The Echidna – taxonomic family name for Echidna – Taschyglossidae - means “fast tongue”.


The echidna is an extremely secretive animal, they are extremely sensitive to vibrations on the ground. Echidnas have a domed shaped back with short stubby tail, no obvious neck, and a flat belly. Back and sides are covered with spines of varying sizes and lengths. The Echidna is easily recognisable by the covering of spines across its body which is a safety mechanism for the animal. These spines are yellow/golden with a black/brown tip. Between the spines is soft hair, longer in cooler climates and shorter in warmer areas. (In Tasmania the fur sometimes obscures the spines). Echidnas have five toes on both the front and hind limbs, on the hind limbs they have 2-3 grooming claws (depending on the species). The pads of the front feet are full and firm in healthy animals. They contain mechanoreceptors that pick up vibrations from crunching feet, breaking vegetation and probably food sources.

The Echidnas snout is between 7 and 8cm long and is stiffened to enable the animal to break up logs and termite mounds when searching for food, they are key cultivators who enhance soil aeration, moisture penetration, nutrient mixing, seed dispersal and spread of mycorrhizae, there tongue is around 18cm long. Adult Echidna vary in size from 30 - 53cm, with males weighing 6kg and females 4.5kg. Echidnas can live for more than 50 years. You cannot sex an Echidna simply by looking at the animal. There are no external genitals. Both males and females can form a pouch. Both males and females can retain or lose the spur on the hind foot. Size and weight of an animal is not an indication of gender. The male echidna does not use the penis for urination. It is located internally and is only outside of the body when used for copulation. Until a male echidna has reached sexual maturity it can be extremely difficult to find evidence of the penis. However it is not impossible because a mature Echidna can be palpated, especially during the courtship and breeding season.

Sexing an Adult Echidna using Palpitaion(extract from Biology Rescue and Rehab of Short-Beaked Echidnas by Peggy Resmiller – Environmental Physiologist, Echidna Researcher, SA)

Because I have handled hundreds of animals in the past 20+ years I have learned to feel or palpate for the penis in order to determine gender of adult echidnas. Simply stated, palpating an echidna to determine gender requires practice. Given the opportunity, it is worth a 'feel' to gain experience. The recommended procedure for palpating is as follows:
1) Place the echidna on its back on top of several folded hessian bags or other padding.
2) Gently uncurl the tail and place hand between the tail and belly.
3) With one or two fingers gently probe the contracted stomach muscles anterior to the epipubic bones and within the ventral region of the perlvis adjacent to the cloaca.




In adult males. Presence of a penis can be felt within the body next to the cloacal opening. During the breeding season, the penis often protrudes from the cloaca during palpation. Remember, the male echidna does not use the penis for urination. In subadults, ie not sexually mature individuals, the penis may not be detected because it is still an undeveloped organ.
In a female, the epipubic bones are clearly discernible (after practice) when palpating. We have used the palpation method for sexing adult echidnas for many years. Monitoring known individuals over periods has proven that initial determination of gender was accurate.
NOTE: It is not necessary and we do not anaesthetise echidnas for these examinations.

Using presence of a pouch to determine gender is not reliable. Both males and females can form a superficial pouch by contracting the longitudinal muscles on the belly. Lactating females have enlarged mammary glands that form the prominent pouch while carrying young. After the young is in the burrow, the obvious pouch regresses by swollen mammary tissue remained.(end Extract)

The echidna has small external eyes, but sense of sight is highly developed. They quickly recognise human shape so it is best to sit or kneel in order to break up the normal towering human silhouette.

When threatened the Echidna can dig very quickly and bury themselves in the soil, or curl into a tight ball with its snout and legs tucked beneath it and raise its spines, or quills so that it cannot be handled easily. The Echidna can be found throughout all of Australia where ever there are ants or termites present, as this is their main diet source. The Echidna has no teeth, but a very long tongue, which extends into ant mounds. It's tongue is coated with a sticky saliva substance which the ants stick too. Dirt and ant nest material is also ingested.


The Echidna is a solitary animal not territorial but occupying overlapping ranges, there home range can be in excess of 250 hectares depending on food availability and habitat. They do not have fixed nest sites. Nests are only used for incubating and suckling the young, which are called Puggles. Normal shelter is under thick bushes, hollow logs and other debris, and the Echidna will often use rabbit and wombat burrows as well. During extreme weather such as intense heat, the Echidna will shelter for most of the day, and will forage at night. In cold weather, as seen in the Snowy Mountain region of NSW, the Echidna will hibernate. The Echidna can be found throughout all of mainland Australia and Tasmania.




The Echidna and Platypus are the only Australian marsupials that lay eggs and not live young.
Egg-laying mammals are called monotremes. There are only three kinds of monotremes in the world: the long-beaked echidna (three species – all residing in New Guinea), short-beaked Echidna (found throughout Australia in all climatic conditions and ecosystems within the Australian bioregion)), and the duck-billed platypus (found only in certain places in Australia)

Normally a solitary animal, sexual maturity for a make is reached between seven to twelve years of age, for a female it is earlier and can produce her first young at five or seven years of age. During mating times it is not unusual to see a female Echidna have a train of males - head to toe - following her – up to 11 males have been seen making this train. Courtship trains can last between 2 and 60 days.

Echidna breeding period is between late June and Early September. Echidna copulation lasts between thirty minutes to two hours.

There are no verified methods of ageing adult Echidnas. However with Puggles, there are two distinct stages in the life of an Echidna from the hatching to weaning.
1) POUCH LIFE: for approximately the first 50 days the puggle lives in the mothers pouch.
2) BURROW LIFE: From about 50 to 120 days of age (about 30 weeks) the young lives in a burrow. After weaning the young is independent. There is no parental guidance or contact with other Echidnas after weaning…until sexual maturity is reached.




POUCH LIFE
Pouch young can be divided into two further stages.
1) From hatching up to approx 12 days of age when the young is moist. Shiny and lives in a humid pouch.
2) From 12 days onward when the pouch is dry.





The female Echidna lays a single, leathery egg the size of a grape every breeding cycle, their breeding cycle is individualistic – it can be as infrequent as once every five years where a male Echidna can be sexually active each year. The mother Echidna then rolls the newly laid egg into a deep pocket or pouch located on her belly - to keep the egg safe, which is then incubated, the pocket/pouch is really more like a fold of skin over the abdomen area which is closed with contracting muscles.

The newborn is called a Puggle, it is hatched around 10 to 11 days later and is less than 1.3cm long and around 0.3 of a gram, smaller than the size of a jellybean! Luckily for the mother the puggle is not born with spines, instead it is a tiny mass of pink flesh. The puggle uses its tiny, see-through claws to grip the special hairs within the mother's pouch. The mother does not have nipples the way other mammals do. Instead, the little puggle will suck at milk that is excreted from special glands on her skin in her mother's pouch. The puggle is carried in the pouch for about 53 days when its spines begin to break through.


At this stage the mother leaves it in a nursery burrow and the puggle is left alone, the mother blocks up the entrance to the burrow to stop the puggle crawling out. Temperature in the burrow is 15 - 21°C. The mother returns every 5-6 days and feeds 40% of the baby’s bodyweight in one feed, so a new baby in care may not need feeding immediately. All echidnas, and especially immature puggles, suffer heat stress and overheat rapidly, so they should be kept in a semi-torpid state.

The young Echidna leaves the burrow at around 6-7 months of age weighing approximately 1 to 2 kilograms and is weaned approximately 4 weeks later.


If you see an echidna and it is not injured or in danger then leave it alone. Remember: Echidnas are a protected species in all states and territories. If the echidna is in danger, ie on a road or being threatened by a predator, move it away. Only authorised wildlife carers or researchers with permits are allowed to pick up an echidna for transport or rescue.

When Echidnas wake from hibernation they often become disorientated. Many have been found under carports with a brick wall and concrete. All they need is to be turned around and headed back in the right direction. Most have wandered in from local parks or scrub.

Never remove a healthy echidna from the area in which it is found. It could be a female echidna with a puggle in a burrow nearby. If you take the mother away to relocate in another area her baby will starve to death. Echidnas have also been known to try and find their way back home. They then face the risk of having to cross roads and being hit by cars.

An echidna does not have ear flaps like we do. Its ears are large, vertical slits just behind its eyes. It has an amazing sense of smell, therefore if needing to capture an echidna you must approach it from down wind so it cannot smell you. It was once believed that Echidnas had extremely poor eyesight, however, latest findings show the exact opposite is true.




When picking up or handling an echidna it is best not to wear gloves. Bare hands allow greater sensitivity to the animals responses. Never use a shovel or try to force an echidna out of hiding with high pressure water or pointed implements, this could injure the animal.

The best way to capture an Echidna is to tickle its side at the back of the Echidna's body – the echidna will roll that way showing his opposite back foot, which can then be lifted up and you can put your hand underneath the echidna's soft tummy, it will then curl itself around your hand and you will be protected from the spines (this is considered the most gentlest way to catch an echidna, and provides the less amount of stress on the animal.) It also protects a puggle if one is there.

In extreme measures when an Echidna is injured and needs rescuing ONLY - this method has has had good results, although I personally feel it causes undue stress on the animal - if an echidna is injured and needs rescuing and you are unable to pick it up due to it digging itself into the ground, use a fine spray mist bottle to wet it's head. You will find the echidna will automatically loosen it's grip in the soil, even throwing it's legs out, enabling you to pick it up.


If an echidna is on a flat hard surface – like a road or concrete, it is often impossible to slip a hand under the animal to pick it up. The rubber mat from the car, an old coat or even a towel folded over a few times can help. Wedge the mat, coat or whatever you have as far under the echidna as possible. This usually moves the animal enough to stop the vacuum like seal it has on the surface, then gently roll the Echidna onto the mat, coat or towel to be safely bagged.

To bag an echidna a suggestion is to put it in a hessian bag (potatoes used to come in hessian bags in the old days) Hessian bags are also used for dog beds – if you ask around you can find them. Also used is cotton pillow cases – you can put a cotton pillowcase inside a cotton pillowcase.


Here is an excerpt taken from the book 'In The Wild' with Harry Butler.

There's something else that's not a bird, though it does lay eggs. It's something special – probably the most primitive mammal in the world, except for the platypus. It's the Echidna or Spiny Anteater. As soon as it sees me he goes into his defensive position – but the poor fellow's got one problem: his hind claws are so well developed for digging that one has to stick out. If you touch one it retreats, but the other one has to poke out, so you can get a grip on him. It's the one weakness in his protection against foxes and dingoes and other predators.

He has a lovely long nose and seven inches of tongue. He's out hunting for termites: most mammals here come out at night, but this one's an exception. He comes out in the afternoon and goes termite-hunting, scuffling around in the bushes looking for termites which live just under the surface. He digs with his powerful claws and then . . . slurp! Seven inches of instant death goes up the tunnel and zaps the termites. He eats about three or four thousand of them in a day.

His back claw is very long for obvious reasons: how do you scratch yourself if you get an itch under all those prickles? That long claw is for getting in among the spines and having a good old scratch, because he gets ticks and lice the same as other things do in the bush.

He's threatened by one of our introduced animals, the fox, who's learned a way to handle Echidnas. The fox comes along, the Echidna sees him and rolls up in a tight ball. The fox will roll him with his nose to a pool of water, if there's one handy, and as soon as he hits the water the Echidna unrolls to start swimming and – zap! The fox has got him, because the belly underneath is soft and unprotected. (end of Excerpt)


Tip: Never house an Echidna in a cardboard box, styrofoam esky, wooden crate as they can scratch their way out of it.

Echidnas can be housed in a large duty plastic stacker box (65 x 42 x 38cm) with a secure lid (clips on one side and has a hole for a bolt and wing nut on the other side), or an esky with holes in the lid.

X - some carers will put shredded paper in so the Echidna can nestle into it – DO NOT DO THIS – the rustle of the paper is not natural and stresses the Echidna.

Instead place one third of leaf litter nd soil in the box for the animal to dig into. No artificial heat must be added, and in very hot weather it may be necessary to use ice bricks on the lid to maintain a low temperature. Ideally, a thermometer placed deep in the esky can be used to check that the temperature is maintained ideally at approx 19-23° C. If the temperature goes over 33 degrees celcius for more than 5 minutes and the Echidna cannot escape from a hot area, the animal will start to heat stress and can die. Never place a rescued Echidna in direct sun. Remember keep it cool, It is not unusual for a traumatized Echidna to go into torpor.

The animal will stay in the esky until approx six months old, when the quills will be approx 2cm long. Short exercises can be given in a confined indoor area, eventually progressing to a daily run on soil in a secure aviary.

If you are hand-rearing a puggle, keeping records of body weight before and after feeding will help you gage the growth progress of the young. Remember to note the date first. If you have a stopwatch, you may want to keep track of how fast the young suckles. You can do this by counting the suckles per minute.

How to measure the length of your puggle?
The length of the young can be measured using soft string with a knot on one end and a sliding flag made of masking tape or a piece of blue tac at the other end, Place the knot at the tip of th snout and length with your flag or blue tac and put string down to measure against a ruler or tape measure later. Record the date that the eyes an ears open. Taking photos and dating them is a great way to keep a visual record of your puggles progress.

Whilst no artificial formula adequately mimics the natural diet, three formulas are:

•  Di-Vetelact — 1 scoop to 50ml water plus 2.5ml of cream and 2.5ml of olive oil.(The addition of the cream and olive oil increases the fat levels to simulate mother’s milk.) Feed once a day at 15-20% of body weight. 
  
  
• Wombaroo Echidna Milk Replacer, which gives instructions on the packet and the amount fed once a day, calculated on the animal’s weight.
  
  
• Digestelact – Dr Peggy Rismiller has these two recipes:
  
  

1. Pouch Young Formula (under 45 days or under 140grms)
   50ml warm water
   ½ scoop (4g) low lactose formula (Digestelact)
   ½ teaspoon skim milk
   2ml canola oil
   small egg yolk
   Mix Digestelact and warm water in saucepan, add canola oil and egg yolk, stir over low heat until blended, pour in bowl and if necessary float bowl in hot water to keep warm. READY to feed puggle, Use clean syringe (1,2 or 5ml) FORMULA SHOULD BE HAND WARM, NOT HOT OR COLD.
   
   
2. Burrow Young Formula (over 45 days or over 150grms)
   100ml warm water
   2 scoops (16g) low lactose formula (Deigestelact)
   2 level teaspoons pure protein powder (e.g. skim milk powder) (1 level teaspoon = 2g)
   20ml canola oil
   1 egg yolk
   Mix as for Pouch Young formula (above)
   
   

Do not keep left over formula for more than a day and refrigerate if keeping overnight.
Amount of food and formula will need to be increased as puggle grows.

Increase 1:
125ml water
2 heaped scoops – low lactose formula (heaped scoop = 11grms)
2 heaped teaspoons skim milk powder
30ml canola oil
2 egg yolks
Mix as above but warm until slightly thick (consistency of thickened cream)

Increase 2:
150ml water
3 heaped scoops low lactose formula (33g)
3 heaped teaspoons skim milk powder
60ml canola oil
3 egg yolks
Mix as above but warm until slightly thick (consistency of thickened cream)


Nestling Echidnas only require milk once every 48 hours.Ways to give milk to a Puggle, suggested from local wildlife carers:

Very Young Puggles: Fill a sponge with warm milk, place a teatowel over sponge and gently squeeze the back of the sponge so it soaks through the tea towel to the baby who will lick and suck the milk. Patience is needed as a Puggle can take up to an hour to feed properly, keep milk warm by placing container in hot water, using a syringe – continue to add warm milk to the front of the sponge so the baby is sucking only the warm milk, the baby will consume 3-5 mls per feed and then will take up to 48 hours beforeneeding to be fed again.. Some use only the tea towel and do not use the sponge at all, they dip the teatowel in the milk (whatever works best for you).
Older Puggles: Encourage young to suck milk from your cupped hand, notice the word suck – the puggle does not lick while it is young – it will suck the milk out of the crevice of your hand and it can suck so hard that you can feel bruised. The pouch young holds onto the hairs of the mother’s pouch and suckles in a position we would consider ‘upside down’ Burrow young also suckle ‘upwards’ while the mother stands over the young or lies on her side. Small burrow young echidnas (170-250g at 50 days of age) should gain at least 5-10 grams between feeds – if the young has not gained weight or has gained less than 10g after 2 consecutive feeds, the formula will either need to be increased or changed.

Weigh your puggle before feeds and after.

Feeding your young PUGGLE: suggested by Peggy Rismiller in her book “Biology Rescue and Rehab of Short-Beaked Echidnas”

Weigh the baby prior to each feed and after so you can ascertain how much formula your puggle has drunk.
Ten minutes prior to feeding, the puggle is warmed in the carer’s hand until it becomes quite active, it may ‘play’ or wiggle around a bit before it is ready to feed.

Your puggle urinates and defecates WITHOUT stimulation (Remember: echidnas are different from marsupials.)
At all times avoid very bright lights with your puggle as they are always in the dark in their ‘burrow’.
If a puggle has defecated and is pooey, wash with squirt bottle and dry before starting to feed (the mother would lick the young clean)

Have a towel handy and place on lap.
Place young in ‘sitting position’ on lap against one leg so that it does not roll backwards. The young will curl around your hand. Young puggles are constantly flexing their fore paws, feeling for hair or another purchase. When settled in, they will grip your hand or try to keep contact.
Use syringe or eye dropper to dribble a small amount of milk into the cupped hand. The puggle will suckle the milk from the folds in the hand. It suckles using a strong ‘stripping action.’ You may find the pressuer exerted to be greater than you would expect. During a normal feeding period, they may exert enough pressure to tire your palm muscles or even bruise your palm!

Once the young starts feeding, it will continue at a steady rate, sometimes pausing about half way through (in the wild, they usually change to the other milk patch).

You will feel the young ‘expanding’ while it feeds. When full, it will remind you of a highly inflated balloon. During the first couple of weeks, offer food until it is all gone or until the young stops feeding by itself (they often fall asleep)

As the baby gets older and you wish to use a dish eg saucer or eggcup, ensure that the baby’s nostrils do not become submerged in the milk. At this stage, the faeces should be soft yellowy-brown pasty pellets, and remember no toileting is necessary.

After feeding – use a squirt bottle with warm water to wash away excess milk and then pat dry. The expected weight gains below must be taken into account when hand raising. But remember NO two hand rearings will be exactly the same. Expect the unexpected and stay clam.

Echidna Statistics:

• Gestation -23 days
  
  
• Incubation - 10½ days
  
  
• Hatchling 300 mg
  
  
• 2 days 1gm
  
  
• 11 days 9 gm Hind leg development & beak pigmentation.
  
  
• 22 days 50 gm Claws developed.
  
  
• 30 days Light fuzz appears on body.
  
  
• 50 - 60 days Spines erupt and body starts to change colour. During this time the eyes open.
  Temperature in the burrow is 15 °C. The mother returns every 5-6 days and feeds 40% of the baby’s bodyweight in one feed.
  
  

At 500gm body weight, two parts adult meat mix can be added to seven parts milk formula and offered from a bowl. Gradually increase the meat mix and reduce the amount of milk until fully weaned onto adult diet.

Natural food for Adult Echidnas are: Ants, Termites and also a large variety of invertebrates including grubs, worms, nematodes, soft bodied insects, ticks, beetles, invertebrate eggs, insect larvae, carrion insects and other cryptic invertebrates, Individual Echidnas show individual food preferences. Echidnas drink fresh water daily. When they eat ants and termites they ingest soil and nest material in the process.

For an adult Echidna in care you can feed them: Wombaroo Small Carnivore Food mixed with water and soil from an ants nest until food becomes moist and crumbly.

Once Echidnas become Juvenile (between 6-7 months old) they can be housed in an outside enclosure.

Echidnas are great escape artists and will escape through burrowing or even scale wire fences. Because they can climb up wire fencing. Never put an echidna into an aviary or cage. As they climb the wire they can damage their snouts.

How to make an outside enclosure for an Echidna?

As Echidnas are great climbers, the sides of the enclosure need to be high and smooth – sheets of tin are perfect. The floor of the enclosure can be lined with heavy-duty wire mesh below ground level and then covered with soil or leaf litter. The leaf litter and soil need to be replaced daily.

For a more permanent enclosure great success has been found by putting a foot of cement on both sides of the tin sheeting. (This type of enclosure can also be used for wombats).





Put in the enclosure rotting logs (full of termites) and ant mounds – to collect an ant mound , place into a large bucket and turn it upside down onto a rotting log or directly onto the ground – leave in place for a couple of days and the ants will continue to build their nest downwards – create a permanent ant mound in the pen, this should be done days/weeks before the echidna is due to be released in a pen – you can have 4 buckets going at a time, just lift off a bucket every couple of days(sometimes the echidna will beat you to it). These mounds can also be placed on top of rotting logs. Remember an Echidna will eat 3000-4000 ants/termites per day. To keep up with supply is very demanding, you can supplement their natural foods with a mix you can get from Wombaroo – called Wombaroo Small Carnivore Food. This must be mixed with water and with dirt from termite mounds until it is moist and crumbly.

Fresh water must be available daily.


Air temperature must be monitored and kept below 25 degrees celsius – this can be sustained by placing Echidna's enclosures half under the shade of a heavily leafed tree. Echidnas can swim so having a form of pond in the shade will help cool an Echidna in summer, further having logs in the enclosure with home made burrows/dens allows them to go under ground to get out of the heat, as Echidna's are sensitive to extreme weather conditions – hibernating in cold weather and avoiding the heat by foraging in the late afternoon right into the night.


Many thanks to everyone who provided photos and to Fourth Crossing Wildlife for photos and info. The majority of this article came from the book by Dr Peggy Rismiller “Biology Rescue and Rehab of Short-Beaked Echidnas” Thank you Dr Peggy Rismiller for allowing us to utilise this great source.