Just like human babies, animal babies need to have regular check ups to make sure they are healthy and progressing normally.

Two captive bred litters of Mountain Pygmy Possums (MPPs) were 12 weeks old when they had their first vet check at Healesville Sanctuary last week.   The Mountain Pygmy Possum is Australia’s only hibernating marsupial and is now critically endangered.  There are very few left in the wild, so when babies are born at Healesville Sanctuary as part of our captive breeding program, we get very excited.

This was a big day for these tiny and precious possums.  The vet check was performed at the Australian Wildlife Health Centre at Healesville Sanctuary by vet Phillipa and vet nurse Kim.

Under a very quick general anesthetic their eyes, ears and teeth were checked.  They were checked for physical abnormalities – none found!  Hair samples were collected for genetic analysis, they were weighed, and their sex was confirmed.  It turns out that mum Coriander’s litter consists of two boys while mum Conargo’s litter consists of one boy and three girls. They were also micro-chipped for identification purposes – just like your pet cat or dog!

After the check up they went back into their cloth transport bag to wake up after their short nap then returned back to mum. In order to monitor the babies progression, the Mountain Pygmy Possum keepers will visually check them on a daily basis and weigh them once a week.

Did you know: When fully grown, Mountain Pygmy Possums weigh about 40grams – the same as a Caramello Koala! A few of the babies have almost reached this weight at only 12 weeks old.

Find out how Zoos Victoria is Fighing Extinction and how you can help Mountain Pygmy Possums

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Written by: Elizabeth Caspar, Zoos Victoria on February 23, 2012. 2 Comments.

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