So my new female woke up today about 5pm, it's now 10pm & she hasn't taken more than a 30 second pause from cleaning the inside of her pouch! She lays on her back and stretches the pouch open with her front paws then sticks her nose inside and goes to town! Can she make it raw cleaning it so much? It's been healing after having a joey pulled out by Papa Bear, but today it looks really good & the pink bump that has been there up until yesterday is gone. I'm just wondering why she's cleaning it so franticly & if I need to put her in a collar or something.
Re: Female's Head IN own Pouch!
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#29285 11/11/0401:14 AM11/11/0401:14 AM
my girl was doing this frantically a lot a while back and the vet said she was masturbating... and cleaning... that she may be bored but you also have another issue since she's had pouch problems so i would keep a close eye and see what more experienced people have to say as well.
Re: Female's Head IN own Pouch!
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#29286 11/11/0402:44 AM11/11/0402:44 AM
Females can get rather vigorous when cleaning their pouch, especially when they either have a joey IP or a joey is about ready to go IP. Before a joey can go IP, the mama glider must first remove all the hair from the inside of her pouch. This can result in what seems like rather aggressive grooming.
Re: Female's Head IN own Pouch!
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#29289 11/11/0406:45 AM11/11/0406:45 AM
Gina, it's possible you may have another joey about to make a trip to the pouch-if it hasn't already done so. Troi did a lot of grooming when she had/was getting ready for hers-The first time I saw her pull it open with both hands to clean in there, it was like, What the Heck?? If a joey does make it in, she'll be doing that alot, as they clean the joeys, and clean up after them, while they're in pouch. It's neat when they get bigger, and you get to see mama pull open her pouch to clean the baby and also get to see the joey! A just born joey is about the size of a grain of rice-it'll be a couple weeks before you'll see what looks like a little "peanut" in there if indeed a joey is IP. I don't know that I'd worry yet. You could always take her to the vet again for a check, mentioning that there could be a joey but you're not sure so he's careful not to knock it off the nipple if there is one. Of course it wouldn't be a good idea to put her under anesthesia for a close look if there is, either. I'd watch for unusual redness, which could indicate a pouch problem as opposed to a baby-but she just might be going to try being a mama again. It is possible for joeys to go IP within weeks of each other-we had 3 in 3 months-Troi was pregnant again with twins when Peek was only 3 or 4 weeks OOP, and I have heard of 1 case (from one of my vets, Dr. Emch) where he had to treat an injured mama with a 2 week OOP joey, to find there were already twins IP again!
Jen/Colin Commander Riker 12 16 02-10 04 12 you will be FOREVER missed Sinbad, Gabby, Baby, and Alley
Re: Female's Head IN own Pouch!
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#29290 11/11/0401:33 PM11/11/0401:33 PM
Wow! Well, here's a pic of how she stayed until I went to bed around 2am! She's sleeping now, I'd be tired too after all that cleaning. Her pouch is definately looking better from the other day, so I'm leaning toward the joey IP, but I'll keep an eye on it either way. If you guys weren't sick of me already, you sure are going to be now if I've got a joey on the way! Is it even possible for the joey to be IP yet since the last joey was pulled out on Halloween? That only leaves 12 days for migration, I thought it took 16.
Re: Female's Head IN own Pouch!
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#29291 11/11/0402:25 PM11/11/0402:25 PM
Really? So, I have no way of knowing if there was a joey IP or how long it had been there. She's kinda chubby too, so I don't know if I'll be able to feel anything. At what point should you be able to feel the pea?
Re: Female's Head IN own Pouch!
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#29293 11/11/0404:26 PM11/11/0404:26 PM
LOL, really! I was afraid she wasn't going to eat! When I got up in the morning, the crickets were gone, and I know Papa Bear won't eat them, so she must have stopped at some point!
Re: Female's Head IN own Pouch!
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#29295 11/12/0406:45 AM11/12/0406:45 AM
By the time the joey has been in there 2-3 weeks, you should be able to notice a tiny, peanut sized lump (like one out of the shell) in there. If you feel physically, do so VERY gently so as not to knock the baby off accidently-it won't be able to reattach. By the time she's 4-5 weeks along, it'll be about the size of a grape. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />
Jen/Colin Commander Riker 12 16 02-10 04 12 you will be FOREVER missed Sinbad, Gabby, Baby, and Alley