Quick Help Guide for Rejected Joeys
If you see any symptoms of Joey Rejection, you need to immediately pull the joey from its parents and start Hand Raising. For complete, specific information, please go to my page about Hand Raising A Joey; however, for quick, how-to-start information, this page will get you going...
Signs of rejection include, but are not limited to:
- Joey found left alone in nest by both parents for more than 10-15 minutes at a time
- Joey crying a lot with neither parent responding to the joey's cries
- Joey trying to crawl out of the nesting area (before 4-5 weeks out of pouch)
- Joey found alone and cold outside of the nesting area
- Joey found alone in a different nesting area from where parents are located
- Joey found on cage bottom
- Joey found dehydrated
- Joey found with bite and/or scratch marks anywhere on body or face
- Mother repeatedly pushing the joey away when attempting to nurse
- Joey being repeatedly hissed and/or crabbed at by the mother when trying to nurse
Checking for Dehydration
The first thing you need to do is to find out if the joey is dehydrated at all. To check for dehydration, simply gently pull up the skin above the shoulder blades. If the skin stays "tented" up for longer than a few seconds, then the joey is dehydrated. The longer it stays tented, the more severe the dehydration. If severely dehydrated, immediately bring the joey to a vet for immediate sub-q (sub-cutaneous) injection. If only slightly dehydrated immediately start giving the joey unflavored Pedialyte every hour for the next 6 hours or until rehydrated. If not rehydrated within that time, then vet care will be needed.
How to Feed the Joey
To prevent aspiration into the lungs, it is important to follow these steps:
- wrap the joey in a warm cloth, like a burrito (joey must be warm or it will not eat)
- hold the joey so the head is towards the ceiling and the tail is towards the floor (parallel with the wall)
- only apply formula to the tip of the joey's lips, never open the mouth to place formula inside the mouth
- place one drop of formula on the joey's lips at a time, wait for the joey to lap* it up, then place another drop on the lips
* Most rejected joeys do not know how to lap to get their food, they are used to suckling. You may need to put a drop of formula on the joey's lips, then gently rub the tip of the joey's nose with your fingertip until the joey licks. You may need to repeat this process a few times until the joey gets the idea.
What Do You Need for Feeding the Joey?
If the joey is under two weeks out of pouch (oop), you will need to make my Joey Formula. You will need the following ingredients:
- Brisky's Booster Milk
- -OR- Wombaroo Possum Milk Replacer >0.8
- -OR- Puppy* Formula (preferably Esbilac, if available)
- PLUS:
- Gliderade (optional)
- -OR- Lorikeet Nectar (optional)
- PLUS
- Pedialyte (unflavored)
- -OR- Liquilyte (unflavored)
- PLUS
- Apple Juice
- PLUS
- Baby Cereal (any variety)
Mix these ingredients together according to my Joey Formula Recipe.
To administer the formula, you will need:
- A needleless syringe (0.5 or 1.0 cc's)
- PLUS a Feeding Tip (to make the drop of formula smaller so that the joey is less likely to aspirate it)
* Do NOT use Kitten Formula, it is too high in lactose and young joeys are lactose intolerant. Bloating and other issues can be caused by high-lactose products.
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If the joey is older than two weeks oop, you can use Joey BML (no wheat germ) to feed it. I recommend gradually weaning them onto it over the course of 4 days to avoid bloating:
Feeding Reference Guide
| Age of Joey: | Amount to Feed: | Frequency: |
| Newly oop ~ 2 weeks oop | 0.3 - 0.5 cc's | Every 1 - 2 hours |
| 2 weeks oop ~ 4 weeks oop | 0.5 - 1.0 cc's | Every 2 - 3 hours |
| 4 weeks oop ~ 6 weeks oop | 1.0 - 2.0 cc's | Every 3 - 4 hours |
| 6 weeks oop ~ 8 weeks oop | 2.0 - 4.0 cc's | ** |
Stimulating the Joey
You may need to stimulate joey to go potty:
- Gently rub the joey's cloaca with a moist q-tip for 10-15 seconds.
- Joey's urine will be clear so may not be noticeable unless it urinates a LOT.
- Joey may not defecate for the first 24 hours after being switched to formula - this is normal and not of concern. However, much longer than that may indicate a blockage, in which case veterinary care would be needed.
- Feces will be bright orange/yellow in color and will be soft and unformed. This is normal; however, if watery at all, then immediate vet care is needed.
For Further Information
Again, this page is simply meant to be a Quick Reference Guide to get you started. For more complete information, including how to make an incubator, please read through:
