Oakey Care, Rehabilitation & Release Of Wildlife.

Oakey Care, Rehabilitation & Release Of Wildlife. I care for predominantly possums but also care for early stage macropods & some birds also.

Good evening everyone!!! I hope you have all had a great Easter and that the Easter Bunny spoilt you all with chocolate!...
20/04/2025

Good evening everyone!!! I hope you have all had a great Easter and that the Easter Bunny spoilt you all with chocolate!
I have been dreading this post but it's time. As has been apparent with my online absence, my health has depleted significantly over the last 18 months. After much deliberation, prayer and consultations with my doctors and health professionals, it breaks my heart to actually say it outloud but im taking a step back and will not be continuing my wildlife care. This is not a decision that's been made lightly and its not a forever decision. For the forseeable future, i am needing to have a procedure on my stomach every 12-16 weeks and some of my medications make it hard to wake up for overnight feeds and the care in general is intense and not something I will be able to do easily. As you know, I also have 2 x little girls and both have special needs. The constant appointments for them, as well as my own also makes it almost impossible to provide round the clock care needed to little ones. In the future when I am in a better position health wise, financially, housing etc, I will definitely return because this is a passion of mine. But for now, i need to focus on my family as a whole and each of us individually. I will be keeping some of my wildlife supplies for the future and other bits that were donated to me, will be passed forward to other carers. I am still going to be available to offer advise and answer questions, but I won't have the capacity to physically care for them. Thankyou to everyone who has supported me, brought me wildlife, asked questions and enjoyed my wildlife babies with me. I will leave this pages open for another week or 2 and then close it down so there is no confusion about carers around town. If you have ever considered becoming a carer, there is a big need for carers everywhere. If you need help with wildlife care moving forward, your best bet will be to contact Kylie at Wildlife oakey, rspca on 1300Animal or even call one of the carers in Toowoomba. I will leave you with this photo I received of Bonny after she was released and looking amazing as she lives out her life as a wild possum xx

18/03/2025

Hey everyone!!! I just wanted to say thankyou to those who have been super supportive over the last bit. 2024 was a physically horrific year that saw me in surgery 8 x times within 12months. I thought 2025 was off to a great start and physically, it's been great. However, it's been quite traumatising mentally when I lost a close friend and neighbour for whom I did everything I could until the ambulance arrived but she ultimately passed. We have just lost another good friend as he lost his battle with cancer. We have alot going on in the next couple of months and while I am working at limited capacity, I'm still trying to help where I can. All going well, I should be back in FULL swing end April/early May. Thankyou to everyone who reached out and offered to help where they could. Xx
Enjoy this short video of my big girl! Bindi is now in a small cage and doing great!!!

02/02/2025

Hey everyone, I havn't posted foe a little bit because I cannot handle an influx of babies. I love what I do, but whilst recovering still (with ongoing complications 🙄) I'm doing what i can without overdoing it. This way also, if I end up back in hospital, I'm not needing to fond another carer for alot of babies, just a couple.

This little girl, a brushtail possum, came in a bit over a week ago. Her name is Bindi and her mum was hit by a car. Some nice passer bys found Bindi in mum's pouch and took her to the vet. She is nice and settled but is only just starting to get big enough where she is curiously poking her head out to look around and then popping her head back in. She is a real sassy character and LOVES her milky. She has teeth starting to pop up and as you can see in the video, loves a good scratch.

One of the hardest things, for me, about release of wildlife is the unknown. We can do everything we can to get them rea...
17/01/2025

One of the hardest things, for me, about release of wildlife is the unknown. We can do everything we can to get them ready but in the wild there are predators like snakes and other animals, there are cars, cats and dogs etc. Well, we released Fifi just over a year ago and toward the end of last year, I got a phone call that just 400m from my home a mumma possum was hit by a car. She was barely alive and had a joey in her pouch. When I assessed her, I instantly knew she was Fifi. The moment I spoke to her, she visibly relaxed. It was quickly obvious that she had a badly broken back and alot of internal damage and the nicest thing we could do was the final act of kindness. I stroked her head and she relaxed her head into my hand. (Before anyone comes at me about her being too humanised, I've discovered that alot of released possums will remember their mummy and if dan tried to touch her, she was not going to take that) she went to the vet and once asleep, we assessed her joey. This little girl was only 40g, still pink with eyes closed and the impact had knocked her off mums teat. The bruising alone that she had sustained told us she would not have survived long and we made the call to let her rest with her mumma. As sad is this was, it was bitter sweet. Over a year this girl was not just surviving in the wild, but she was thriving, she was reproducing. And im glad that in her final moments, I could bring her a sense of familiarity and calm. As much as my heart hurt, my heart was happy that she thrived and got to experience, even for a short time, life as a wild possum.
Not every released animal holds a spot for their human mum. Some will and some won't. I've had other possums in the past (the last one was many many years ago) who was attacked by a dog and I was the only person he would allow near him.
This is a photo of Fifi the night she came in and I'll pop some photos of her Joey in the comments. They were both alive in these photos, but the bruising on baby girl might be confronting for some so ill pop them under a comment thread.

17/01/2025

Hello everybody!!! I hope you all had an AMAZING Christmas and new year!!!! I appreciate everyone's patience with me! As you all know, 2024 was NOT my year and saw me go under anaesthetic 8 times last year alone with half of those being MAJOR surgeries. I was hoping to jump right back into caring the 1st of Jan but there was a few complications after my shoulder surgery which saw that impossible. (I could not wake up for overnight feeds with some of the medications I was on!!) I have my next follow up on Jan 29th and my doctor believes I will be given the all clear to recommence from February!! In saying that, I have still had alot of phone calls and been able to help wildlife find other carers and there were a few emergencies that I helped out with where I could. We had a sad moment when one of my released girls, Fifi, was rescued after being hit by a car and needed to be euthanised. I'll make a separate post about that. We also had a natural miracle (I see it as a miracle where others see it as a defect) and had an adult possum who was a hermaphrodite. They had both testicles and a pouch. This was a first for me as over the last 15+ years, I've seen a handful of hermaphrodite brushtails, but they had no pouch and no testicles. 2025 will be a better year for sure and I'm excited to take you guys on this journey too! Thankyou to everyone for the support, well wishes and offers of help. It is greatly appreciated!!

Thankyou so much to everyone who has sent well wishes and has been understanding! I had (hopefully 🤞) my last surgery fo...
26/11/2024

Thankyou so much to everyone who has sent well wishes and has been understanding! I had (hopefully 🤞) my last surgery for the year, a week ago, and while the pain is so much worse than I anticipated, I'm glad that it's done. I am now on the road to recovery and have another week in the sling, keeping my arm completely immobile and then I start ALOT of physio. I'm still helping with phone calls where I can, but please understand that when you call me, I may not have an answer for you immediately. I understand that people work long days and don't want to drive 10minutes in the opposite direction from home but I also need you to understand that atm, I can't drive at all. I'm also not in a position to take little babies. I am right handed, and literally cannot use my right hand atm. The hope is that by the new year, I will be healed enough to ease back into things but please understand that if you call me and are rude, I will disconnect the call. I don't get paid for this. I also have a life and 2 small children. I have appointments where I cannot answer a phone call. I will help when and where I can. Thankyou for understanding! I'll leave you with a picture of just a small portion of my swelling and bruising!
Have fun with your Christmas decorating!!!

21/10/2024

Good evening everyone! I just wanted to give an update on everything. I have been proved that stepping back for the next few months was definitely the right call. As you all know, at the end of august I ended up needing emergency surgery due to a twisted and herniated bowel.... well, turned out that I fell into the 0.2% of people that ended up with a specific complication from this and Friday just gone I found myself, once again, rushed un for emergency surgery on my bowel. Apparently I had developed a band adhesion that was strangling my bowel and had completely blocked it. My bowel had also twisted TWICE and caused a mesenteric hernia. I am home and recovering but ongosh I am so sore. This means I have had to pass alot of people who have called, onto other contacts or I've been more than happy to offer advice.
Whilst I am here though, I would like to say a MASSIVE thankyou to the team at Oakey Community Pharmacy. Over the last while they have helped by donating resources to myself to help care for the babies that come in and they have also donated some amazing informative care books that I actually use as a go to with new animals when they come in. Those who know me, know that I am big on supporting community and these guys are always doing that! As an independent carer, I am not allowed to recieve financial donations and they have helped around that. One of the amazing ladies actually donated a rechargeable heatpack that takes less than 15mins to charge and stays warm for 6 to 8 hrs and this is perfection when I have to take little ones out who Cann maintain their own body heat. One day, I will be able to afford an ICU unit and that will make my life even easier. But a reminder that I am still available to call anytime for advice, but if I cannot help you, I will pass you onto someone who can. Remember to help each other and be the kindness that you wish someone would be to you. Have a great night xx if you see me around town, feel free to say hi, I have pink hair, it's hard to miss me.

Hello Amazing people!!! I have been dreading making this post, but the last week has confirmed this. I unfortunately nee...
17/09/2024

Hello Amazing people!!! I have been dreading making this post, but the last week has confirmed this. I unfortunately need to take a step back and will be taking the rest of the year to look after me. As you all know, at the end of July I had my tonsils out, after recovering from that I ended up in and out of hospital and requiring emergency surgery for a twisted and herniated bowel. I have had ongoing complications from this.
I have another procedure mid October and then have also been told I need a major shoulder surgery on my right shoulder within the next 6 to 8 weeks and that will leave me out of action and needing physio etc. After alot of prayer, soul searching and talking things over with my husband, we have come to the conclusion that I will continue to raise and release the babies I already have in Care (Hazel is doing fantastic and is loving life in her small cage getting used to starting how to possum, and I'll attach a photo to this post. She has come so far from the fragile pinky that we weren't sure if she'd make it) but it would be irresponsible for me to take more babies in, with the unknown of when I will and won't be home. Some of my medication would make 3 and 4hrly feeds impossible and my husband is an amazing man who has already exhauated himself and has taken the weight of the world on his shoulders these last few months and he also works full time.
Thankyou for the well wishes and support from everyone and I am still happy to offer advice and support where I can. This is not goodbye for good, this is just that I need to care for and fix myself before I can help others.
Come January, im hoping to have all my surgeries out of the way, I'm hoping to be healed and to be able to get back into things. Wildlife is where my passion lies, I have made so many connections and friends and I will be back.
In the meantime utilise Wildlife oakey and RSPCA.

Happy Father's day to all the dads out there!!! Whether your baby is furry, feathered, scaled or has 2 legs, 4 legs or n...
01/09/2024

Happy Father's day to all the dads out there!!! Whether your baby is furry, feathered, scaled or has 2 legs, 4 legs or none.
I got home from hospital yesterday, so I was very unorganised when it came to fathers day, but have the most understanding men in my life. My Daddy and my father in law were just happy that I was ok and my husband was still made to feel special by our girls.
Little Miss Hazel is moving into a (small) big girl cage this afternoon and from here we start to cut down her snuggles. She'll stay in the little cage to get used to having space to move and climb and start foraging for her food and she's beginning to lap her milk like a big girl (she is not a fan of giving up the bottle) but enjoy this pic of us having a snuggle earlier, she's done so well to come this far. I'm still out of action and of anyone is considering a twisted bowel, zero stars.... I would not recommend at all. Thankyou for all the well wishes and checking in though, it is very appreciated!!!

28/08/2024

Good evening everyone. As you all know, I've been having aome health issues lately and after being in Agony for the last week and a half I finally have an answer. I'm currently at rbwh after having emergency surgery this afternoon as it turns out that a section of my bowel had twisted and another section of my bowel had herniated up into my stomach. This does mean I'm still out of action but hopefully soon, I'll be able to jump back in. Have a great night x

25/08/2024

Hey amazing people. I'm so sorry that I am out of action longer than expected.... it'frustrating me more than you, I promise!!! I have been in and out of hospital for the last week and am back to hospital Wednesday. I'm Really hoping that after that, things will calm and I can get back into things. In the meantime, I'm helping where I can but physically I am not ok and I'm struggling to look after me, let alone others. Hazel is still going great and I've just had a velvet little boy who fell out of a tree a few streets away. He's got a few bruises and a small cut but nothing major. Mum is still in the tree he fell from, so upon dusk/just after, we will try and reunite him with his mum. Fingers 🤞 that mum takes him back

10/08/2024

Good evening! I did make a post but it disappeared... just a huge thankyou to everyone who has reached out over the last couple of weeks....its been intense. 2 weeks ago we welcomed a new nephew from afar (they live interstate) I had my tonsils out (with complications on the table, so my sinuses weren't done too 🤦‍♀️) I've had 2 little girls with a bit of a cold, I seemingly lost someone who I thought was a good friend and I thought the world of (without so much as an explanation) and had some pretty big mental health struggles....im doing good now and the pain is starting to settle, although I don't like that everything tastes like salt now...
But also, Miss Hazel has just grown so much in the last couple of days. She's begun grooming herself (as in the video below which was straight after a milky) and she has now got an interest in some solids and thinks bottle brush are just the bees knees!!!! Thankyou again and I hope to be back up and able to help again by the end of the week!
**also, please ignore my children... Rebecca is a stuffed toy and I promise Rebecca is not in the bin 🤦‍♀️)

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Oakey, QLD

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+61427455957

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