Wasabi's Second Stay in Hospital

Wasabi has had to go to hospital again. It was the same problem as last time - an infected wound on his tail - and like last time he was treated successfully and released.

Wasabi's hospital room

I'll document what happened in (moderate) detail for the benefit of anyone who might be looking at treating possums. I'll concentrate on what I did differently to last time, so if you haven't already seen Wasabi's first stay in hospital, I'd recommend reading this first to get a full picture of the process.

Update 26th July 2015

The biggest news recently is that Wasabi has had another stay in Possum Hospital (in brief; the treatment went smoothly and he now looks OK). I will post the details of this separately, meanwhile, here's a roundup of other news:

The brushtails Kiki, Toto, Sasha, Farley and Comet and the ringtails Wasabi, Tilda and Ruby have all been visiting. At one stage a young ringtail, who is probably Ruby's baby, visited but didn't stay long and hasn't been seen since.

Sasha - 24^th July 2015

All of the female possums, including even Toto, have babies in their pouches. Sasha's is the furthest along and we might see parts of it sticking out of the pouch within the next few weeks.

Update 23rd June 2015

The brushtails Kiki, Toto, Farley, Comet, and Sasha and the ringtails Wasabi, Tilda and Ruby are all currently visiting.

Toto with injured leg - 16^th June 2015

Toto has an injury to her front right leg.

...and you will know us by the trail of piddle

Although otherwise a very cute little ringtail, Tilda has developed the annoying habit of leaving great long trails of piddle along the balcony rail every night.

Tilda aka The Piddler and her handywork - 25th May 2015

I'm not sure what her exact motivation is. It isn't uncommon for possums to leave a little message like this on the hand-rail, but never so much and so consistently. Surely this is going beyond simple scent-marking.

I'm wondering if it's an attempt to deter other possums. It does seem that the brushtails have a greater tendency to chase Tilda away when they see her, so maybe they're showing their displeasure at her fouling up their dining area.

I'm hoping that continually cleaning it off will eventually discourage her.

Update 10th May 2015

Kiki, Toto, Comet, Farley, Sasha, Wasabi and Tilda are all currently visiting. In addition, a mother ringtail (probably Ruby) and her baby have been seen close to the house several times, having apparently been encouraged to visit by Wasabi. Once Wasabi brought the baby to the house himself; he is a good father and willing to share parenting duties.

Sasha - 7^th May 2015

There is still a possum in the ceiling, and I am not sure whether this is Sasha. 

Update 12th Apr 2015

Kiki, Toto, Comet, Farley, Wasabi and Tilda are all currently visiting, and sometimes several appear at the same time.

Possum Circus (Left to right: Farley, Toto and Kiki) - 5^th April 2015

In addition, there is a new possum in the area. This is an adult female who has been named Sasha. Sasha is probably the one who has been sleeping in the ceiling space, and not the new male seen mating with Kiki (who hasn't been seen since that time). It is unusual for a female possum to come into area, and it's possible the Sasha might have been evicted from a neighbour's ceiling and taken refuge here.

Update 31st Mar 2015

Kiki, Toto and Comet are all visiting regularly and in good health.

Toto - 27^th Mar 2015

Toto is a typical independent and adventurous baby brushtail. He [I'm assuming Toto is male, although there's no definite proof yet] frequently visits by himself, and even when very young, would run off into a distant tree when he scored a particularly juicy morsel of food.

Introducing Toto

Kiki's latest baby (her 12^th) is now out of the pouch. He or she (the gender is still unclear although the little one looks more like a boy) has been named Toto.

Toto on Kiki's back - 8^th March 2015

Unfortunately, Kiki didn't visit Box 7 when Toto was in the pouch, so we didn't get to see the little one come out to play, like we did with Kiki's previous several babies.

Wasabi pays a visit

For the first time since October last year, Wasabi has come to visit. He's been seen around a few times since then but this the first time he's actually come to visit the humans.

Wasabi - 17^th Feb 2015

Earlier in the night a mother and baby ringtail were seen in the trees (unfortunately too far away to photograph), so Wasabi might have been in the area keeping an eye on them. Wasabi is a responsible father.

Update 14th Feb 2015

There is a new male possum in the area. He has been named Farley.

Farley - 8^th Feb 2015 [Photo by Xesce]

In late January, he was seen checking out the possum boxes and they must have been to his liking because he's been sleeping in either Box 2 or 3 every day so far this month.