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What is a Wallaby?

Wallabies as Pets

Choosing A Pet Wallaby

Feeding Wallabies / Fencing Requirements

Breeding Wallabies / Hand Rearing Baby Joeys

Wallabies & Weather / Wallabies & Stress Related Illness

Splish Splash

Books

Mother Wallabies and Their Babies
(Craft, Sarah S. Zoo Life Book.)





Choosing a Pet Wallaby 

         When buying a wallaby you should decide who to buy from and what to buy. There are lots of breeders out there but not all of them are knowledgeable and some are unwilling or unable to supply you with all the after-sale support you need. Do your homework and select an animal from a caring, knowledgeable and responsible individual. If she cares about her animals she will be pretty fussy about who she sells them to and will probably want to know quite a bit about you in order to confirm that you are willing to make a long term commitment to her baby (after all, it might live 10 to 15 years) and have the facilities to provide it with a suitable home. Apartment dwellers need not apply!


      Do not buy a wallaby from someone who is unwilling to show you their breeding premises (or at least photographs). Never buy a wallaby from an auction, especially if it is a baby. Who knows how much stress it has endured on the way to market, how recently it has been fed? Who bred it? Who are you going to call for advice when you need it? And forget any guarentees. Most of the time there is no information regarding the seller or the care of the animal attached to the crate. While there are a lot of honest decent people who take their animals to auctions and take special care that they are well looked after, it is hard to sort the wheat from the chaf in an auction environment. The sale numbers come up and you bid and what you get is purely luck of the draw. A lot of the sellers don't want you to be able to track them down, they just want to take your money and run.

          Male joeys are usually cheaper than females but there are draw backs. All joeys like to play fight when they are little and it is so cute that it is hard to resist indulging them and play fighting back with your hands. Female joeys, even though they remain tame and affectionate, lose interest in this kind of play as they grow up. A male joey's interest in play fighting escalates as he gets older and he will not understand when you no longer want to play with him when he weighs over 30lbs and wants to jump on you and affectionately pummel you into a concussion every time you visit him. If you want to use your tame male joey for breeding later on, never play fight with him and discourage him with a sharp NO! if he attempts it. If your wallaby is going to be strictly a pet, then have him neutered at least several weeks prior to the breeder sending him to you. The cost of the neutering will almost certainly add to the price of the joey. Spaying is not necessary with female wallabies. Like all females, they are sweet and reasonable at all times (how can you tell that this was written by a woman?).

    




Copyright © 1997 Pygmy Pets Exotic Animals
This Home Page was created by Stratagem, April 23, 1997
Most recent revision March 12, 1999