Diet and Obtaining food
Duck billed platypuses are carnivores. They eat shrimp, crayfish, insect larvae, worms, small freshwater animals, fish, frogs and tadpoles. They also eat snails, spiders, freshwater mussels, bivalve mollusks, and fish eggs. Platypuses hunt at night underwater with their eyes and ears closed. They find and catch underwater animals swimming or sinking in the mud by tracking them with their bills. When they eat they grind up their food with grinding pads in their mouths because they have no teeth. They spend an average of 12 hours hunting for food.