks who want to train to become venomous snake rehabbers. We have a hard time getting people who are willing to do bats & flying foxes, venomous reptiles and birds. Not everyone wants to handle them, naturally everyone seems to want to work with “cute & cuddlies”- macropods, possums, gliders, etc. Speaking of which:
It never rains but pours. Got called Monday night to let me know that I had a Red-Necked Wallaby joey coming to me in the morning, so I spent a busy evening going through all my pouches, flannels, liners, bottles, teats, etc. and ordering in a certain type of food (Wombaroo, when before I’d been using Divetalac with my other critters, but this little guy had been started on Wombaroo 0.7 already).
The next morning, I was all ready to take delivery of the wallaby when the phone rang- and guess what? It was the vet’s office asking me to come down and identify and take care of a baby bandicoot! Cool- I’d never seen a live bandicoot before, but had once heard one growling back at my snoring hubby on a camping trip. Did a bit of juggling and ran down to get the bandicoot. Poor little thing was 24 grams, completely hairless but for some adorable whiskers and had been mauled by a cat. None of the wounds were deep and they were clean, and he’d been given an antibiotic injection by our wonderful vet. Prognosis wasn’t good, but I took him anyway, called our “Other Native Mammals” coordinator and got loads of advice.
All went well for the morning- got him to drink (a miracle! They are very hard to feed) some glucose/H2O solution, and got his body temperature where it should be. Afternoon feedings went okay, but by late afternoon his temp was dropping and I hadn’t been able to get anything out of him whilst toileting. I lost him about eight o’clock that evening.
Meanwhile, back on the wallaby front, the person who was supposed to deliver the joey to me didn’t make it over to my place, so I had to arrange to go pick the little guy up at the high school. So I got all the deliveries handled (Wombaroo, scales) and got the bandicoot situated, and off I went to get the joey. Got him home and found a wonderful bundle of joy! He has the sweetest little face and the most velvety fur, and the longest, most graceful legs that he just loves to s-t-r-e-t-c-h all day long. He is none to steady on his feet- at six months old he is still a pouch baby- but a makes a few short hops then somersaults back into the pouch. He is a fussy eater, but is otherwise a little angel. For some odd reason the cooing of Widget (my turtledove) seems to calm him down; maybe there was a flock near where he was found.
Anyway, I’ve named him Jason- a good strong boy’s name- after the hero in Greek mythology. The name so far it has mutated into all sorts of cute baby talk pet names- JayJay, Baby Jay, the Jayse, Jayjoey, and so on. He seems to like all the names, although I think what he is really responding to the most is my voice. Well, whatever works, right? As long as I can keep him stress-free, well-fed and get him on a regular routine, all should go well.
Jason will be with me ‘til about Christmastime, then he will go to a pre-release site to be introduced to other joeys. After that he will then be released back into the area in which he was found.
Am officially on call now and under mentoring for “other Aussie mammals” (a separate licensing category)- I did want to pick up at least one more license in this next fiscal year, and if all works out I may have two by next winter: “other Aussie mammals” and “Bats & Flying Foxes”. Not much else for me to do after that but for venomous reptiles and sea animals, and then *fingers crossed* be one of the very few people selected each year for a Raptor rehabber’s license. But I need much more space for that; really must find a bigger place in the next few months.
Cross posted to my personal journal rachaels_lj and rehab_wildlife.
Blinkie by ladette