As baby season gets into full swing, the incubators are filling up with joeys
The story almost always starts sad
Most of the joeys I have were orphaned when a dog killed their mother. One of them was orphaned when a storage building was moved, disturbing the area where she and her Mom and siblings were hiding. She was the only survivor.
9 of the babies came to me when their Mom, weak and injured, passed away in a kind person’s garage.
Unfortunately the reality of rehabilitation is that a sad story prefaces every new intake.
Tiniest joeys
The smallest babies are fed with a tube inserted into their stomach. They don’t seem to mind. Most other mammals are not tube fed as they readily drink from a syringe with a nipple. It is very slow going and messy trying to feed opossums, armadillos and bunnies with a syringe so I tube feed them all.
Tube feeding also helps assure me they are getting the right amount of formula.
These joeys are big enough to walk around the incubator, explore the stuffed opossum I have in there for them, and drink a little milk from a lick mat.
Little joey all alone
What an amazing story! This juvenile joey was seen by himself on someone’s patio. He is too young to be on his own and would still be with Mom. He is too big to be in the pouch all the time but would still be nursing when Mom nested down for a while.
At this age they are riding on her back or following her on foot.
Mama opossums can’t count and don’t always know when a joey has fallen off her back or has been unable to keep up if he gets distracted or is running after her.
Somehow he ended up by himself!
A miracle recovery! So rare!
Mama doesn’t usually come back but in this case she actually did! This video and the photo were provided by the person whose patio this drama unfolded on. Thank you!
Content warning: snake!
A King snake in trouble
I received a panicked call from Dominique, who found a King snake in her yard with it’s head stuck in a soda can. She reached out for help to many places but no one was willing. I don’t normally take reptiles but was willing to try.
But before the snake even got packed up to come to me, Dominique and her roommate were able to extricate the snake from the can and it slithered away on it’s own.
What a wonderful story and such brave and caring people.
