Many people are accustomed to believing that all snakes lay eggs, and happy offspring hatch from them. Actually eating an egg viviparous snakes who don't put offeggs, but bear them within themselves. This fact (captured on video) shocked some and provoked an existential crisis for others.

Reptile Collective breeds captive snakes for sale, specializing in ball pythons, hog-nosed snakes and Kenyan sand boas. It sounds harmless enough, especially if you're cool with snakes. But recently their humble company shocked Facebook users and almost caused an existential crisis for hundreds of thousands of people.

The employees published on their Facebook page short video, showing the birth of a sand boa. This reptile is ovoviviparous and you will not see any eggs. They are inside the female, and the cubs leave the egg shell while still in the mother’s body, and it looks as if the snake directly gives birth to snakes.

Some readers may find the video disturbing. If you are not sure, just trust us: there the snake gives birth to six snakes (they different colors, and that's okay).

In comparison, Facebook users feel less good. Roller with viviparous snake went viral and received more than 9 million views in three days. This popularity is primarily due to the fact that many did not know that some snakes give birth in this way, and do not lay eggs.

“I thought snakes were laying eggs. Forgive me for my ignorance."

"Never mind. We’re all like that here.”

“I thought so too. And I’m like, damn, what’s going on?”

"Baby, you're not the only one."

“I'm completely confused. I was taught that snakes lay eggs.”

"What the heck. I thought snakes laid eggs.”

Some users blamed school education for everything.

“So boas are now mammals? All my biology classes failed me.”

“I’ll go find all my teachers.” primary school and I’ll fire them myself. Snakes lay eggs, but it’s 2017 and things are probably different.”

In fact, only about 70 percent of all snakes lay eggs, with the rest being viviparous or ovoviviparous. Snakes with eggs most often live in warm regions, while viviparous - in cold (where the eggs could freeze).

The non-venomous sand boa is a pseudopod snake (they have small rudimentary appendages instead of hind limbs). Females grow up to 80 centimeters in length, males up to 60 centimeters. Distinctive feature The appearance is the location of the eyes - on the top of the head and directed upwards.

Not only can snakes give birth to live snakes, but they can also play hide and seek with humans. Zoologists who are professional snake catchers in Queensland photograph hidden snakes during their field trips and then . It's difficult to do this the first time. Sometimes snakes don't hide, but... Sometimes a snake. But you can still make friends with them. Like this girl who...

Snakes belong to the order Scaly. Some of them are poisonous, but many more are non-poisonous. Snakes use venom for hunting, but not for self-defense. It is a widely known fact that the venom of some individuals can kill a person. Non-venomous snakes use suffocation to kill prey, or swallow food whole. The average length of a snake is one meter, but there are individuals less than 10 centimeters and more than 6 meters.

Distributed on almost all continents except Antarctica, Ireland and New Zealand.

Appearance

Long body, no limbs. Snakes are distinguished from legless lizards by their movable jaws, which allow them to swallow food whole. Snakes also missing shoulder girdle.

The entire body of the snake is covered with scales. On the side of the abdomen, the skin is slightly different - it is adapted for better adhesion to the surface, which makes it much easier for the snake to move.

Molting (change of skin) occurs in snakes several times a year throughout their lives. It changes in one moment and in one layer. Before molting, the snake looks for a hidden place. The snake's vision becomes very cloudy during this period. The old skin bursts in the mouth area and separates from the new layer. After a few days, the snake's vision is restored and it crawls out of its old scales.

Snake shedding very useful for a number of reasons:

It has a distinctively large number of vertebrae, the number of which reaches 450. The sternum and rib cage are absent; when swallowing food, the snake’s ribs move apart.

Skull bones mobile relative to each other. The two halves of the lower jaw are elastically connected. The system of articulated bones allows the mouth to open very wide in order to swallow fairly large prey whole. Snakes often swallow their prey, which can be several times the thickness of the snake's body.

The teeth are very thin and sharp. Poisonous individuals have large and backward-curved poisonous fangs on the upper jaw. In such teeth there is a channel through which, when bitten, poison enters the victim’s body. In some poisonous snakes, such teeth reach a length of 5 cm.

Internal organs

Have an elongated shape and are characterized by asymmetry. In most individuals, the right lung is more developed or the left is completely absent. Some snakes have a tracheal lung.

The heart is located in the cardiac sac. There is no diaphragm, which allows the heart to move freely, avoiding possible damage.

Spleen and gallbladder perform the function of filtering blood. The lymph nodes are missing.

The esophagus is very powerful, which makes it easy to push food into the stomach and then into the short intestine.

Females have an egg chamber that acts as an incubator. It maintains the level of moisture in the eggs and ensures gas exchange in the embryo.

Feelings

• Smell

To distinguish odors, a forked tongue is used, which transmits odors to the oral cavity for analysis. The tongue constantly moves, selecting particles environment for testing. In this way, the snake can detect prey and determine its location. In water snakes, the tongue picks up odor particles even in water.

• Vision

The main purpose of vision is to distinguish movement. Although some individuals have the ability to receive sharp image and it's great to see in the dark.

• Thermal and vibration sensitivity

The organ of heat sensitivity is very developed. Snakes can detect the heat that mammals emit. Some individuals have thermolocators that determine the direction of the heat source.

Earth vibration and sounds are distinguished within a narrow range of frequencies. Parts of the body in contact with the surface have increased sensitivity to vibration. This is another ability that helps when tracking down prey or warning the snake of danger.

Lifestyle

Snakes are common almost everywhere, with the exception of Antarctica. Prevail in tropical climate: in Asia, Africa, Australia and South America.

A hot climate is preferable for snakes, but the conditions can be different - forests, steppes, deserts and mountains.

Most individuals live on land, but some have also mastered the water space. They can live both underground and in trees.

When cold weather sets in, they hibernate.

Nutrition

Snakes are predators. They feed on a variety of animals. Both small and large. Some species have a preference for only one type of food. For example, bird eggs or crayfish.

Non-venomous individuals swallow prey alive or suffocate it before eating. Poisonous snakes use poison to kill.

Reproduction

Most individuals reproduce by laying eggs. But some individuals are ovoviviparous or can give birth alive.

How do snakes give birth?

The female is looking for a place for the nest that will be protected from sudden changes in temperature, heat and predators. Most often, the nest becomes a place of rotting organic material.

Number of eggs in clutch ranges from 10 to 100(in especially large pythons). In most cases, the number of eggs does not exceed 15. The exact duration of pregnancy has not yet been determined: females can store live sperm for several years, and the development of the embryo depends on conditions and temperature.

Both parents protect the clutch, scare away predators and warm the eggs with their warmth. Fever promotes faster development.

Baby snakes often hatch from eggs, but some species of snakes are viviparous. If incubation period very short, the young hatch from eggs inside the mother's body. This is called ovoviviparity. And in some individuals, instead of a shell, a placenta is formed, through which the embryo is nourished and saturated with oxygen and water. Such snakes do not lay eggs; they are able to immediately give birth to live babies.

From birth, snake babies become independent. Their parents do not protect them or even feed them. Because of this, very few individuals survive.

The animal world is diverse and ready to constantly surprise us. Few people wonder whether there are viviparous snakes, because we are all accustomed to thinking that snakes lay eggs. But, as it turns out, nature springs a surprise here too - some species give birth to live babies. According to National Geographic, only 70% of species lay eggs. The remaining 30% are viviparous or ovoviviparous. In this article we will talk about the types of snakes that give birth to live babies.

Main types

Those who know a little about snakes doubt whether there are viviparous species. After all, it is generally accepted that these reptiles lay eggs. In fact, live birth is a consequence of the retention of eggs in the mother's oviducts.

In other words, eggs do not develop outside, in the ground or in moss, but in the body of a reptile. Moreover, a dense network of blood vessels is formed in the female’s oviducts, which helps oxygen enter the egg, which allows the fetus to breathe. They can also be viviparous poisonous species, and completely harmless.

And here are some snakes that do not lay eggs:

• copperhead It is considered conditionally poisonous, since the poison affects only small, no more than 70 cm, vertebrates. Lives in almost all regions. A rather shy animal that avoids humans. The main food of the copperhead is lizards, small reptiles, and insects. It does not pose a threat to humans;
  
• Gaboon viper(Bitis gabonica). A poisonous species that lives in the African plains. It is considered the largest and thickest species of viper. The average body length is 2 m, body girth is 0.5 m. Like other vipers, the Gabon viper has a triangle-shaped head, and small horns are visible between the nostrils. The character is quite calm, it rarely attacks people. Reproduces every 2–3 years. One litter produces 24–60 baby snakes;
  
• garter snakes, or garden snakes. These are small animals measuring 50–80 cm. They lead a mainly diurnal lifestyle. The head is practically no different from the body. Garter snakes are found in North and Central America. They feed on frogs, larvae of tailless amphibians, toads, newts, salamanders, small rodents, lizards, snails, spiders, worms and insects. May be kept in captivity;
  
• common viper (as well as steppe, black). This poisonous predator can be found everywhere: in the garden, in the meadow, on the banks of reservoirs.

  Important! The viper is often confused with an ordinary snake.

  The body length of the viper reaches 60–80 cm, and skin tones vary from brown-brown to green, pink and yellow. Distinctive feature- zigzag stripe on the back. The head is flat, rounded, decorated with an X-shaped pattern.
  

The above names of viviparous snakes are not a complete list, but only the most popular representatives of viviparous snakes. These also include marine species that simply have nowhere to lay their eggs and take care of them in the future.

Viviparous reproduction of snakes

Snakes are loners, but they mating season fascinates with its grace, so the process of mating, bearing and giving birth to babies deserves special attention.

Mating process

Sexual maturity of most snakes occurs at two years and depends on the length of the reptile. As soon as the season approaches (and for snakes it begins almost after waking up from hibernation), males begin to actively search for a partner.

Did you know? Courtship is not an unnecessary procedure. It allows you to recognize a partner of your own species. Some snakes' movements may resemble dancing, while others simply caress the female's back with their chin.

At the same time, they use a specific analyzer, “probing” the air with their tongue and thus obtaining microparticles of the substance left by the female. These components will tell whether the male has a chance of copulation.


At the end of courtship, the partners intertwine their tails, and the males insert the hemipenis into the female's cloaca. The copulatory organ in males is double and consists of hemipenises that protrude from the cloaca.

Since several males can hover around the female during copulation, the reptiles form balls. But only one male can fertilize a female, who, in addition to sperm, secretes a special substance that prevents fertilization by other males.

The female is capable of storing live sperm. This feature allows broods to be produced several times after a single copulation.

Bearing offspring

The embryos of viviparous snakes feed in the mother's body. Moreover, their main food is the yolk, which is formed in the oviducts. The fetus receives additional nutrition and oxygen thanks to metabolic processes the female's body.
The embryo develops depending on temperature conditions. At an air temperature of +26...+32 °C and humidity up to 90%, females bear babies for 35–39 days.

Important! If the weather is cold, then pregnancy can drag on for 3 or more months.

By the way, live birth is a positive thing, but for marine species- necessity. Indeed, in this case, the babies are always near the mother, and she can not become attached to one place and hunt anywhere and at any time.

Birth

The babies appear already fully viable, in a transparent leathery shell. After release, the shell immediately ruptures. Females are indifferent to the babies born and do not take part in their lives. However, baby snakes do not need maternal care; they can hunt from birth.


Breeding frequency

The frequency of intercourse depends on the species and habitat of the reptile. Some can breed once every few years, while some can breed 1–2 times a year. Basically, snakes reproduce annually.

Did you know? Snakes do not drink milk - their bodies simply cannot digest lactose.

As you can see, the world of snakes is amazing and exciting. And the very process of the birth of little snakes deserves special attention. Having learned more about them, many become fascinated with these reptiles for life.

Many people believe that snakes reproduce solely by laying eggs. There is some truth in this belief; most creeping creatures reproduce this way. However, there are also viviparous reptiles. How do snakes give birth? We will try to answer this question in this article.

How does conception occur?

Before snakes give birth to their offspring, conception occurs in one way or another. Reptiles are divided into females and males, which are endowed with the corresponding genital organs. During conception, the snakes' tails touch while the male inserts his sexual organ into the female's cloaca. After this, after some time, most creeping creatures lay eggs. However, viviparity or ovoviviparity also occurs. What is it?

Reproduction by ovoviviparity

This unpronounceable word was coined by zoologists who observed snakes giving birth. With this type of reproduction, the female keeps the eggs within herself until the babies hatch from them. Circulatory system The mother penetrates into the egg, thanks to which the fetus is nourished until birth.

All boas, asps, and some species of vipers are ovoviviparous. This method of procreation is very convenient for snakes, since the female can hunt and defend herself at this time. Reptiles that lay eggs in a nest are deprived of this opportunity. For example, the king cobra is forced to tirelessly stay near the eggs until the offspring are born.

The development of ovoviviparity and viviparity began in northern latitudes, since the snake is a cold-blooded animal and does not have the ability to warm the eggs with the heat of its body. When babies develop in the womb, they automatically have the mother’s body temperature, which makes it possible to develop normally even in unfavorable weather conditions.

Viviparous snakes

The evolutionary level of certain reptiles has reached the point that some of them are viviparous, that is, they do not form eggs. With this type of reproduction, the snake forms a placenta, through which nutrients go to the cubs. Otherwise, the process is no different from the birth of young in mammals.

Thanks to many years of observations by scientists of reptiles, we now know how a snake gives birth? Vipers, snakes and some species of sea snakes hatch their offspring without laying eggs.

Breeding frequency

The snake reproduces annually, but the number of copulations directly depends on the climate of the cold-blooded habitat. On average, the number of copulations, and therefore births, is no more than twice a year. The female is capable of giving birth to from one to 100 viable young. After birth they are completely independent.

The gestation period in females lasts from two to five months, depending on the type of reptile. However, this is quite difficult to determine, since the snake is able to retain live sperm inside itself for several years after copulation.

Traditional egg laying

Not long ago, scientists estimated that only about 70% of snakes lay eggs. All other species are viviparous or ovoviviparous. Egg laying occurs after copulation, which occurs in the same way in all reptiles. After fertilization, eggs are formed in the female’s body, and after a while she lays them in the nest. Until the offspring appear, the snake sits motionless near them, protecting the cubs from potential enemies. In this state, the female is hungry and very aggressive. Any encounter with a snake hatching babies can end in disaster.

Before giving birth, snakes carefully select a place to form a nest. Piles of rotting organic debris are ideal for these purposes, as they can protect future hatchlings from the elements. The incubation period for eggs varies from one to several months, depending on the variety of cold-blooded fish.

Lifespan of a snake

After the snake has given birth to cubs, they begin to actively develop and reach sexual maturity. Depending on the type of cold-blooded animal, this period occurs in the second, third or fourth year of life. By this moment, the growth of the reptile also reaches its maximum.

The lifespan of creeping creatures varies from 20 to 30 years, but it is quite rare to find long-livers among them. Most do not live to old age due to premature death from attack birds of prey, unfavorable conditions external environment a habitat.

How snakes are born directly depends on the type of reptile. All types of reproduction described above take place.

Mother snakes and viviparous snakes

In northern India, in the rocky foothills of the Himalayas, covered with sparse forest and bushes, you can see a strange picture. In a secluded corner, in dense thickets on the river bank, a large snake lies curled up in a cone. She will not move at the sight of a person, and only if danger approaches closely will she make a warning lunge towards the troublemaker. Since the size of the snake is very impressive, and its open mouth with numerous teeth can easily fit a medium-sized pineapple, there are usually no people willing to test its patience further. You will find this snake in the same position and in the same place the next day, and a week later, and two weeks later. This is a female tiger python incubating the eggs. Moreover, the word “incubates” can be used without quotation marks. From time to time the snake begins to tremble, as if from cold. As a result of muscle contractions, heat is produced that warms the clutch, around which the caring mother is wrapped.

If you try to move the snake from its place, for example with a long stick, it will rush at the impudent one and can cause him a lot of trouble. The body length of large tiger pythons can reach 8 m, and the body of such a monster is comparable in thickness to the body of a non-fat person. But as soon as the enemy takes flight, the female will return to the eggs stacked in a pile and again carefully wrap herself around them. Incubation lasts about a month, and during this time the snake does not leave the eggs either for watering or hunting. From time to time the mother turns the eggs over and changes their places.

The benefits of incubation are clear. The eggs are protected from thieves (many people are not averse to feasting on snake eggs, from ants to rats), and they are provided with more favorable temperature and humidity. But there is also a secret in this incubation. Only members of the python family incubate the eggs. Moreover, they do this as inhabitants of relatively dry and cool places, for example tiger pythons, and residents of hot and humid tropical forests; both large and small species. No other snakes, even those living in completely similar conditions, ever incubate eggs. Many species protect the clutch, including the famous king cobra, which is not inferior in size to other pythons. But they are protecting, not incubating.

In many families of snakes there are species that do not lay eggs, but give birth to live baby snakes. Typically, a live birth is simply the result of eggs being retained in the female's oviducts. Those. eggs develop not in the ground, not in moss, not in a pile of dry leaves, like most snakes, but in the mother’s body. At the same time, a dense network of blood vessels develops in the snake’s oviducts and oxygen from the mother’s blood seeps into the egg, ensuring the baby’s breathing. It gets its nutrition from egg yolk. Zoologists call this phenomenon with the clumsy word “ovoviviparity.” All boas are ovoviviparous (not to be confused with pythons - these are representatives of two different subfamilies!), many vipers, and adders. However, some snakes have developed true viviparity. In this case, as in mammals, the embryo is connected to the mother by thin blood vessels, and receives not only oxygen, but also nutrition from the mother’s body. Such viviparity is characteristic of the American garter snake, our common viper, many sea ​​snakes.

Snakes that managed to master viviparity received a lot of advantages. First of all, their eggs are constantly under reliable protection. In this case, the mother can calmly hunt, and not sit by the nest, tied, like king cobra, which constantly guards the eggs. In addition, the snake can choose the most suitable places at any given time - well-warmed, which is especially important in the north, or cool, which is very important in tropical deserts. It is very difficult to find a place where favorable conditions are constantly maintained for a long time. And a living incubator has freedom of choice - in the morning the sun warms a stump in the swamp and the snake basks on the stump, in the evening you can bask on the stones heated during the day on the lake shore. It’s good for both the snake and the baby snakes. But sea snakes cannot live without viviparity. Many of them live in open waters warm oceans and never see the shore. They simply have nowhere to lay their eggs....

Prepared by A. Mitrofanova. http://ezo.sestrenka.ru