# Duck billed platapus



## Doogerie (Jul 6, 2007)

I was just wondering can you get a pet Duck billed platapus just wondering ?


----------



## weeminx (Oct 28, 2006)

no you cant get platypus :lol2:


----------



## CB89 (Jan 15, 2009)

They have very poweful venom.


----------



## Doogerie (Jul 6, 2007)

I think it's odd how thay are the only mammel that i know of that has venom and a bill (like a duck) and lays eggs it's a real anigma


----------



## Emmaj (Dec 3, 2007)

from what i have read in the past 

they are a protected animal and also very difficult to keep in captivity too


----------



## Christophe (Mar 21, 2009)

It would certainly make an interesting pet!
Imagine that in your garden roaming around!


----------



## crazysnakedude (Jul 1, 2005)

austalia have extremley tight laws on what wildlife leaves their country. off the top of my head i cant think of a zoo that has them, certainly not in the uk...could be wrong tho


----------



## Talk To The Animals (Jan 10, 2008)

They aren't the only venomus mammal any more - they found that Hispaniolan solenodon a while ago.


----------



## crazysnakedude (Jul 1, 2005)

our slow loris at work is venomous/ poisonous. it secretes it from its elbows then licks it/ whipes it on themselves and their babies.....still cute at hell tho.


----------



## maddragon29 (Oct 16, 2008)

Doogerie said:


> I think it's odd how thay are the only mammel that i know of that has venom and a bill (like a duck) and lays eggs it's a real anigma


Its not so odd, its cause they are one of the linking species between mammal like reptillians and true mammals :lol2:

When you think about birds having a bill, and knowing that they evolved from dinosaurs, its not so hard to get your head round the platypus.


----------



## mrhoyo (Mar 29, 2007)

Sydney aquarium has some, theyre suprisingly small. The stupidly strict oz laws would make them hard to get hold of but i bet someone has done. Its not a crime if you dont get caught:2thumb:


----------



## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

If everybody took that attitude, people would be stealing Aussie wildlife all the time! They are already struggling keeping their niche animals IN the country, cuz some people are more interested in the money they can bring them than the welfare of the animals in question. The export laws on their wildlife makes perfect sense!


----------



## Richcymru (Nov 21, 2008)

you will NEVER get one of them out of Australia! plus I wouldnt fancy getting envenomated, as I believe the venom is purely designed to stimulate the nervous system in such a way to cause maximum pain! :2thumb:


----------



## stubeanz (Mar 28, 2007)

no it would be near impossible to get a platypus as a pet. zoos find them hard enough to keep and many zoos cant keep them alive for long.
as to the venom.... all monotremes (egg laying mammals) are venomous just the echidna species and female platypus dont have a delivery system for the venom. 
the venom is potent enough to kill dingoes but no-one has ever died from a platypus sting.
stu


----------



## LoveForLizards (Apr 20, 2008)

mrhoyo said:


> *The stupidly strict oz laws* would make them hard to get hold of but i bet someone has done. Its not a crime if you dont get caught:2thumb:


:bash::bash:


----------



## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

LoveForLizards said:


> :bash::bash:


 
Guess I'm not the only one to find that comment annoying :2thumb:


----------



## Rain (Oct 9, 2007)

stubeanz said:


> no it would be near impossible to get a platypus as a pet. zoos find them hard enough to keep and many zoos cant keep them alive for long.
> as to the venom.... all monotremes (egg laying mammals) are venomous just the echidna species and female platypus dont have a delivery system for the venom.
> the venom is potent enough to kill dingoes but no-one has ever died from a platypus sting.
> stu


 Actually, I believe females are born with spurs too, but they dont develop and fall off at around a year old. Also, I dont believe females ever produce venom. But I'll be the first to admit that I have VERY little knowledge of them, I just seem to recall reading that once upon a time...

Interestlingly, CITES lists the platypus as a LC (least concern), so if not for the lock down on australian species (which I approve of btw), then there would be very little stopping their sale at the moment. Of course, if they could be sold, then they would be over farmed for proffit, and the wild animal numbers would decline etc....


----------



## mrhoyo (Mar 29, 2007)

Amalthea said:


> If everybody took that attitude, people would be stealing Aussie wildlife all the time! They are already struggling keeping their niche animals IN the country, cuz some people are more interested in the money they can bring them than the welfare of the animals in question. The export laws on their wildlife makes perfect sense!


I wasn't implying that people go out and steal the wildlife, I just don't see why CB animals in Oz can't be exported. Fair enough for the ban on lifting them straight from the wild but if they had been bred in captivity don't you think there would be a higher number produced if they could be exported?


----------



## Tyrant (Feb 19, 2009)

I visited Sydney Aquarium and Taronga Zoo and didn't get to see any. They were very good at hiding!


----------



## glidergirl (Nov 27, 2006)

mrhoyo said:


> I wasn't implying that people go out and steal the wildlife, I just don't see why CB animals in Oz can't be exported. Fair enough for the ban on lifting them straight from the wild but if they had been bred in captivity *don't you think there would be a higher number produced if they could be exported?*


And how would exporting Platypus benefit the Australian population? Us breeding suggies for example doesn't help the Indonesian or Australian glider population. 

The laws have only been in place for 50 or 60 years now, and they were put in place because people were stripping the country of it's fascinating wildlife! I'd have 2 of each marsupial if I could, and probably a couple of Echidna and Platypus because Aussie wildlife is amazing!

There is probably a breeding programme for them anyway, I don't know for sure as I've never looked in to it. But yeah ... I would love a pair


----------



## mrhoyo (Mar 29, 2007)

There should be a number reintroduced from a litter ideally. Theyre protected because they were hunted to near extinction in the 1800s for their fur. Theyre not in danger of extinction now but theyre not particularly common either. 
There is a breeding programme going, as far as i know there have only been two born from cb parents though. I think theyre a pain to breed in captivity.
Looks like you would need to be part of the official breeding programme to get one


----------



## stubeanz (Mar 28, 2007)

Rain said:


> Actually, I believe females are born with spurs too, but they dont develop and fall off at around a year old. Also, I dont believe females ever produce venom. But I'll be the first to admit that I have VERY little knowledge of them, I just seem to recall reading that once upon a time...


they may not produce venom but they still have a venom gland, tbh i admit i dont have too much knowledge on them either so wouldnt know if these venom glands actualy contained venom or were just empty sacs lol
amazing creatues though, would love to see them one day
stu


----------



## XoxOriptideOxoX (Jul 11, 2008)

CB89 said:


> They have very poweful venom.



well only males have venom


----------



## sammy90 (Mar 19, 2009)

Doogerie said:


> I think it's odd how thay are the only mammel that i know of that has venom and a bill (like a duck) and lays eggs it's a real anigma


theres another animal that lays eggs it lives in two types of echidna the short-beaked echidna lives in Australia and New Guinea. the long-beaked relative is now known only from New Guinea


----------



## crazysnakedude (Jul 1, 2005)

cobra's are venomous too :2thumb:


----------



## stubeanz (Mar 28, 2007)

crazysnakedude said:


> cobra's are venomous too :2thumb:


and is not a mammal lol


----------



## kaimarion (Dec 31, 2007)

Ok it has a beak, it's venomous and it lays eggs??? Major WTFage!
You would think someone was taking the p*** if you had never heard of one before.


----------



## stubeanz (Mar 28, 2007)

kaimarion said:


> Ok it has a beak, it's venomous and it lays eggs??? Major WTFage!
> You would think someone was taking the p*** if you had never heard of one before.


 when they were first discovered and stuffed specimens were sent back to the uk people did think they had been parts of animals stuck together, mainly a ducks bill, a beavers tail and some kind of other hairy mammal lol
stu


----------



## wes77 (Mar 23, 2009)

Seen some platys at Adelaide zoo, and Toronga. Biggest highlight of my round oz trip was spotting one in the wild. They are very shy and ellusive so I considered myself very fortunate.:mf_dribble:
Mammals that lay eggs (platypus and echidnas) are called monotremes. Us aussies are blessed with some of the strangest animals in the world.
This thread is making me home sick!!!


----------

