Reproduction

The Duck-Billed Platypus is unique among mammals, in that they have the ability of egg laying sexuxally. The female can lay up to four eggs, but usually only lays two. The young "puggle" have no fur when they hatch. The mother produces milk from her large glands under her skin which oozes the skin and the babies suck on it. Mating occurs once a year, beginning in late June in the warmer northern parts and in October in the southern part. The soft leathery egg resembles a reptiles egg. The mother incubates these against her abdomen for about two weeks in a blocked-off nest at the end of a long breeding burrow. Most eggs are very small.