Mating and Reproduction Information

Breeding

Duck-Billed Platypuses breed between July and October. Mating occurs under water and after a gestation period of approximately 2 - 3 weeks 2, occasionally 3, soft shelled eggs are laid. The female curls herself around her eggs and incubates them for approximately 10 days.

When the young hatch they are blind and hairless and they feed only from their mother's milk. Females lack teats and instead milk is secreted from pores in the skin. The young are able to lap up her milk from the pools that collect in the grooves of her abdomen.

The young Platypuses emerge from the burrow when they reach approximately 4 months old. Females are thought to become sexually mature in their second year.