Possum Update

Where to begin...

My last blog back in May about Tamigotchi and Saori talked about them drinking from a 5ml syringe...and they were just little babies. I'd only had them for a couple of months at that stage. Well, things have changed since then.

I've had my little guys for six months now and they are happy little campers. Shortly after I moved them into their small plastic/wire (cat sized) cage, I moved them out and into a larger cocky's cage. I put lots of climbing branches in with them so that they could exercise and play now that they were getting bigger.

They finally got the idea about lapping and that made life a little easier. Saori was the first to get the idea. Tamigotchi seemed to want to remain a little baby and have his mummy feed him by syringe, still. So cute! The above photo is of Saori.

The photo opposite, shows Tamigotchi enjoying his syringed dinner. Notice how much they have grown, yet they still enjoy getting down the front of my top! They really are just like little babies.





Be the first to check out my first video clip of the babies.

While Saori and Tamigotchi resided in their cocky cage, we hired someone to come and build them a custom made aviary/hutch so that we could get them closer to a soft release situation and familiar with outside and all the noises the outdoors brings.

I still have to take photos of the completed aviary, but after several weekends the aviary was finished and ready for the little guys. I did the majority of the painting but, at one point, Ian rocked up and gave me a hand as well. We still have a little more painting to go on the smaller side of the aviary, but we're nearly there. The larger side is for Tami and Saori and that is now completed.

After the aviary was completed, we found out we needed to snake proof it, so we had to get the handyman to come back and do that for us. It's amazing how much you learn when you immerse yourself into the whole process. We believed we'd thought of everything, but...wrong.

We recently did some major pruning of trees around our property. Ian and I chose three or four massive branch systems and we installed them in both aviaries. They turned out to be perfect for climbing and hanging fodder for the possys. It was now starting to look more interesting inside the aviary. Our plan was to emulate the great outdoors and make it as natural for the possums as possible.

The handyman, under my instruction, built a large sleeping space up high and I filled it with warm straw grass. I went to Bunnings and bought a hanging basket and two coconut husk inserts and I made a dome home for them to sleep in. It smelled awesome; very organic and it just looked like it would make a very cosy place for them to sleep. I secured it inside the high sleeping space.

I tacked some green shade cloth on one side of the sleeping space. This gave the guys some privacy and protection.

We built the aviary inside a fenced off enclosure. Each week, over many weeks, I have planted out native trees and shrubs. Ian counted up to about 46 so far. I got a surprise as I thought I'd planted out about twenty something. When these trees and shrubs mature, it is going to look awesome and provide much food for the birds and wildlife. We want to plant out many more trees so that it encourages all critters to stay away from the busy road we live on.

A few weeks back Tami and Saori moved over to their aviary. I acclimatised them to the outdoor conditions over time when they were in the cocky cage. It was perfect timing with spring coming on. They have both settled in really well. I have added little runways and extra climbing structures, as well as a rope bridge, which they love to run along. They are very good at running around their aviary and I can see they are very happy there. They have made a lovely little home for themselves.

The first time I went into the aviary to give them fresh fruit and change their fodder, I wondered what they might do? It was the first time that we'd be on equal terms (without them being in a pouch that was easier for me to handle them). I wondered if they would want to have anything to do with me? It didn't take long to find out. The first possum out of the nest and to climb all over me was...Tamigotchi! I was shocked. He'd always been the most timid of the two. Saori always wanted to snuggle with me, but Tami always kept me at a distance. Now that he was free of pouches, etc, he wanted to be with me. I was absolutely over the moon. I've always had a real soft spot for Tami because if it wasn't for him, I would never have experienced raising these orphans. He had been the one who always tried to bite me (not hard), but he always had a go at me in the beginning. He stopped biting me after a month or so, but I never dreamed he'd become so attached to me. I kind of knew Saori would be. I think Tami and I grew closer when he showed me he was not ready to lap. He wanted the syringe for much longer than Saori. Tami is approximately 3 weeks older than Saori and is quite a bit smaller than her. He is quite a small ringtail possum.

Now, every time I enter the aviary on dusk, my babies come out and run down their rope and spring on me. I love the smell of the coconut husk on their fur. They snuggle, they walk all over the back of my shoulders, up my arms and up and down my pants and tops. They help me when I put out the new fodder and interact with whatever I am doing at the time. They are very relaxed and happy.

I feed them a variety of fresh fruit and flowers from native plants. They love the flowers. Once a week I'd drive down to Victoria Point to the Fodder Forest to collect enough fodder to last a week. A friend of mine found out and invited me over to her acreage home and showed me what they grew. Their place has quite a number of established natives and lilly pillies. She kindly allows me to collect fodder from her place to save me such a drive to Victoria Point. Tami and Saori enjoy a wide variety of their favourite foods and are in superior condition. The base of their prehensile tails are very solid and strong.

Another friend of our procured two long lengths of thick marine rope which we plan to run from the aviary up into two large gum trees, so that when the time is right for their soft release, they have a way to safely find their way into the trees. Ian calls it the autobarn highway as the rope is thick and will be plenty big enough for them to successfully climb.

Before my two babies moved to the aviary, I was given two baby orphaned brush tails to raise. I've had them for approximately five to six weeks now. They weighed 226 grams when they arrived. Brush tails, I have discovered are totally different to ringtails, but are no less fun and interesting. Their names are Penny and Sheldon and I will write a separate entry about their arrival and progress at another time.

I feel like I'm in seventh heaven when I look after these gorgeous little critters. They are absolutely adorable and I feel so privileged.

Well, that's about it for the time being...

so, until next time....
cheers

Instalment 31 Saturday 7 May 2011

I decided I'd try Tamigotchi and Saori with a new teat today, and this worked a treat. On one of the later feeds, I decided to try to go back to the larger 5ml syringe, once I knew Tamigotchi was happy with the teat. For the past little while I've just been using the 3ml syringes because Tamigotchi has not wanted to drink from the 5ml.

Success! It is great when everything works. Both possums drank their 5ml formulas and seemed very content.

During the afternoon, I decided it was time to trial the possums in a new setting. I went over to the shed and got the plastic cage Gillian had leant me. I scrubbed it down and made it all clean and disinfected. I dried it all off.

While it aired, I went for a walk around the garden finding a couple of branches for climbing and also some leaves for Tamigotchi to munch on. Saori is not quite up for this exercise, so the leaves are for Tamigotchi, but Saori might explore them.

I brought everything back to the house and I set up the cage. By the time I'd finished, it looked like a mini forest. I added two little pouches and hung them so that should the possums decide to, they could put themselves to bed.

After the next afternoon feed, instead of sending Tamigotchi off to sleep, I placed him gently on some branches in the cage and then he took himself off to explore. He was really ready for this exercise. He found some leaves and picked them up. He held them in both hands and started to shred them. You could tell he was really enjoying himself. He was very comfortable in there.

Saori was a different story, but it didn't hurt her having a turn in there. She paced around and tried to look for a way out of there. She is a real social girl and only wants to snuggle after her feeds. She lasted in there until the last feed of the night and then I decided to put her in a pouch and back in her basket for the night. Tamigotchi spent the night in his little mini jungle.

My beautiful family took me out for dinner to celebrate Mothers' Day. We went to Gusto Gianni's at Portside. We had a great time. The food was excellent and so were the cocktails. I had the pork belly and it was superb! I love my family. They really look after me and make sure I am blessed. This year, not only am I a regular mother, but I am a possum mummy too.

Instalment 30 Friday 6 May 2011

I spent the day organising hospital things and once that all got done, I was able to concentrate on regular things. Filling in the hospital forms proved to be a very time consuming exercise and I was glad when I finally could do no more for today, at least.

The possums are all well, but Tamigotchi acted finicky towards his food today. He does this every now and then and I haven't really worked out why, yet. I'm not sure if it is the syringe, or the teat, or the taste of the milk, or if he doesn't feel himself. Well, people have off days, don't they? So, why can't possums?

I just have to persist with him. I manage to get him to eat all his food most of the time. There's been a couple of times where I have thought he'd finished and I cuddled and put him to bed and then, when I've gone to clean up everything, discovered that he'd left a half a ml or more. He can be a tricky little munchkin.

Saori continues to be herself. She has this cute routine. As soon as I remove the rubber band from her pouch she scampers out into my hands and then she climbs all around the outside of the pouch, biting and clamping down. She knows the routine and I let her do her stuff for a little while and then it is time to go to the toilet. She always goes to the toilet for me. She's a good little poppet. Once that is done, I wrap a towel around her and settle her into position and from then on, she loves to suckle until all the milk is gone.

She is the most beautiful baby. My heart just fills with love with these two babies.

Once Saori finishes her formula, I try to mop up under her chin and then she scampers up under my chin and burrows down under my shirt where she sits and preens herself and then snuggles in for a nap. She loves snuggling into my chest under my shirt where she feels very safe.

After Tamigotchi finishes feeding, I wrap both my hands around him securely and lift him up near my face and I pat the top of his head with either my finger or my cheek. He loves this and it sends him to sleep straight away. He feels secure snuggled up like this.

Instalment 28 Wednesday 4 May 2011

Today is athletics day and I've been asked to help out with the boys' high jump. We've had a fair amount of rain lately and yesterday afternoon we experienced a wild storm front. It almost looked like the athletics carnival might have to be cancelled, however, it fined up and the kids got their whole day of field events in with no problems.

The oval was really slippery and we had some spills and thrills at the high jump arena, but the boys were tough and knuckled down to have a great time. The field events went through till 1pm and then it was back to a normal day.

I fed the babies and then went to grab a bite to eat myself. Linda, a friend who teaches up in the secondary school popped down to have a cuppa with us during our lunch time. It is always good to catch up with her.

The rest of the afternoon I spent back in Writers' Circle and then at the end of the school day, I had to leave on time to go up to the secondary library to meet a new student that I was to tutor this term. I fed the babies before I left. I took the babies with me and no one was the wiser. The possums are really no trouble at all.

This first tutoring session went well and my student proved to be lovely. Once the session was over I ended up having to go back to my classroom because I'd left my keys back in my room accidentally.

I headed home and got myself ready for Book Club, which was due to start at 7:30pm. I got some dinner organised, fed the babies. My darling Kimmy kindly vacuumed the floor for me, so everything was looking lovely and spiffy. Then, Kimmy decided to whip us up a batch of home made scones...mini ones that were light and fluffy. It doesn't get much better than that.

Book club was great and we had a great discussion about this month's title: 'The Good Earth' by Pearl S. Buck. The evening was topped off with tea and coffee and warm, fresh scones.

Instalment 27 Tuesday 3 May 2011

Another trip to school, with possums in tow. They were very well behaved and I seem to be managing the feeding routine at school without any problems. I managed to get a car park a little closer to my class which helps with all the things I have to carry.

I left a little earlier for school and fed the possums after I'd set up my laptop and got my class organised. This will get the babies through till after morning tea. I have to attend a meeting all the way through morning tea, so I will feed them after that.

This is Week 2 of second term and it's the second week where I will only be able to teach Writers' Circle on one of my days because tomorrow is our Primary's athletics day. I will still be working, but doing different jobs. I spent some of today endeavouring to set up some new display areas in my classroom. The students worked hard on their Writers' Profiles and we enjoyed a good day of writing.

Instalment 26 Monday 2 May 2011

I told Ian my plan for the trees and where I'd like to plant them and he kindly got busy fencing the area off from the horses. He did a really great job and now we have a great place to plant the trees. It really will be like a possum playground when we are finished.

While Ian fenced, I began using the hoe to dig up holes for the trees. The ground is lovely and soft from all the rain we've been having. It made digging the holes much easier. I managed to dig four out of the six holes by the time Ian finished fencing. Our neighbour Frank brought us over some worm fertiliser to put in the bottom of the trees holes. Frank manufactures worm tea, using Jossy's horse poo. Frank always brings us some of the finished product and it is amazing stuff. The plants love it and are all doing really well since we've begun using it.

Ian came and gave me a hand digging the last two holes, and then he dug one more for my new replacement frangipani tree. The builders destroyed my last frangipani tree when we were renovating. They leant an old fence against our back fence and it fell over and squished my old frangipani tree to the ground.

While Ian dug holes, I began to plant out the trees. The heaviest part of the whole process was breaking down the clods of clay and dirt so that it could be added to soil additive to make a nice mix for the trees.

Finally all the trees were planted and already they looked great. When the trees mature, it will be an awesome food source for the possums.

I weighed Tamigotchi and he now weighs just under 100 grams, so the new technique is working. He still doesn't seem to be enjoying his dinner, but he does get through it all. I tried introducing him to some leaves and he loved nibbling on them.

During the day, I mustn't have banded Saori's pouch well enough and she managed to squeeze her way out of the bag and then she sat herself in the basket, inside the cupboard. She didn't try to escape or go anywhere and she was very happy to see me when it was time for dinner.

Instalment 25 Sunday 1 May 2011

Last night we attended a friend's 40th surprise birthday party and because I knew we would be there for a number of hours, I had to take the possums. I fed them before we arrived and I left them in the car till I had to feed them about 9:30pm.

The party was great and when it was time to go and feed the babies, I invited one of my friends and a little girl, Kristen, who is 12 years old to join me. I taught Kristen back when she was in Prep and now she is very interested in wild life, so she was very excited. Her mum thinks she might become a vet in the future.

It was lovely to watch my friends' faces light up when they saw the babies. After I fed Saori, I let Kristen hold her. Saori cuddled up in her pouch and went straight to sleep. Kristen enjoyed holding Saori, while I fed Tamigotchi, who was very slow to eat. I had to persist with him. I then let Joy have a hold of him, after he finally finished eating.

Some young children at the party heard about what I was doing and snuck over to the car to watch. Ian was with us as well, so he was able to help keep things quiet so that the babies didn't stress.

I settled the babies back down after my friends had their cuddles and we all returned to the party. I have to be creative when I am out with the possums and they need feeding.

Today was relatively quiet. Towards the end of the day, I gathered up the list of trees that Gillian had compiled for me and I drove to Bunnings to see if they had some for sale.

I ended up buying six new trees, including: about three varieties of myrtles, a grevillea and two callistemons. So I know what I will be doing tomorrow. I kind of got very excited buying the trees because in my head I've been designing an area in our yard to make like a possum playground. I want to encourage them down the middle to back part of our garden because we live on a very busy road.

Instalment 24 Saturday 30 April 2011

Well it seems our new technique is working. Saori has jumped to 65 grams and is happy enough to lay back and suck on her new teat.

That's one positive.

Tamigotchi on the other hand, has gradually lost his fur from his chin and along his tummy. What is left is his bare young skin! I'm a little devo at this, especially finding little bits of his fur in his pouch. He really has had a reaction to the formula. Saori seems to have missed out on this, as well as the urinary infection that Tamigotchi got. Maybe Tamigotchi is a little more sensitive?

Along with this, Tamigotchi is not all that interested in his food. I ended up getting him to drink it, but he is definitely reluctant. Wow, looking after possums certainly has its ups and downs. It's all worth it, but just when you think things are going along well, a change comes along. I guess too, it depends on their little personalities. I hope Tamigotchi is going to be okay. I worry about him sometimes.

I will just continue to be in charge and even if I have to force him to eat, that will be better than him fading away to a shadow. I've just got to keep doing what I am doing and we'll get through this.

Instalment 23 Friday 29 April 2011

It was another early start for me today. I awoke at 4:30am to feed my babies and then I had to drive Ian to work. He'd gone out after work the night before to have a dinner with a couple of mates and the designated driver drove him home, while his motorbike stayed safely tucked away at work. I thought I might have a rest when I got home, but decided to keep on keeping on once I got home.

Since my visit to Gillian's yesterday, I tried to adapt to a new feeding technique which was slow going but I knew with practice I would get better. Well, I hoped I'd get better. I found feeding Saori very hard going with the drip by drip process, so I tried a new teat and I made a very small hold in the end with a safety pin. This seemed to work and by the end of today, Saori's weight had gone from 57 grams to 63 grams. It seemed things were now starting to work.

Instalment 22 Thursday 28 April 2011

Days always end up being so busy and today was no different with another trip to the doctor for me and then off to the shops to get a couple of things.

I had phoned Gillian, my possum mentor earlier in the morning to ask if I could call in to see her and she said she would be home and would be happy for me to call in. I wanted her to take a look at my babies because I was a little worried that Saori did not seem to be putting on any weight. So on the way home I called in to see Gillian and she took a look at them both.

It seems the formula, when it spills out of Tamigotchi's little mouth and trickles under his chin and tummy it reacts with his fur, and Gillian noticed that he has lost some of his fur under his chin. I hadn't noticed this. She said it was not a huge issue. She told me the formula sometimes did that to some of the babies. I did not know this before, so now I decided to make sure to take extra special care and endeavour to make sure things don't leak as much as they had.

Feeding baby possums isn't always as straight forward as you think. Most people probably think, like I did, that you just need to whack some milk in the bottle and pop it in their mouth, but it doesn't work like that at all. I am constantly learning new things along this journey.

Other than this slight set back with regard to his fur, overall, Tamigotchi was doing well and putting on weight like he should.He was now over 80 grams and Gillian said she could see a lot of growth in him. He was all fluffy, warm and cuddly for Gillian when she nursed him. It also seemed as though his toileting issues had all cleared up too.

Next, she took a look at Saori. She agreed that Saori had not put on any weight and decided to feed her and use tissues to measure any spills along the way. She weighed a tissue dry and then after Saori had eaten and some of the spills leaked into the tissue, she weighed the wet tissue. Saori works very hard on the teat and tends to dribble and bubble quite a lot and it is this that runs out of her mouth. After her first feed, Gillian discovered that she had leaked at least 2ml, which is most of her feed! No wonder she is not putting on any weight.

Gillian thought I should try to change the technique that I used to feed Saori. I laughed because I wished I was in more control than I actually was. It is really Saori's technique. I explained to Gillian that Saori loves to stand up and hold onto the syringe when she feeds. It dribbles all down her elbows and down her belly. Anyway, I knew now that I would have to be more in charge and not always let Saori have her way. Gillian suggested that I remove the teat and drip the formula, one drop at a time, into her mouth. This is a very time consuming method, but the way I saw it, I didn't really have a choice.

I bought some new teats off Gillian and was pleased that Gillian was happy with their progress anyway. She enjoyed her cuddles with them too. While I was there, I asked Gillian for a list of trees and bushes that possums love to eat. I had a plan.

It was great catching up with Gillian and as we were leaving, she told me she was off to pick up an older rescued Brushtail possum. How exciting.

We loaded up and headed home while I thought about how much more careful I would need to be a feeding time.

Instalment 21 Wednesday 27 April 2011

Hi ho...it's off to work I go, with two little possums in tow.

My feeding schedule kicked off fine this morning and I managed to finish on time and not be late for work. I had plenty of time to organise myself at school and even managed to make it to devotions.

It was great seeing the kids at school and it sounded like everyone had a lovely holiday. The day progressed well and I fed the possums in my break. No one knew they were here at school. They stayed quietly in their basket in my office. No one can see them and the reason I didn't share my news with the kids is because they would all want to see them and there are just too many students. It would turn out to be a circus, with the possums all stressed out.

When I went to feed Saori in the afternoon, I noticed she was a little bit damp. I think she leaks quite a bit of her formula. I'm not so sure how much actually makes it down into her tummy.

I worked back at school till about 5pm and then packed up and came on home. I was relieved the day had gone so well, however, I felt knackered. By about 6:30pm, I actually felt a little nausea. It's been a big gig for me, so I'm sure there was a bit of tension with regard to how the day was going to pan out.

It was all good.

Instalment 19 Monday 25 April 2011

Kimmy and I both wanted to get up and go to a dawn service and we'd decided that we would, but because Sunday ended up being such a big day, and what with me having to keep getting up to feed the possums through the night, I made an executive decision not to do it this year. Kimmy was also feeling the bite, and so we made a pact to do it next year.

I was up at 4:30am anyway...with baby possums, up to my ears in syringes and milky products. I watched the dawn service in the comfort of my telly room and cheered the diggers on.

I send a prayer to all diggers and their families...may God bless them and keep them and I give thanks to them for the undeniable freedom that I enjoy. Amen.

Anzac Day is such a special, reflective time for all Australians and New Zealanders everywhere. It's only a few short years to the centenary celebration - 100 years already! Wow...time goes so quickly.

Both possums are going well. I did a quick update with Gillian to keep her in the loop. Tamigotchi finishes his medicine tomorrow, so I am hoping we get a positive reaction when he comes off everything.

Aww...just how cute can a possum get? So beautiful.

Instalment 18 Sunday 24 April 2011

Today is Easter Sunday and family came from the Sunshine coast to celebrate with us. The weather was perfect. Sunshine warmed everything and made us all feel good to be alive. The atmosphere was fresh and most enjoyable.

Jocelyn and Chris decided to host a family lunch to mark the occasion. We set up a couple of tables outside in the fresh air to enjoy the sunshine.

Have I mentioned the beautiful sunshine?

Liz, Peter, Thora and Poppy travelled down from Belli Park and Tish and Andy just popped in. They actually live in the same suburb as us.

We started off with a few drinks and nibblies, just to unwind.

Unfortunately Kimmy had to work, but the rest of us were here.

Joss was in charge of organising everything. She asked me to bake some gourmet pumpkin and feta bread. The recipe required me to use yeast. In all my years of cooking I've always avoided recipes that have called for the use of yeast. I don't know why, but I've always been fearful of using the stuff. Anyway, I decided I'd give it a go...and guess what? It worked! Surprise, surprise. Well, secretly I was rather surprised.

Joss made a gorgeous risotto with mushrooms and asparagus. Liz & Tish made a lovely meat platter with garden salad. For dessert, Joss made a raspberry & cream tart. The food was absolutely exquisite to our taste buds.

Pete and Ian seemed to enjoy each other's company and delighted in challenging Dylan and Andy to a couple of games of pool.

Chris busied himself helping Joss set up everything and did a wonderful job laying out some yummy chocolate easter eggs for us to munch on. Never mind our waist lines. They just continue to grow and grow.

Poppy enjoyed the day and it was great catching up with him. He is going really well and he and Thora joined in with all the celebrations. We don't get to see them all that much, so today's opportunity was wonderful.




Dylan's girlfriend, Tahlia, made some yummy handmade chocolate giant freckles and some heart shaped ones as well. Talk about a great idea.

Oscar, Mitzi, and Billie, Ewok and Florence (the dogs) all had a great time running around and being...well, dogs.

It was a great way to spend the day and everyone seemed very relaxed and chilled out.

All in all, Easter Sunday was a very special day. The extended family got to meet our newest members, Tamigotchi and Saori. Everyone thought they really were very cute.

They continue to eat well and Tamigotchi seems fine. He is still on Nilstat and I have been adding a quarter of a capsule of Inner Health Plus, under the guidance of Gillian. This apparently helps balance out the gut flora while Tamigotchi is battling yeast and urinary tract infections.

In the evening, Kimmy and I went together with Joss, Chris, Andy and Tish to church. We visited Joss and Chris' church for their Easter evening service. The pastor shared a great message.

Instalment 16 Friday 22 April 2011

I've had Tamigotchi for three weeks and Saori for one week now. It feels like longer, but in a positive way. They both continue to get used to me and their new situation. Tamigotchi did not have any more incidences or toileting issues and they both continue to eat well.

I'm sure Saori is growing a teeny bit bigger.

Instalment 15 Thursday 21 April 2011

After Tamigotchi received his antibiotic injection and we started him on a course of Nilstat, things looked brighter this morning. He is doing well and there is no sour odour in his fur and he came out of his pouch all warm and dry.

During the day, Tamigotchi continued to do well at feeding time, but at the first of the evening feeds, I noticed he was quite wet again. This was a little disappointing. I dried him off and again, I managed to get him to go to the toilet.

I guess these things take time. Tamigotchi fed well during the night and there were no other incidents of wetness.

Saori continues to be happy and well adjusted. She is a dream to take care of. I have separated them and I keep all feeding implements completely separate and sterilised. I have to be careful not to accidentally infect Saori with any germs.

Instalment 9 Friday 15 April 2011

Yesterday I received a call from Gillian. She told me she had a new baby girl possum as a mate for Tamigotchi, who was an orphan and had been found at Cleveland. The vets phoned Gillian and she went and collected her, looked her over and rang me.

So this afternoon I went and collected her from Gillian. Ian got busy thinking up names and came up with Saori. Sounds so weird. Here we are raising Australian native wildlife and all the little Aussie possums we are raising have Japanese names. Go figure. Oh well, no harm done.

I weighed Tamigotchi before I went over to Gillian's and he weighed in at 74 grams, so he is putting on weight. As of yesterday, Thursday, I've had Tamigotchi for one week (7 days) and he was 59 grams. Now after a week, he has grown to 74 grams. I think that is a pretty good gain. I took Tamigotchi along for the ride so Gillian could take another look at him just to make sure he was doing well.

Little Saori is just a delight. She is very tiny but not a pinky. She looks a little smaller than what Tamigotchi was when I found him. Saori likes to cuddle in and she is very delicate and extremely cute.

We tried to put them together but decided, in the end that they might just need a little more time to get used to one another.

When I got them both home, I settled Tamigotchi down and then I spent time cuddling and getting to know Saori. She is an absolute delight and already I can see a huge difference in their personalities.

Saori settled in very quickly, though she didn't seem too interested in eating very much. She is a very social creature as opposed to Tamigotchi, who is really very shy.

Instalment 8 Thursday 14 April 2011

Tamigotchi is thriving and continues to eat well. I don't really have too much to report today, except that I found Tamigotchi seven days ago, so he has been with us one whole week now.

I continue to love him and enjoy the quiet times where we just get to sit and cuddle. He is a beautiful little boy.

Instalment 7 Wednesday 13 April 2011

Tamigotchi has an appetite. He loves his food. He eats regularly every four hours. This can be quite tricky for me if I have to go out somewhere. I find myself trying to fit things in that need doing around four hourly increments of time. This is fine when I'm hanging around the house doing jobs, but if I am meeting up with friends, etc, it can prove quite challenging.

I remember after Kimmy was born, she attended her first birthday party when she was four days old. I've never been one to sit on my haunches, so today was quite busy in that I fed Tamigotchi before heading off to a doctor's appointment. When I got home from the doctor's appointment, I did a few things, fed Tamigotchi again and then a friend called over to pick me up.

We drove across to Kedron, which is northside of Brisbane, to Edsco, an educational resource centre and spent time browsing, dreaming and yes, buying resources. Then we came back home. I fed Tamigotchi his next feed and then my friend and I headed to Gumdale to have lunch together and meet up with another friend for coffee. Everything went smoothly and Tamigotchi happily ate regularly. It's amazing what you can fit into your day once you set your mind to it.

Later on, after I'd returned home and my friend had left, I fed Tamigotchi again, did a few more jobs so that I could be on time for some IT/Pronto training at church. The volunteers who work in the Resource Centre were to come at 5:30pm for more training on the cash registers and the Pronto program for sales, etc. Someone was coming from Hillsong Sydney, a guru in the Pronto system to help bring us all up to speed.

After training, I left to drive over to Milton where I was to meet Ian. We had been invited out to dinner. Tonight would prove to be interesting because Tamigotchi would be due for a feed at 9:30pm - probably just after dessert. This meant that he would travel with me in the car and I had had to pack a thermos and everything he would need for his feeding time.

I parked the car in McDougall Road, Milton, (just off Park Road), where we were eating at the restaurant. We met up with our friends and Ian's son, 'Pud' and we went to Embers, because they cook great steaks there.

Sure enough, soon as I'd finished dessert, it was time to go back to the car to feed Tamigotchi. Well, I didn't think too much about this as I walked to the car, but then a scenario began to unfold into a surreal image. Picture this: (not all things are as they seem)

A woman - alone, walks the semi-deserted street and turns down a dark road that leads to a car. She flicks the remote to unlock the doors. She opens the back door, reaches in and pulls out a basket that is covered with a towel. She shuts the door and walks around to the passenger side of the car, opens the door and climbs into the darkness.

She rests the basket on the driver's side seat and reaches up to push on the overhead reading light. A small light spills into the dark space. The woman sits for a moment and begins to extract utensils from a plastic bag; a thermos, a cup, a syringe and heats up the contents in the syringe. She reaches over and gently lifts out a small pouch from the basket and unloops the rubber band from the top of the pouch. She lifts out the small bundle of fur and positions the syringe, while the little furball begins to suck happily.

This all seems innocent enough when you actually know what is happening. But as the woman, (namely me) sat doing all those things, I suddenly became very conscious of what this all might look like to an outside observer who could only see part of the picture. It made me feel quite uncomfortable and a tad 'guilty'. It was the weirdest feeling because I was, in reality, doing something very innocent, but the situation of where I was doing it and the impression of what I may have been doing, made me feel really weird. It is something I had never even thought about until I was actually in the situation. It is hilarious to think this, for those who know me, but when I got back to the restaurant and shared this weird 'experience' with my friends, they all saw the funny side and had a bit of laugh about it. Crazy times.

However, even for the dodgy part of the night, we all had a wonderful time sharing a tasty dinner with good company. And, everything worked out well. Tamigotchi enjoyed his dinner and we did too. No one missed out anything. And I didn't get 'busted' for doing what could have looked like to any passerby - 'drugs'. I just think I've got a wild imagination, that's all.

Instalment 6 Tuesday 12 April 2011

Tamigotchi continues to eat well and is really quite a shy little fellow. Ian says we don't know what his circumstances are. He may have suffered a big fall before I found him. His mother may have booted him out of the pouch, or a larger sibling may have bullied him. Who knows what his story is? We can only guess at what he endured before coming to live with us. There could be all sorts of reasons why he is so shy and sensitive, besides the obvious that he is in a very 'scary' place right now, trying to come to terms with who all these strange people are and all the strange smells that are in the air.

When he is out of his pouch, he sniffs the air trying to get a grip on his new surroundings, but probably feels overwhelmed with all the changes he has faced during the last few days.

I understand this only too well, but the difference for Tamigotchi between the choice of
a) having to endure these changes or, b) being left to fend for himself and certain death is very clear for me. Option b) was never ever going to be an option once I found him.

So, we've been making the best of the situation and the result is hopefully, that Tamigotchi gets a second chance at a life that eventually will include playing in his future favourite trees here at Willow Pond, and eventually having his own little family.

He feels secure in his little pouch but doesn't like to venture out too much. I lift him out and cradle him securely to feed him and then I attempt to toilet him by using some tissue. This practice emulates the mother possum and helps to keep the possum's pouch clean. It is important to do this after every feed. He seems quite comfortable with me handling him and never makes too big of a fuss. As soon a he is fed, been to the 'bathroom' and had long, delicious cuddles, he readily snuggles into the dark, warmed confined space of his pouch to sleep away the daylight hours.

He's been with us five days now and we seemed to have worked out our routines quite well. I still seem to be coping with the broken sleep patterns, though I guess, time will tell.

Instalment 5 Monday 11 April 2011

Tamigotchi was very sleepy when I went to give him his first morning feed. He took a little while to stir. It initially made me a little worried, but I gradually relaxed when I realised he was just sleepy after all and was indeed, okay. I remembered I'd earlier heard him making his clucking noise inside his pouch, so my common sense should have kicked in. But it is really hard not to worry.

After he ate, I spent some time cuddling him. My maternal instincts took over and I felt the need to nurture him and let him know that he was not alone. It's most important that he doesn't feel alone because he needs a community to survive. He snuggled into my nightie, yes, you guessed it - near my chest, and fell asleep after his breakfast, and I was happy for him to be there.

Last night I gave Gillian, my mentor a courtesy call to let her know how things were progressing. I gave her an update on our little guy. We made an appointment to meet up on Tuesday, about 2 pm, so she could check him out and see for herself how he was doing.

I spent most of the night, well, up to 2:30am putting together all my students' entries to a couple of major poetry and short story competitions. I couldn't go any longer past 2:30am. I was exhausted.

I fed Tamigotchi and climbed into bed - exhausted and knowing that the alarm was set for 6:30am. Some sleep-in.