Native mammals

[Viridae]

The hopping mice I want to see a pic off too - I had considered them.

 

[pythonmum]

My flatmate and I kept Kowaris and some native mice (not spinifex hoppers) many years ago. We also fostered orphaned fruit bats - nothing like a big fruit bat hanging off your hand to scare off the Jehovah's Witnesses! (That was a VERY funny encounter...)

Anyway, the Kowaris belonged to my flatmate, but were pretty easy to keep. I think she'd gotten excess stock from someone at Taronga (?). We fed them a bit of dog food, some mixed veg, regular treats of meal worms and pinkie mice now and then. They enjoyed bogong moths, too. We kept them in a big aviary and a concerned neighbour once reported to us that we had rats in our parrot cage because she saw them running around at night.

I also spent a summer working in the Research Dept of the National Zoo in Washington DC. They kept a variety of marsupials including some S. Amer. species, sugar gliders and ringtails. The South American Monodelphis are much like the kowaris in diet and size. The zoo diet was minced vegetables (sw potato and kale), meat, fresh crickets, mealworms, a bit of fruit and pinkie mice as treats. That summer got me hooked on marsupials and led to the move to Australia - never know where your interests will take you!

 

[abbott75]

We also fostered orphaned fruit bats - nothing like a big fruit bat hanging off your hand to scare off the Jehovah's Witnesses! (That was a VERY funny encounter...)

HAHA, I am one of Jehovah's Witnesses, you'll be amazed at the things we see whilst out annoying people!:lol:

 

[pythonmum]

Maybe you would have known what to say - the poor folks who came to our door just hyperventilated and ran!

 

[ari]

Hey now this is interesting.....which is the smallest of the species Sugar Gliders or Squirrel Gliders? And what is the smallest possum, the pygmy possum - if so are they available to keep or breed in captivity? Anyone have them?

 

[xander]

Sugar Gliders are half the size of Squirrel gliders. The smallest of all possums is the Little Pygmy possum,which weighs in at a massive 6 grams or so.Ive cared for the eastern pygmies.

 

[chickenman]

lol i volunteer at toronga zoo occasionaly, as some of u might know. and the wombat they used to have at the aus mammal section is cool. i was with on of the aus mammal keepers and she goes up to the wall of the enclosure and taps on the side and it waddles over to her and sits there while she gives him a pat... lol that was funny

but the echidna mix..... ewwww.... its the grossest stuff ever ( the food hix was talking about earlyer) it smells gross.... it looks gross.... it is gross... especially when u have to clean the container it was in.... it had been sitting out in the sun for a day and it had gone all chunky and ewww... i almost through up

 

[Inkslinger]

Have kept suger gliders ringtails and brushtails Brush tails would have to be my favorite

 

[waruikazi]

Have cared for and am currently caring for northern brush tails and very temporarily had an agile wallaby. Babies are very cute, but an awful lot of work!

 

[jan]

We have a very cute pair of Sugar Gliders...sweet little critters!!
And we have 5 Tammar Wallabies, including one very cute joey which emerged from
its mums pouch just recently...one of the male Wallabies is an Albino..we call him Grubby

 

[Snake Catcher Victoria]

Congrats on the joey jan, must bring the kids around again for a big ooh aaah session.

 

[sassy]

hi, i would love to know more about keeping the brush tail possums please.... i often have long chats with the wild ones around here... most r fairly inquisitive and some will allow a short pat, even without offering food (i dont do that cos id rather not have them live in my roof!)
Just wondering what and where u keep them? and if they trash the house when u let them roam?
thanks

 

[sassy]

oh, have also nursed a few orphan ring tails for a week or so under wildlife carers instructions, then released them... was hard to put them back they were so sweet...and obsessed with rose petals.

 

[waruikazi]

I look aftedr mine in a bird aviary. Bout 2x2x1m

 

[alex_c]

i have kept sugargliders. and my nanna used to have an orphaned wombat she raised from a baby when it got bigger it used to bite to be picked up:lol:

 

[sassy]

and they r good pets? u let them inside for play etc? i assume if the wild ones as so inquisitive as a pet they would interact a lot with their owner?

 

[waruikazi]

They willl never be like a dog or a cat.

 

[alex_c]

They willl never be like a dog or a cat.

i did come across a male ringtail who was tame like a cat i should have bought him

 

[Jonno from ERD]

Ours sleeps in a large cat carrier, and has free roam over whichever closed room we choose at night. We were desperately trying to hand tame her but we think she was just a bit too old when we got her, so we are now trying to tame her as much as possible, and will put her in an aviary with a male next year and hand raise her young. They trash everything, they smell and if they want attention they will screech very loud!

 

[waruikazi]

Tame like a wild bad bottom feral cat? Or nice and friendly?