On the 30th November MWCEC received a call about a tiny little Dunnart that had been brought in by a cat. Darcy weighed 6 grams coming into care.
Due to his small size, Darcy was fed Wombaroo milk through a catheter tip every four hours As Darcy grows his diet will consist of mealworms, worms, crickets, insectivore mix and larvae.
While in care he was housed in a large container with soil and leaf litter. Dunnarts usually sleep all day often in a grass nest often hidden under a logs, only venturing out in early mornings or afternoons for a feed.
Dunnarts are tiny mouse-like nocturnal, carnivorous marsupial, only found in Australia. Their appearance is small with the length of their body usually 10cm, excluding tall, large ears, large eyes and grey/brown fur. Their tails are often as long as their body. Dunnarts inhabit a whole host of environments. Dunnarts breed in spring and nest above ground; they have litters of 5-10 joeys. When born joeys are the size of a grain of rice.