What Do You Do With a Kangaroo ... Er, Wallaby?

Some people keep dogs, some people keep cats, some people keep rabbits. We’ve got a wallaby (and then some, but let’s just focus on the wallaby here). We’ve done the wallaby thing before so you’d think (as we did) that we were not novices when we picked up Tabitha in the spring of this year. We had Clancy for over 13 years so we thought we had some experience, and we were right. We did have some experience. After all, we kept Clancy close by and we bottle-fed him. However, Clancy never did bond in the same way as Tabitha has. We can’t say exactly why. It may have been because he was older, or perhaps because he had a different personality, or because we didn’t know what we have learned this time. It also may have been because we got Clancy in January, so he was ready to move outside in May or June of that year. When all is said and done, this time around, we’re going to have a wallaby under foot for just about an entire year!

Clancy checking out his new shed.

Clancy at about 14 years old.

When you live in a house with a pet wallaby, you’re bound to get inquiries from the slightly envious, or the mildly disgusted, or the intensely curious. I know you’re bound to because we do. So here’s the lay of the Funny Farm household as run [ahem] influenced by a baby wallaby.

9-month-old Tabitha trying to find an itch.

“Where Do You Even Get a Wallaby?”

We got Clancy from one place, but this time we decided to try a different breeder, so we got Tabitha from Fall City Wallaby Ranch outside Seattle. I was lucky enough to be able to stay for several days when I went out to pick her up. Rex, the breeder, really loves his wallabies and kangaroos and spends quality time with them and their offspring. He was well acquainted with Tabitha since he had been bottle-feeding her for almost a month before I got there. He hadn’t intended to “pull her” (meaning remove her from her mother) until I arrived, but her mother became ill, so Rex had to pull her earlier than he wanted, even though I couldn’t be there yet. He really tried to talk me into a different joey because Tabitha was very small, but I loved her immediately and I guess he decided that I’d be okay because he let me bring her home.

Looking out the window to the wallaby, kangaroo, and 
wallaroo enclosures at Fall City Wallaby Ranch.
 If you are ever in Seattle, take the tour!

Rex holding Tabitha (8 months old)

Tabitha and Rex interacting.

“What Do You Feed a Pet Wallaby?”

We buy her milk formula from Wombaroo because it’s specially formulated for wallabies and kangaroos.

I started off having to feed her every four hours. Two of those feeding times meant I had to get up in the middle of my night to feed her and stimulate her to urinate in the playpen ‘litter box.’ This was good news since she has bonded well, but the bad news? I need a lot of sleep and I felt like a new mom. We were glad when we could cut one of the feeding times and instead feed her immediately before I went to bed and the moment I got up.

Now that she is fifteen months old, Tabitha also eats grass, hay (getting her ready for when there is no grass), and a special dry feed made for wallabies and kangaroos called L’il Hopper. Eventually she will graduate to Happy Hopper – same company, but made for older wallabies and kangaroos.

9-month old Tabitha taking a bottle.

10 month old Tabitha out in the grass and weeds.

11-month old Tabitha taking a bottle.

“Is She Litter-Box Trained?”

This is the #1 question that I am asked. Simple answer? Sort of. She is pretty good about urinating in her playpen on doggie pads. The side of the pen has been cut open so she can get in and out easily. Most of the time her scat (feces) is small and firm and can be swept up – because she drops fecal matter everywhere – though mostly on tile floors and doggie pads we have now put down in her ‘favorite’ places. Yes, she has bowel movements when she is in her pouch. Usually it is easily removed – dumping the scat out over the garbage can or outside. 
Once in a while the scat can be looser and messier and harder to clean up from the pouch or wherever. Sometimes she decides to urinate on the tile or the plastic, and sometimes her bowels are loose. Do you recognize the problem here? It is called a tail! Even though she doesn’t step in it, her tail drags through it . . . so we sometimes get trails of, well, whatever.

Occasionally, like when we leave her home alone, Tabitha has been known to leave scat and urine on our bed. So, every morning I cover the bed with a plastic drop cloth and throw a couple of dog pads up there.

“Does She Jump All Over The House?”

Well, speaking of the bed, it is high (even for a bed) -- about 3 feet off the floor (because it has drawers underneath) -- and Tabitha can jump up on it from a sitting position on the floor. This means that she can jump on furniture, tables, chairs, counters, etc. So far she has limited herself to the bed, the hearth, and one of the bathroom counters. We may have encouraged these limitations by making sure every door is closed along the hallway and we have gates up to keep her out of the living room and basement.

Tabitha on our 3 foot high bed. 

The hearth

A bathroom counter...

“What’s It Like Living With a Wallaby?”

What about other aspects of a wallaby as miniature roomie?  

Well, for one thing, she chews on things such as my good sneaker laces, David’s biking gloves, and the straps of her pouches. She has also stripped wallpaper off the wall and chewed on the carpet.  On the bright side, I guess I might finally learn to put things away, I wanted the wallpaper off the wall, and we needed new carpet before Tabitha.

My poor shoelace.

Our poor carpeting and our wallpaper.

Even the toilet paper is not safe!

One of the fun things about Tabitha being in the house!

Tabitha waiting at the door for me.

 For another thing, she doesn’t seem to share her space so well. She hisses at our border collie, Amos.

Her hiss is soft and quiet and isn’t all that intimidating unless you’re an ant. However, he is a passive dog and tries to stay away from her. She will follow him around, and once in a while he finally growls. Soon we will see how she does with our mini pig, Neum. He comes inside at night, but goes directly to his crate, so there hasn’t been much interaction. However, with colder weather coming, he will be inside a lot more. I may have another post when we see how that relationship shakes out.

Then again, there are many great things about having Tabitha in the house. There is still a lot of bonding time. She now comes and demands a bottle when she wants it and she often drinks a little and comes more often during the day. This is probably more what would happen if she was in the wild. I know that my goat kids sip a bit from the doe and play and sip a bit and go, etc. They never stand and drink like the ones I’ve bottle-fed have been expected to. I still get to cuddle her when she is in one of her pouches.

She isn’t crazy about being held without a pouch, but she is very cuddly when she is in one. She still wants attention – and we’d miss that if she was outside. When we take her out and let her do her own thing, she likes it, but she wants me where she can keep an eye on me. That’s really okay, of course, because at fifteen months old, she would still be hanging out with her mom if she were in the wild.

Still, even with all the nice things about having a wallaby close at hand, we will all be happy when spring comes and Tabitha moves into Clancy’s old digs, because, when it comes down to it, a human house isn’t really designed for even the cutest, sweetest little macropod.

Wallaby development for the first 13 months.