Echidna
Care & Advice
Common causes for intervention:
- Car accidents
- In summer tiny puggles are often rescued from the roadside when their mother is hit by a car
- In the case of older puggles they are rescued when their nursery burrows are excavated during land clearing
Handling
Infants
An infant Echidna is called a Puggle. Puggles should be kept in the dark in a moderate temperature. Puggles need highly specialised care involving specially formulated Echidna milk combined with specialised feeding techniques.
Containment
If transporting an Echidna in your car make sure it is securely contained in a box, preferably plastic with a secure lid with holes in it. Echidnas are very powerful animals for their size and will easily work their way out of a flimsy box and possibly lodge themselves in an inaccessible part of your vehicle requiring partial dismantling to remove the animal.
Echidnas have a lower body temperature than other animals and are extremely sensitive to heat. They do not need to be kept warm. Heat is a greater danger than cold. In warm/hot weather they should be kept in a cool place.
An Echidna that has been hit or even run over by a car may show very little evidence of damage as its spiky exterior can mask signs of injury.
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