Brush Tailed
Bettong
(Bettongia penicillata)
Interview with Bob Cleaver
I would like to preface the following by saying that all these comments
should not be taken as “gospel” and are all based on my own personal experiences
and as such someone else’s viewpoint could be quite different.
Commonly called rat kangaroos, of which there are many species, and
was almost extinct until it was brought back from the brink only a few
years ago. They were almost wiped out when white man first came to Australia
and introduced the cat, the fox and the rabbit. The rabbit ate their food
and took away their homes and the cat and fox ate them.
Positives of Brush-tailed Bettongs as pets?
Are affectionate towards their carers.
Negatives of Brush-tailed Bettongs as pets as pets?
They can make good 'pets' but tend to revert to a 'wild' state as they
mature. When adult, although may remain tame, they generally do not like
being handled.
Do they have scent glands or an offensive smell?
Potoroos and Bettongs do not have scent glands as far as I am aware but
they also scent mark their territory with urine and faeces.
What is their average lifespan?
Brush-tailed Bettong – 10-12 years. Note: this is an educated guesstimate.
Do they enjoy interaction?
Bettongs and Potoroos tend to revert to a 'wild' state as they mature.
When adult, although may remain tame, they generally do not like being
handled.
What is their general personality, disposition, and
attitude?
This is an impossible question to answer as they are all individuals and
as individuals are all different. I would answer this question by asking
another. How would you answer this question if it were asked of a human
being? The answer will be the same!
Are they sweet and petable, or mischievous and playful?
The simple answer is none of the above, but again this would be individual
related, however, for Bettongs and Potoroos the answer would be no at
any age.
How destructive are they for an average household?
None of these animals would be suitable for indoor living on a long term
basis. They would all become either very destructive or smelly.
Do they climb or tear up furniture?
Yes. One of the bettongs’ natural abilities is to collect seed in the
mouth and then hop off and bury it somewhere as storage for a “rainy day”.
Unfortunately, they tend to forget where they’ve put it and in this way
would have been one of the major seed distributors of flora species within
Australia. They will also try to do the same thing with your carpet. You
will end up with small piles of seed buried deep within the pile of your
carpet.
Are there any problems associated with their claws?
No not particularly, but they all have sharp claws which can potentially
inflict severe wounds, although I would not consider this to be a problem
and feel that it would be by accident rather than design. The exception
here would be the kangaroo. A full male can inflict fatal wounds with
his hind feet if you find yourself in the wrong place at the wrong time.
How messy are their droppings?
Generally not at all – mostly they are quite dry, however, with the Potoroo
and Bettong - they can be a bit messy, depending on what they have eaten.
Some foods will produce soft faeces (particularly in a ‘false’ or captive
diet) a more natural diet will not, unless they have ingesting copious
quantities of fresh green feed.
Can they be litter box trained?
NO (but for the wombat you could try putting a litter tray at the point
where they would normally mark their territory – for the others no). But
then there are always exceptions to the rule!
Can they be trained?
NO, YES, MAYBE ??? but limited. Personally I don’t believe so - but they
will train you.
How are they with other pets, larger and smaller?
Again this will depend on whether or not the creature concerned has been
brought up with the other pet. If yes, then they should get along together
ok, if not, then it would be a different story. Bettongs and Potoroos
would potentially be a meal for either a cat or a dog.
What size cage do they need?
How long is a piece of string? This is an enormous question and has book
potential. This is a subject which I am currently writing up as a four
part article for this (and next) years’ issues of “Keeping Marsupials”
- the quarterly Journal of The Marsupial Society of Australia Inc. To
date there is twenty four pages of text and I have only just started on
part four. To subscribe go to http://www.marsupialsociety.com.au/.
What do you feed them?
Another huge question. To try and put this in a nutshell, the Bettongs
and Potoroos should also be offered a dry proprietary puppy food (for
their teeth),plus a range of fruit, fungi, nuts, carrots, apple, orange,
in fact any sort of fruit and vegetable material. Think of it this way
– if you are prepared to eat it, and it is vegetarian, then you are at
liberty to feed to your Potoroos or Bettongs – however, they may not eat
it, but you will soon find out their preferences. The important issue
is to offer a varied and good quality diet. Infrequent protein is not
a bad thing either, so the occasional chop bone for them to chew at would
not go astray.
What vaccinations/vet care do they require?
We have never had to vaccinate any of our animals for anything, but there
will be times when the services of a vet are needed. The most common problems
that would be associated with the kangaroos are things like diarrhoea,
pneumonia, respiratory infections and mechanical problems (i.e. broken
limbs, lacerations etc.). With the other critters, veterinary intervention
would be a rarity.
At what age would it be best to get one?
Unfortunately these are not the type of animal where you just go out and
‘get one’. Most (if not all) of our hand-raised animals have been “rescued”
and come from road accidents other unnatural trauma. However, animals
that have been bred from these can be sold or purchased provided you have
the correct permits. I would NEVER take a healthy animal from out of the
pouch just to have a tame animal to sell. The only acceptable reason for
doing this is that if there is either something wrong with the young or
the mother has a problem. For example, some years ago we acquired an Agile
Wallaby this way when an adult female contracted toxoplasmosis and had
to be put down but she had a joey in the pouch (which was not affected
by the disease). If you acquired an adult animal of any of these species
it would be unlikely to be tame.
What kind of person should own these animals?
Someone with a lot of patience, plenty of spare time and has a natural
affinity with animals in general. If you are an “animal” person they will
respond to you but if you have a short fuse – forget it. These animals
do respond well to kindness but not to anger or abuse under which circumstance
they are likely to “hit back”. If you are not prepared to commit yourself
for the lifespan of the animal then do not take it on in the first place.
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