Moonlit Sanctuary Moonlit Sanctuary

  • Thread starter Thread starter MRJ
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They really are adorable, they have soft fur as well although I found them to be quite wary as I had to make a very pronounced approach.

Speaking of soft fur, feeding and petting a Squirrel Glider is an experience like no other!

So you actually stroked a potoroo too ?

That is awesome ! I'd love to stroke one and see it up close.

Squirrel gliders are fascinating little animals too, their convergence with the flying squirrels is mindblowing.
 
@MRJ This is a bit of a random question, but I'm sort of curious (I guess my fascination with the Potoroidae is pretty obvious by now from the other thread), what do you feed your potoroos and what are their temperaments like in captivity ?

Sorry to butt in, but maybe you might like this short vid too (not from Moonlit sanctuary). It shows afternoon meal for 3 adult potoroos at my home zoo (a lot of vegetable and salad, some pellets/waffers for herbivores, cocroaches, champignon mushroom). Their morning snack is Oyster mushrooms. BTW that animal with white fur around eyes is over 11 years old sweet lady.
 
Sorry to butt in, but maybe you might like this short vid too (not from Moonlit sanctuary). It shows afternoon meal for 3 adult potoroos at my home zoo (a lot of vegetable and salad, some pellets/waffers for herbivores, cocroaches, champignon mushroom). Their morning snack is Oyster mushrooms. BTW that animal with white fur around eyes is over 11 years old sweet lady.

Not at all, don't worry about it ;) This is brilliant stuff !

I'm really fond of potoroos so I love seeing videos of them and thank you for sharing this !

Look at her tucking away that huge mushroom bite by bite, adorable! :D

She is really quite old for a potoroo isn't she considering that they live such comparatively short lives in the wild ?
 
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She is really quite old for a potoroo isn't she considering that they live such comparatively short lives in the wild ?

Yes, she is old, I think usually potoroos reach only around 6 years, even in captivity. Her name is Prašivka (it means both "unedible mushroom species" in Czech, and it´s also name used for "Scabbers" from local translation of Harry Potter books). She and another large mushroom, note how tame she is, being filmed from few cm.

Some positive reinforcement training.

And very last vid, enrichment for potoroos. A thick layer of dry leaves mixed with various seeds, nuts and insects.
 
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Yes, she is old, I think usually potoroos reach only around 6 years, even in captivity. Her name is Prašivka (it means both "unedible mushroom species" in Czech, and it´s also name used for "Scabbers" from local translation of Harry Potter books). She and another large mushroom, note how tame she is, being filmed from few cm.

And very last vid, enrichment for potoroos. A thick layer of dry leaves mixed with various seeds, nuts and insects.

She is ancient then in potoroo terms, lol , what a wonderful name and yes she does seem to be incredibly tame !

I imagine this kind of captive enrichment is excellent for this species considering that it spends most of its time in the wild foraging through leaf litter to get at fungi and seeds and things like that.
 
*Moonlit have announced the birth of twin Yellow-bellied Gliders to their pair Luna and Shy.
We are so excited to announce that Luna and Shy, our pair of Yellow-bellied Gliders, have successfully bred for another season and again had TWINS - which is rare!

Shy (female) has been trained to stretch her body out whilst receiving nectar to allow keepers to be able to monitor the health and development of the joeys.

You can see our Yellow-bellied Gliders and Squirrel Gliders on one of our night tours which are currently running on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.

Tickets must be booked online.

www.moonlitsanctuary.com.au
#FindYourWayMorningtonPeninsula #VisitFrankston
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*In other news, the first Orange-bellied Parrot for the season has hatched.
Our first Orange-bellied Parrot chick for the season has hatched! With less than 50 of these Critically Endangered parrots left in the wild, every chick in captivity counts.

We have more pairs incubating eggs and hope for a great breeding season!

www.moonlitsanctuary.com.au
#FindYourWayMorningtonPeninsula #VisitFrankston
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Orange-bellied parrots have produced more chicks and the Bush stone-curlews have 2 chicks ( from Facebook ) :
" More breeding success!
Our critically endangered Orange-bellied Parrot chicks are continuing to hatch, and over the weekend we also welcomed a pair of Bush Stone-curlew chicks.
As a species that were once quite common, the Bush Stone-curlew is now listed as endangered in Victoria and New South Wales and is extinct locally.
Moonlit breeds Bush Stone-curlews for release programs based near Albury, New South Wales."
 
How many now worldwide in captivity?
Any idea as to current status in wild?
They are rare / rarely seen in the wild but are not of conservation concern. @CGSwans is right they do breed readily in captivity. We obtained one because we use pythons extensively in education and encounters, and they show variation from the stock standard carpet python. Useful when discussing concepts such as evolution and adaption.
 
Do we have any scientific and concrete evidence to explain the lack of visual versus abundance?
If you mean why are they not seen more often in the wild, they are an uncommon species that live in a rugged, remote and sparsely populated part of the country. If you are implying that because they breed well in captivity they should be more common in the wild there may be any number of reasons why that may not be so. The fact they are difficult to observe makes it difficult to find out why. Catch 22.
 
A new year brings a new challenge. Moonlit Sanctuary will be working to save the New Holland mice, an iconic Mornington Peninsula species, and the smoky mouse, a close relative. An honour to work for their recovery. Thanks for the Federal government funding.
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ps: Sorry not sure if you have to be a member of Linkedin to see the article but when I click the link it takes me straight there.
 
A new year brings a new challenge. Moonlit Sanctuary will be working to save the New Holland mice, an iconic Mornington Peninsula species, and the smoky mouse, a close relative. An honour to work for their recovery. Thanks for the Federal government funding.
Sign Up | LinkedIn
ps: Sorry not sure if you have to be a member of Linkedin to see the article but when I click the link it takes me straight there.
I can’t see the article.
 
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