Dead baby :(

[on:]

Last night I had my first cannibalised joey. It was kind of a shock & I panicked for a little bit. My first concern was for the life of the remaining joey (a cute little boy by the way). I called a very trustworthy breeder who is a household name when it comes to raising abandoned/rejected babies. She asked me the following:

1. Is there milk in his belly?
2. Is he dehydrated?
3. Does he have any wounds or are there any signs of rejection?
4. Is he strong?

She could actually hear him in my hands while I was on the phone with her, & she was very pleased to know that he is very strong. He passed all the tests. So we decided that there must have been a serious health problem with the other baby - since Lola & Attila are excellent parents & nothing about their environment has changed at all.

I was still kind of bummed about it. This is my first death. It's not uncommon though so I'm trying hard not to be sad. I'm very thankful that the other joey isn't being rejected at all. This morning he was nursing soundly.

[Reply #1 on:]

I can't even imagine the shock, I don't even know what I would have done.  With any animal there can be complications, I'm glad to see the other is doing just fine.   Have you come up with a name for him yet?

[Reply #2 on:]

He doesn't have a name yet but I've been thinking about "Lucky" since he's the surviving joey I think that would suit him well. I usually don't name my joeys for a couple weeks though for obvious reasons. We like to pick names that match them.