no doubt that is one full and wriggling pouch for Ellie. Sorry about the dirty looking bottom, but hey nature is something else - she is also papping! Now I wonder how many of your know what that means?
Pap is produced by the mother koala as a porridge like goo directly from the caecum, and the joey pops head out of the pouch and eats it like it is the best thing ever. This puts the needed bacteria into joey's system so that joey will be eating leaves within the next weeks. We have waited a long time for Ellie to be mature enough to have her first joey, this is so exciting!
@pusspup yeah not quite the same, and more gross as then pup wants to lick your mouth! only koalas pap, roo joeys can just nibble dirt to get the kick start like calves and kids and foals do - but up high in the trees, well we get pap instead.
Interestingly too, once joey has that digestion working, they would not eat poo by choice ever again (and pap isn't poo but hey close!)
Exciting times ! and yes you have taught us well - papping is produced as well as milk to feed the joey in prep for the leaf diet ! ( hope I am correct !!)
Ohhh- this is so exciting! Can't wait to see the little one, whom I'm pretty sure will be adorable. Isn't it amazing how "mum" produces many things the babe need- pap and milk- a great start for life. Happy Motherhood Ellie!
Ellie looks so plump. So, it is a special kind of poop she produces when she is getting intestinal bacteria to the baby? I've seen in videos about the rescue centres or zoos that they just seemed to take any poop from a lady koala to feed to an orphan baby. Maybe I misunderstood or maybe it is just needs must in those circumstances.
Of course I didn't see what you saw! I just had to read and now I know and see. What an exciting time ahead of you. I thikn, Ellie is very calm about it.
@gardencat yeah it's not actually poop, it is a special porridge like consistency that comes directly from the caecum (appendix). sometimes in a captive situation with an orphan the best that can be done is to make a 'poo shake', but hospitals tend to harvest caecal contents from trauma deaths to use, which is closer but still not quite pap either. the biggest issue is that you can only keep it for a few days as it is a live culture of bacteria. there is nothing like mum, just like there is nothing quite like breast milk, though we can make substitutes that work well enough 🙃
Interestingly too, once joey has that digestion working, they would not eat poo by choice ever again (and pap isn't poo but hey close!)