Platypus Colouring Pages: Real Colours and True Facts

A good platypus colouring page has a flat paddle tail, a wide bill, webbed feet and a round, sleek body, and it comes with a true fact or two. This guide gives you the real colours to colour with, a simple outline you can sketch for your little one in a minute, and true platypus facts from the Australian Museum and the Australian Platypus Conservancy. It's written for parents, carers and teachers of young children.

October is a lovely time for it. Platypus usually mate from August to October in New South Wales and Victoria, and a mother is soon tucked away in a nesting burrow, says the Australian Museum.

The real colours of a platypus

Little artists can colour a platypus any way they like. If your child asks "what colour is it really?", here's what the experts describe.

Body part	Real colour	Crayon or pencil to try
Back and tail	Dark brown to reddish brown	Chocolate brown, a little red-brown
Tummy	Light brown or silvery	Light tan, then soft grey on top
Little eye patch	A small white patch beside each eye	Leave it white
Bill and feet	Your child's choice	Charcoal grey or dark brown work well

The fur colours come from the Australian Museum, which describes the coat as dense and waterproof, dark brown to reddish brown with light brown or silver underfur. The white eye patch is noted by the Australian Platypus Conservancy.

The magic colours version

Here's the fact that tends to delight children: platypus fur glows blue-green under ultraviolet light. Scientists reported it in the journal Mammalia in 2020, as National Geographic explains. Nobody knows yet whether the glow does anything for the platypus.

That makes a fun second page. Colour one platypus in its real browns, then colour a second one in teal, aqua and green and call it "the platypus in the dark". Two pages side by side make a nice talking point: same animal, different light.

How to draw a simple platypus outline

If you don't have a printed page handy, you can sketch a platypus for a toddler or preschooler with five easy shapes. Draw with a thick marker so the lines are bold and easy to colour inside.

Body: a big, flat oval lying sideways across the middle of the page.
Bill: a wide, rounded rectangle at one end, like a flat spoon.
Tail: a wide paddle at the other end, about as long as the bill.
Feet: four small fans under the body, with little lines for webbing.
Face: a dot for the eye, just behind the bill, with a small circle around it for the white patch.

Add a few wavy lines underneath for water and a curved bump to one side for a burrow in the creek bank. Older children might like to draw bubbles, a tadpole or a little water bug for the platypus to find.

True platypus facts to share while you colour

Pick one or two facts to chat about as your child colours, rather than reading out the lot.

It's a mammal that lays eggs. The platypus is a monotreme, an egg-laying mammal (National Geographic). A mother usually lays two eggs (sometimes one or three) in a burrow, and the young drink her milk for three to four months before they come out, says the Australian Museum.
It hunts with its bill. The bill has receptors that sense touch and tiny electrical signals, which help a platypus find its food underwater, according to the Australian Museum.
It eats at the surface. Each dive lasts about 30 to 140 seconds. It scoops up insect larvae, shrimps, worms and snails, then comes up to chew (Australian Museum).
It's smaller than you'd think. Males are about 40 to 63 cm long from bill to tail, and females about 37 to 55 cm (Australian Museum). That's about the length of a school ruler and a half.
Baby platypus don't have an official name. "Puggle" is popular, but it was borrowed from baby echidnas. The Australian Platypus Conservancy prefers "nestling".
"Platypus" can be its own plural. Both "platypus" and "platypuses" are accepted (Australian Platypus Conservancy).

One fact for the grown-ups

Adult male platypus have a sharp spur, about 12 mm long, on each back ankle, linked to a venom gland (Australian Museum). The venom isn't considered life-threatening, but it can cause pain and swelling that lasts for days (Australian Platypus Conservancy). It's a good, calm reason to explain that we watch wild animals and never touch them.

Where platypus live, for a map page

Platypus live only in Australia, in fresh water. The Australian Museum lists eastern Queensland, New South Wales, much of Victoria and all of Tasmania, plus a population that was brought to Kangaroo Island in South Australia.

For a simple extension, print a blank map of Australia and let your child colour the east coast and Tasmania blue for "platypus rivers". The Museum lists the platypus as Near Threatened, and it's protected by law in every state where it lives.

Turn the page into a real-life outing

If you live near a creek, river or lake in platypus country, a colouring page can lead to a quiet family walk. The Australian Platypus Conservancy's spotting hints suggest:

Go early or late. Platypus are most often seen early in the morning or late in the evening.
Look for calm water. Ripples are easiest to see where the surface is still.
Watch for a "bullseye". A diving platypus leaves a clear ring of ripples, often the first sign one is there.
Check the tail. A platypus has a flat, dark, paddle-shaped tail. The rakali (native water-rat) has a long thin tail with a white tip.
Plan for later in summer. Young platypus first leave the burrow from late January to early March in Victoria and New South Wales, a few weeks earlier in Queensland and up to two months later in Tasmania.

Bring the colouring page along and let your child tick off what they spot: ripples, a tail, a bill, bubbles.

A small habit that helps platypus

Here's something gentle and practical you can do as a family. Loops of rubbish can get caught around a platypus's neck or body, and those about 4 to 8 cm across are the most dangerous, says the Australian Platypus Conservancy. The items found on platypus include elastic hair ties, rubber bands, plastic bracelets and fishing line. In the Conservancy's records from 1989 to mid-2024, litter was a factor in 10% of platypus deaths with a known cause.

The Conservancy's advice is simple: pick up loops when you see them, explain to children that a dropped hair tie can wash down a drain into a creek, and snip through every ring or loop before it goes in the bin. Snipping hair ties can become a little job your child does each week, with a platypus picture stuck on the fridge as the reminder.

More Australian animals to colour

If your little one loves the platypus, keep going with its Aussie neighbours:

Our Australian animals colouring pages guide covers the echidna (the platypus's egg-laying cousin), the kangaroo, the kookaburra and more, with a quick fact for each.
Our free colouring pages include a koala and a sea turtle you can print today.
For a bedtime follow-up, our list of picture books about Australian animals has gentle stories to read together.

Pop over to our free colouring pages, print the koala and sea turtle, and set them beside your platypus drawing for a little Aussie wildlife wall.

Questions and answers

What colour is a real platypus?

Dark brown to reddish brown on top, with light brown or silver fur underneath and a small white patch beside each eye.

What is a baby platypus called?

There's no official name. 'Puggle' is often used, but it was borrowed from baby echidnas. The Australian Platypus Conservancy prefers 'nestling'.

Does platypus fur really glow?

Yes, under ultraviolet light. Scientists reported in 2020 that platypus fur glows blue-green under UV, though nobody yet knows if it does anything for the platypus.

Is a platypus a mammal?

Yes. It's a monotreme, a mammal that lays eggs. A mother usually lays two eggs in a burrow and feeds the young milk for three to four months.

When is the best time to see a platypus in the wild?

Early in the morning or late in the evening, on calm water in creeks, rivers, lakes and dams in eastern Australia and Tasmania.

Are platypus dangerous to touch?

Adult males have a venomous spur on each back ankle. It isn't life-threatening, but it causes pain that can last days, so a wild platypus should never be handled.

Sources

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