Each dive usually last for around 30 to 40 seconds but sometimes can last longer than that. The platypus needs to eat about 20% of its own body weight each day, which requires it to spend an average of 12 daily hours looking for food. They sleep for about 14 hours of the day and this is attributed to their very high-calorie diet of crustaceans. What does it eat? Platypus eat a mix of plants and meats, Yabbies, shrimp, and crayfish are their favourite but they will also eat worms, fish and water plants. This arouses a question in our head that how do they digest their food then. Platypus eat small water animals such as insect larvae, freshwater shrimps, and crayfish. Much of the diet includes adult and larval invertebrates such as worms, yabbies, and insect larvae but it occasionally eats small vertebrates. Platypus distribution (red: native; yellow: introduced). A baby platypus needs to feed on its mother’s milk supply for around 3-4 months before it is ready to begin seeking out its own food. Female platypus usually make two separate burrows, one for them and one male, and another to have their newborn pups. Their fur, dark brown on top and tan on their bellies, is thick and repels water to keep them warm and dry even after hours of swimming. During cold southern winters, a platypus can hibernate in its burrow. After they, find the prey they catch it with their bill and crush it using the grit they consume together with the prey. As they swim, they try to detect food along the muddy bottom of the river, stream, pond or lake using their sensitive bills. A cougar is a North American sandy colored puma. The Platypus is brown in colour and quite small. Turning stones off the coast with powerful claws or beaks, they often catch different beetles, larvae, worms and snails. Found in Australia and New Guinea, the Echidna eats ants and termites. Their duckbill is the most important factor in their diet. Beside the Platypus, it’s the only mammal that lays eggs. 0 0. A baby platypus needs to feed on its mother’s milk supply for around 3-4 months before it is ready to begin seeking out its own food. 5 years ago. There are many different species of mice around the world. The platypus's diet consists of invertebrate prey such as water beetles, water bugs, the larvae of caddisflies, mayflies, damselflies, dragonflies, dobsonflies, midges, craneflies, and blackflies. They hunt worms, shrimp, insect larvae, and crayfish at dawn, dusk, and night. The ground food between the cheek pouches through food pipe directly goes into the intestine where the absorption of nutrition takes place. Due to this unique feeding process, they are known to also eat small vertebrates that may be settling at the bottom of the water These could include small reptiles or small fish. Check out our range of fun platypus facts for kids. An adult Platypus can be from 45 cm up to 60 cm in length and can weigh up to 2.7 kg. 0 0? A platypus can dip its bill into the mud and sense the approach of another animal nearby. 0 0 1. Although the platypus is still common in much of it’s present range, it must be regarded as vulnerable.The male platypus has a spur on the inside of its hind leg which is it’s only defence. It is due to the fact that platypuses do not have teeth and have to ingest gravel and sand to grind up the food in their cheek pouches (which are in the sides of their mouths). What does a platypus eat? Basically, extracting it in the water, although they often find something to profit from and on land. For a long time, platypuses have surprised scientists with their unusual body structure and behaviors. Platypuses are carnivores that hunt their prey underwater and usually at night. As discussed on the Adaptation section, the Platypus uses Electroreception to find its prey. Platypuses have to eat food nearly 30% of their body weight per day. Answer. Platypuses are the only mammals, apart from one species of dolphin, that use electroreception to locate their prey by detecting electric fields generated by movement. Therefore, what do platypus eat, depends on whether they choose to hunt in water or on the ground? Adding to the animal’s distinctive appearance are conspicuous white patches of fur under the eyes. These mammals come off a bit strange because they look like a hybrid of three other well-known mammals: the duck, the otter, and the beaver. Foraging for food is not left up to either gender. There are approximately 40,000 different receptors that are on their bill to detect their food at the dark depths of freshwater sources, but also to detect small prey in their general surroundings, such as small fish. What does the platypus eat? The platypus is a bottom-feeder that uses its beaver-like tail to steer and its webbed feet to propel itself through the water while hunting for insects, shellfish, and worms. They spend so much time searching for food because they need to consume approximately 20% of its body weight (which ranges from 22 to 5.3 for males and 1.5 to 3.5 for females) which equates to a little over 12 hours. Platypuses hunt annelid worms, insect larvae, and several types of crustacean, including freshwater shrimp, crabfish, and yabbies. Platypus, small amphibious Australian mammal noted for its odd combination of primitive features and special adaptations, especially the flat, almost comical duck-beak-like bill. A Platypus is a carnivore. Platypuses do not use their sense of smell or sight while hunting in the water. So, for platypuses, digestion takes place in the intestine rather than in the stomach. Both male and female platypuses find their food sources. Male platypuses have the ability to shoot venom from the heels of their feet. What makes platypus an excellent predator. Platypus is well adapted for semi-aquatic lifestyle. Platypuses are carnivores that hunt their prey underwater and usually at night. The platypus is carnivorous, feeding on annelid worms, freshwater shrimp, insect larvae, and freshwater yabby dug out with its snout from the riverbed or caught while swimming. It not only acts as their shovel but as the sensor. Occasionally, it will eat frogs, tadpoles, fish, or plants, but that is not very common, despite the platypus's ability to hunt these animals. During their feast of the treasures found within the riverbeds, platypuses are able to eat the soft parts of their food and spit out the bones. Platypuses are predators and their food depends on what they could hunt in their habitat. Asked by Wiki User. They have an elongated duck bill, the furry body of an otter, and a long, flat tail much like a beaver. 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