# Wallaby...



## M.R Drake

Hello all :001_smile:;

Just to keep things clear, I don't have a wallaby
But I'm quit interested in these mini kangaroos.... BUT!!! I'm not interested in getting a BAAM while cuddling or while petting it:nono:
Is there anyone here that have kept them before or had any experience with these things before!

I'm ain't planning on getting one any time soon!!


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## blade100

i don't think anyone on here has one but i'm sure if you go on reptile forum uk you will find a fair few people on there that own them.


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## Ingrid25

I dont think you can keep wallabies, at least not in Australia- they are native to Australia so....
Also kangaroos and wallabies can be reeeeeally fierce- a male kangaroo near my grandparents house has been known to attack if you get to close to its pack


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## hayleyth

I looked after them when i worked at a zoo, they are lovely! Very shy but the more time you spend with them the friendlier they get! Some would eat out peoples hand


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## M.R Drake

I dont know about the legal side, but they are quit common and expensive here, but they were are not sold in a normal pet store... When I saw them, they for sale in a farm along with many other animals like Dogs, Cats, Rabbits, Parrots, Poultry, cattle and peacocks!! 

I definitely know that they are illegal in Australia along with other animals like some Cockatoo species! You guys are so lucky to have such beautiful diversity in Australia! I remember the last time I went to Australia along with my family in 2005, It was Gold coast that I visited!! I also remember seeing a pair crimson rosella flying it was a site that I won't forget!


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## noushka05

i personally dont thinks its right that exotic wild animals such as wallabies can be kept as pets, do you know what species theyre selling? because some wallabies live in social groups so need to be with their own kind.


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## blade100

Youd be surprised at what you can buy over here in the uk and reptile forum uk has lots of exotic animals for sale ranging from monkeys to possums,skunks,wallabies,meercats,mongoose,fennec foxes etc.


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## Ingrid25

Pet Protector said:


> Many years ago, I was a wildlife rescuer / carer and would often have two or three wallaby joeys in my care. They are very sweet animals, when handreared, but wild ones are pretty flighty and nervous. It is illegal to keep them as pets here in Australia, are you allowed to have them elsewhere? I am wondering how they become available for pet market in other countries, illegally smuggled perhaps?


I thought that too, how do they get wallabies from aus into different countries other than zoos


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## Ingrid25

blade100 said:


> Youd be surprised at what you can buy over here in the uk and reptile forum uk has lots of exotic animals for sale ranging from monkeys to possums,skunks,wallabies,meercats,mongoose,fennec foxes etc.


oh my god really!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## elmthesofties

Ingrid25 said:


> I thought that too, how do they get wallabies from aus into different countries other than zoos


Zoos often exchange animals with 'private collections'. Let's imagine there's a private collecter who really socialises their animals with humans, maybe going inside bird cages and in with the wallabies. If they see potential pets, maybe they could sell them on? Mind you, a lot of zoos say no money changes hands when losing/gaining animals, and I'm not sure whether that's the law or not.

In reply to noushka05, I think it depends what kind of pet you want. I've heard of some people who 'keep' wallabies, but they basically keep them in a field and their main human interaction is hand feeding and the like. If you want to keep a wallaby in a rat cage, then quite frankly, that person shouldn't be allowed ANY animals EVER. After all, if they can't be bothered to research keeping wallabies, they won't be willing to research any other animal they keep.
I do, however, completely agree that the pet market is getting a bit over the top nowadays. Somebody near me is selling 'jaboas' for £80 each. They don't specificy what species they are, and the only thing they really mention is the price. I presume they're just after some money, because if they cared about the animals, the least they could do is spell the name correctly and say a bit more about the subspecies. (the different subspecies that I know of need different care to eachother, subtly or not)


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## noushka05

blade100 said:


> Youd be surprised at what you can buy over here in the uk and reptile forum uk has lots of exotic animals for sale ranging from monkeys to possums,skunks,wallabies,meercats,mongoose,fennec foxes etc.


sadly im not surprised Blade, i know DEFRA relaxed the laws on exotics when they should have tightened them:mad5: , and they removed the need for licencing of some creatures, so we now have even more species suffering in the exotics trade:frown2:

they have meerkats in my local petshop!



elmthesofties said:


> Zoos often exchange animals with 'private collections'. Let's imagine there's a private collecter who really socialises their animals with humans, maybe going inside bird cages and in with the wallabies. If they see potential pets, maybe they could sell them on? Mind you, a lot of zoos say no money changes hands when losing/gaining animals, and I'm not sure whether that's the law or not.
> 
> In reply to noushka05, I think it depends what kind of pet you want. I've heard of some people who 'keep' wallabies, but they basically keep them in a field and their main human interaction is hand feeding and the like. If you want to keep a wallaby in a rat cage, then quite frankly, that person shouldn't be allowed ANY animals EVER. After all, if they can't be bothered to research keeping wallabies, they won't be willing to research any other animal they keep.
> I do, however, completely agree that the pet market is getting a bit over the top nowadays. Somebody near me is selling 'jaboas' for £80 each. They don't specificy what species they are, and the only thing they really mention is the price. I presume they're just after some money, because if they cared about the animals, the least they could do is spell the name correctly and say a bit more about the subspecies. (the different subspecies that I know of need different care to eachother, subtly or not)


Wallabies are wild animals, they arnt domesticated, they shouldnt even be available as 'pets' full stop!. I dont believe the majority of zoos care for wild animals properly, nevermind members of the general public.

the laws to protect exotics are bad in this country ....but in the USA they are an absolute Joke!! i dread to think how many thousands--even millions of animals are suffering over there for this dreadful trade, god in some states anything goes, from chimps to tigers... people buying them are selfish and ignorant, they just want something unusual to boost their ego's...its absolutely sickening!

.

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## elmthesofties

noushka05 said:


> Wallabies are wild animals, they arnt domesticated, they shouldnt even be available as 'pets' full stop!. I dont believe the majority of zoos care for wild animals properly, nevermind members of the general public.
> 
> the laws to protect exotics are bad in this country ....but in the USA they are an absolute Joke!! i dread to think how many thousands--even millions of animals are suffering over there for this dreadful trade, god in some states anything goes, from chimps to tigers... people buying them are selfish and ignorant, they just want something unusual to boost their ego's...its absolutely sickening!


*ahem* I keep multimammates, and a lot of people consider them exotic. I know you PROBABLY didn't mean to say that all exotic animal keepers are horrible people, but it did sound a bit like that.

I completely agree that it's too easy to get exotics, but if you care for them properly, I don't see the problem. Somebody on one of the reptile forums has got some foxes of different kinds. From what I've read, they're kept in large outdoor enclosures, but the person who owns them does give them fuss and attention. What's wrong with that? They may not be domesticated, but neither are snakes or lizards from what I gather. Some of the rodents kept as pets haven't been in captivity for very long, either. You can also get silver foxes which are basically the domesticated version of the red fox.


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## peter0

I actually found this forum looking up wallabys - don't ask

I do find exotic animals amazing. Mine are kind of exotics i have chipmunks and they are wonderful pets and i keep them very well. I must admit i love fennec foxes, skunks and racoon dogs they are beautiful!

I do agree that you should need a licence to own exotics and you should have to meet the animals EVERY need including - friends (if needed), housing and the right food as too many people are getting an exotic pet without looking into it and not caring propely for the poor animals. I think aslong as you can fully meet the needs and offer them a brilliant life then why not but they should never ever ever be sold in pet shops - that is just terrible


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## noushka05

elmthesofties said:


> *ahem* I keep multimammates, and a lot of people consider them exotic. I know you PROBABLY didn't mean to say that all exotic animal keepers are horrible people, but it did sound a bit like that.
> 
> I completely agree that it's too easy to get exotics, but if you care for them properly, I don't see the problem. Somebody on one of the reptile forums has got some foxes of different kinds. From what I've read, they're kept in large outdoor enclosures, but the person who owns them does give them fuss and attention. What's wrong with that? They may not be domesticated, but neither are snakes or lizards from what I gather. Some of the rodents kept as pets haven't been in captivity for very long, either. You can also get silver foxes which are basically the domesticated version of the red fox.


if the statement i below is what youre referring to? then you can clearly see i was meaning people who like to keep large complex wild animals as pets,, that said i dont believe there are many wild animals that are happy in a domestic situation...and the trade in them is usually a very cruel one. There are grey areas for me, particularly with some of the rodents and reptiles, i have both species of Russian dwarf, they seem happy enough in captivity and i try to give them a good life... but still i would only rescue them...but imo the majorty of wild animal species suffer ..often mentally....in a pet home.

and im sorry but silver foxes are not a domestic species of the red fox (only a melanistic version), its Not a domesticated species at all, they are wild animals...i think youre mixing up the Russian experiment on the domestication of silver foxes on a fur farm.



> god in some states anything goes, from chimps to tigers... people buying them are selfish and ignorant, they just want something unusual to boost their ego's...its absolutely sickening!


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## elmthesofties

noushka05 said:


> if the statement i below is what youre referring to? then you can clearly see i was meaning people who like to keep large complex wild animals as pets,, that said i dont believe there are many wild animals that are happy in a domestic situation...and the trade in them is usually a very cruel one. There are grey areas for me, particularly with some of the rodents and reptiles, i have both species of Russian dwarf, they seem happy enough in captivity and i try to give them a good life... but still i would only rescue them...but imo the majorty of wild animal species suffer ..often mentally....in a pet home.
> 
> and im sorry but silver foxes are not a domestic species of the red fox (only a melanistic version), its Not a domesticated species at all, they are wild animals...i think youre mixing up the Russian experiment on the domestication of silver foxes on a fur farm.


I thought the term 'silver fox' nearly always referred to the domesticated ones... my bad. 

The thing is that I think that you're presuming that many wild animals will be treated like a domesticated one. Maybe keeping lemmings in a mini duna or keeping prairie dogs in a multi level rat cage. But if the person doesn't research exotics, they won't research keeping domesticated animals. If they will put a prairie dog in a multi level rat cage, they'll probably put a domesticated rat on it's own in a tank filled with sawdust.
I'm not saying that I always agree with keeping certain animals in captivity, but I don't think there's a black and white answer. I don't think it's always right, but I don't think it's always wrong.


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