Devils usually mate in March, however due to DFTD, Devils may be beginning to mate at other times of the year. Devils usually breed in their second year. Males usually breed with more than one female and it has been observed that female Devils are very selective with whom they breed with.

Male Devils fight quite viciously with each other over the breeding season as they compete for females. This results is some terrible injuries to the face and throat regions.

Females choose the males with whom possess physical strength and experience. This is done through a ritualized combat in which they go through the process of fighting with out harming each other. If the male is accepted by the female, he is allowed to grasp the loose skin behind the neck and the female will subordinate to him. He will then literally drag the female back to the den and mate with her. The male keeps the female subdued and a prisoner in the den for long periods of time without food or water. The male is very protective of his mate and guards her from other males looking to mate. He will continue to mate with the female until she drives him off or another male does.

The female in her short lifetime of about 5 years will have at least four breeding seasons and produce approximately twelve offspring. Mating lasts about three weeks and the Devil gives birth only eighteen days later. The female gives birth to approximately twenty tiny embryos about the size of a grain of rice. All of those embryos will make their way up to the females backward facing pouch. The female has only four teats, so only four of those twenty or so embryos will be able to attach themselves to the teats and survive. It is a typical example of the saying - only the strongest survive in the wild and it starts at the embryo stage.

The young stay in their mothers pouch for approximately 16 weeks before being moved to the den. While the mother has four teats and is able to suckle four young. The odds of all four Devils surviving to the point of leaving the den is slim and usually only two of the four will survive. The young Devils are weaned at approximately 5 to 6 months of age and 20 weeks after leaving the pouch the young Devils are independant and on their own. Devils leave their mothers den around spring usually between October and December. There is an explosion in the Devil population at this time each year, unfortunately though in the competitive world of devils for food, a percentage of those young Devils will not survive.

Tasmanian Devil
Tasmanian Devil Habitat and Behaviour

References:
Department of Primary Industries and Water Tasmania
Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Services
Tasmanian Devil - A Unique and Threatened Species by David Owen and David Pemberton