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Baby platypuses initially feed exclusively on mothers' milk. The mother platypus does not have teats for the baby platypuses to latch onto, but instead secretes milk through grooves on either side of her abdomen. The young platypuses suck up this milk.
As they get older, they are shown by the mother platypus how to find food in rivers and creeks.
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What do baby platypuses eat?
Being mammals, young platypuses feed on mothers' milk until they are old enough to learn to dive and forage for food in rivers and creeks.
How do baby platypuses find their food?
Baby platypuses initially feed exclusively on mothers' milk. As they get older, they are shown by the mother platypus how to find food in rivers and creeks.
Do baby platypuses drink their mother's milk?
Yes. Platypuses are mammals, and all female mammals - platypuses included - suckle their young on mother's milk. The only difference is that female platypuses do not have teats. The young must scoop up the milk which exudes into grooves in the mother's abdomen.
How can a baby platypus nurse?
Platypuses do feed their young on mothers' milk, but the young do not suckle from teats. The mother platypus secretes milk from glands on her abdomen, which the young platypus drinks, but she does not develop teats.
Do platypuses play with their young?
Platypuses are not particularly playful, and they do not play with their young. Females are excellent mothers, and they nurture their young carefully, doing what they can to protect them. They must leave the young in a chamber at the end of a burrow when they go out hunting for food in the creeks and rivers alongside of which they live. They teach their young to dive and hunt for food, but they do not play with them.
Are baby platypus shy?
Baby platypuses are very shy, as are the adult platypuses.
What do mother platypuses feed their young?
Platypuses are mammals: therefore, mother platypuses, like all mammals, feed their young on mothers' milk.
How much do baby platypuses weigh?
When first hatched, baby platypuses weigh less than a gram.
Does a platypus nurse its young?
Yes, but a young platypus feeds differently to either marsupials or placental mammals. The mother has large glands under the skin from which she secretes the milk. The milk ends up on the mother's fur, and it from this that the young platypus feeds. The milk still contains all the nutrients required for the young platypus, as it a couple of months before the baby is ready to hunt for food on the bottom of the river.
Does the mother take care for the baby platypus?
Yes: the mother platypus is a dutiful creature, tending her young carefully in a chamber at the end of a burrow, ensuring they do not get wet after she has been swimming and hunting for food. The young feed from mothers' milk for several months, as platypuses are mammals.
How does a platypus feed its young?
The newly hatched young are vulnerable, blind, and hairless, and are fed by the mother's milk. Although possessing mammary glands, the Platypus lacks teats. Instead, milk is released through pores in the skin. There are grooves on her abdomen that form pools of milk, allowing the young to lap it up.[3][33] After they hatch, the offspring are suckled for three to four months.
How do Platypuses eat their food?
Platypuses do not have teeth, but hard bony plates which they use to grind the food.
