Do marsupials wash their pouch?

April 8, 2009 8:20 AM

Do marsupials wash their pouches ever or are they just stank ass gross all the time? Or a third option?

I saw this related but slightly stupider question and it didn't help much. Do they get all sandy and dusty inside? Should I imagine them like a mouth with natural saliva processes washing it out, or do the animals actually go wade out into a river or turn themselves upside-down regularly?

I'm not from Australia and I've never seen marsupials in the wild.

posted by creasy boy to pets & animals (11 comments total)

What a cool question. I am not an Australian, but I have seen marsupials in the wild, and in zoos/rescue centers and I can at least say they dont stink any more, well, than any other wild animal. Looking forward to more educated answers. Meanwhile, I'll just keep myself amused by the thought of a herd (?) of kangaroo upending themselves in a river, big feet and tails flailing about while bathing.
posted by elendil71 at 8:34 AM on April 8

Here's how it works among kangaroos, at least (Paraphrased from Kangaroos: Biology of the Largest Marsupials):

The pouch secretes a waxy compound that dries into a dark scale when the pouch has been unoccupied. About 1-2 days before birth the female holds the pouch open with her forepaws and licks the scale away. The cleaning is most extensive 1-2 hours before birth occurs.

While the pouch is occupied, the San Diego Zoo says that the mother cleans the pouch out, but it doesn't specify whether this is done by licking or washing:

"Do the joeys eliminate (pee and poop) in the pouch? Yes, indeed! When they are very small they don't produce much, and when they get bigger, some is absorbed through the pouch lining. It can get kind of smelly, though, so the mothers clean out their pouches from time to time."
posted by jedicus at 8:39 AM on April 8 [2 favorites]

So I guess they can lick out whatever dust accumulates? Or is the waxy compound actually performing a digestive sort of function?

elendil71: it looks like herd, mob and troop are all acceptable.
posted by creasy boy at 8:48 AM on April 8

Here's an interesting journal article on how joeys survive in the "microbially enriched environment" of the pouch during developement.

In some marsupials (diprotodonts) "pouch cleaning, via licking, immediately prior to the birth of the young has been reported and is presumed to reduce bacterial flora." Others seem to rely solely on secretions from the mother's epithelial cells. The joey's get immunoglobins from their mother's milk and from her egg's yolk sac prior before they're born, but often die if the microbial count doesn't decrease before they enter the pouch.

Pretty fascinating (and more than a little gross).
posted by Thoughtcrime at 8:49 AM on April 8

Or is the waxy compound actually performing a digestive sort of function?

Think of it like the wax in your ears. It traps gunk, is sloughed off through natural processes and moving around (aka "epithelial migration"), or you can rub it out manually, and your ear just keeps making more (which also helps the natural "migration" process). If you're a kangaroo, you can lick it out.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 9:28 AM on April 8

From my interactions with wild animals and most domesticated ones, 'stank ass gross' is par for the course, pouch or not.
posted by spicynuts at 9:32 AM on April 8

Yup, looks like they bend over & lick the inside of the pouch.
Fun question, I'd never thought of this!
posted by pseudostrabismus at 11:55 AM on April 8

Fine question, fine answers. I can't help wondering about spicynuts, though. Just how . . . close . . . were your interactions?
posted by Brzht at 2:37 PM on April 8

A quick Google search for my favorite marsupial led me to this interesting link: Koala pouch may have its own bug buster.
posted by rossination at 2:55 PM on April 8

Kangaroos don't smell very nice. There will never be Skippy cologne.
posted by pompomtom at 6:47 PM on April 8

Awesome.
posted by creasy boy at 12:34 AM on April 9