Dasyurids
What is a dasyurid?
| This family includes carnivorous Australian marsupials. Their diet ranges from mammals and birds to insects and other invertebrates. They are native predators. |  |
| Fat-tailed dunarts with young |
Capture
| The best way to catch these animals is to grasp them by the base of the tail and quickly place them in a bag or carry box. Dasyruids hang upside down with their legs spread when you pick them up, so be careful they do not swing up and grab your hand. You can stop this happening by swinging them slightly to keep them off balance. A quick and easy way to contain a dasyurid is to put a bag (a pillow slip works well) over your hand and grab its tail the through the bag. Once you have done this, draw the bag over the animal and secure it with a knot at one end. |
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| Holding julia creek dunart |
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To pick up smaller dasyurids, such as dunnarts, grasp the base of their tail, allow them to grab the cage- then scruff them like a kitten. Small dasyurids travel well in a soft cloth bag over short distances. For longer journeys, put the animal in a small wooden box filled with shredded paper or a coffee tin with breathing holes and shredded paper. | |
| Holding a brush-tailed phascogale | ||
Housing
Initially, quolls, phascogales and antechinuses can be housed in a cage of about 1sq.m. Try to avoid using light plastic carry boxes as quolls can chew through these. Put a number of fresh native branches in the cage.
To keep the branches upright, inset them into a piece of black poly pipe with one end twisted over and attached to the cage. You can release live moths as an extra source of food as long as the cage has fine wire. It is important to give the animal somewhere to hide like a hollow log or nesting box. These can be lined with towels or shredded paper (the paper is an extra hiding place).
Remember, these animals are escape artists so make sure the cage is secure. Phascogales and antechinuses will attempt to escape by squeezing through very small holes.
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When the animal has finished any intensive care, it can be moved into a 4m x 4m x 2.5m aviary. Be careful housing more than one animal per cage. Watch for signs of fighting such as fur missing or bite marks. To reduce the fighting, install more nesting boxes or logs than the number of animals. Varying the size of the entrance hole on nesting boxes will also stop larger animals from following smaller ones. Nest boxes should be placed at different heights, including some on the ground. Put a thick layer of fresh mulch on the floor to reduce foot problems in quolls. The mulch will double as a food source, as it contains grubs and insects. |
| Dasyurid holding facilities |
You may be able to encourage the animals to use one section of the cage as a toilet. Place a large patch of sand and a large rock in the area you want them to toilet. When they defecate, place these fresh samples in this area for a couple of days. They may decide to use this area for their toilet, which will make it easier for you to clean the cage.
Dunnarts are ground-dwelling animals. Initially they can be housed in a fish tank with a tight-fitting lid. This should have a layer of leaf litter on the bottom and a nesting box or hollows lined with shredded paper for the animal to hide in. If you make the lid from fine mesh, you can add live moths as an extra source of food.
When they require less care, dunnarts can then be moved to a 2m x 2m x
.5m enclosure. This will enable them to regain their wild skills. The cage should have leaf litter on the ground and be made of fine mesh to stop them escaping. Place logs and branches in the cage to give them cover and something to climb on. The leaf litter and branches also gives them extra insects and fungi.
Feeding
These animals should always have access to clean water.
You should always offer dasyurids insects (e.g. mealworms, moths, beetles, cockroaches, worms and grasshoppers).
Quolls will eat mice, rats and day-old chickens. Smaller dasyurids (e.g.
antechinus, dunnarts and phascogales) should only be given furless mice or rats as fur or feathers will block their intestines.
A meat mix can also be provided. This can be made two ways:
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| Small carnivore wombaroo mix |
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You can also feed dasyurids some fruit and vegetables, especially figs (dried figs will do), rolled oats, grass seeds and hard-boiled or raw eggs. These animals should be given as much live food as possible in the weeks before their release. The food should be spread throughout the leaf litter, which will prompt them to hunt. If possible, give hand-reared quolls stunned mice to help them develop their hunting skills. |
| Frozen pinkies |
Last updated: 11 January 2005