She is not OK
Keep Her Dark. Keep Her Quiet. Keep Her Warm. Then Call a Carer.
You’ve found a joey. Maybe on the roadside. Maybe in a paddock. Maybe clinging to life beside her dead mother.
You want to help. You mean well. But you need to understand something—this joey is not okay.
She has only ever known her Mummy’s pouch. Her Mummy’s heartbeat. Her Mummy’s milk. She’s only ever felt the sway of the pouch as her Mummy bounded across paddocks. She’s only ever heard the rustle of wind, the calls of birds, the soft breath of her family mob nearby.
Maybe she poked her head out once to feel the gentle rain. But always—always—in the safety of her Mummy’s pouch.
Until now.
Now she’s alone. Maybe she locked eyes with a shooter who killed her Mummy and dragged her out of her safe space. Maybe she felt the thud of a car and was pulled from the wreckage. Maybe her Mummy hung upside down in a fence and she fell out, only to be scooped up by a kind stranger.
All well-meaning actions. All done with care. But she doesn’t know that.
To her, you are a predator. You smell wrong. You sound wrong. You feel wrong. You took her away from her Mummy.
Can you imagine the confusion? The terror? The grief?
So don’t be fooled. Just because she looks bright and alert—she is not okay. Just because she sits quietly on your child’s lap—she is not okay. Just because she looks cuddly and adorable—she is not okay.
She has just endured the most traumatic hours of her life. She is in shock. She is grieving. She is terrified. She is not okay
And if you don’t act correctly—she may die.
What You MUST Do:
Keep her dark. Wrap her gently in a soft pouch or pillowcase. Mimic the womb-like safety she’s lost.
Keep her quiet. No children. No dogs. No loud voices. No stimulation.
Keep her warm. Use body heat or a warm water bottle wrapped in a towel. Hypothermia kills.
Do NOT feed her. Do NOT give her cow’s milk. Do NOT give her water. Do NOT try to guess what she needs. Aspiration pneumonia is real. It kills. Stress kills. Anxiety kills.
What You MUST Understand:
This joey is fragile. She is not a pet. She is not a toy. She is not a photo opportunity. She is not okay
She is a wild animal in crisis. And she needs expert care—now.
Every minute you delay increases her risk of death. Every cuddle, every noise, every well-meaning mistake adds to her trauma. She is not okay
And if she dies, it may not be from injury. It may be from myopathy—a stress-induced muscle breakdown that causes organ failure. It’s silent. It’s cruel. And it’s preventable.
What You MUST Do Next:
Call a registered, experienced wildlife carer immediately.
Hand her over as soon as possible.
Let go of the idea that love alone will save her.
Because love without knowledge can kill. She is not okay
Keep her in the dark. Keep her quiet. Keep her warm.
Then call a carer. It’s not just advice. It’s the difference between life and death.
