Matilda wanted to be like the other baby echidnas. She wanted to live in her burrow and suck up ants with the help of her long, sticky tongue. But she was allergic to ants.

Healesville Sanctuary believes this may have been the first ant allergy found in an echidna.

Eating ants left Matilda with red-raw, intensely itchy skin, and the flesh around her eyes puffed up so much she could barely see.

Sometimes, Matilda likes to crawl into boots. Credit:Amie Hindson/Zoos Victoria

She was also allergic to many of the plants she waddles through.