What the heck is that? How did it get there? Do I need to be worried?
Those are all questions that quickly filtered through my head on Saturday morning when checking on Digger the Western Hognose Snake. I had found this mysterious yellowish, roundish thing in her humidity box:
This little thing brought me down the rabbit-hole of internet research as it brought up question after question.
Q: What the heck is it?
A: I thought it looked egg-shaped, so I quickly pulled up Google to find out what hognose snake eggs look like. This video from Snake Discovery confirmed that it is an egg! More specifically, it's called a "slug" because it is not viable.
Q: Will it hatch?
No, this egg is infertile. Digger is a single lady!
Q: Are you sure? I heard about a snake that gave birth without a male.
Parthenogenesis, or fatherless birth, has been documented in snakes, but it's quite rare. The yellowish color alone of Digger's egg is enough to rule out this unlikely theory. A healthy egg would be white.
Q: Is it common for snakes to lay eggs without mating?
A: It's common enough that it's not alarming.
Q: Will she lay more eggs?
A: It seems hognose snakes typically lay several eggs at a time. We'll be on the lookout over the next few days to see if Digger lays any more.
In breeding hognose snakes, clutches can contain 8-25 eggs.
Q: How long was the egg in her?
A: In breeding hognose snakes, gestation is generally 28-45 days before the egg is laid. Healthy, viable eggs would hatch another 48-60 days later.
Q: Do all snakes lay eggs?
It depends on the species. Some, like hognose snakes, are oviparous - they lay eggs. Other snakes are ovoviviparous whose babies develop inside an egg, hatch while still in the mother, and are born alive. Garter snakes and rattlesnakes are ovoviviparous.
Q: Will Emory lay eggs?
Rat snakes like Emory are egg-layers. But we don't know whether Emory is male or female. We won't be holding our breath for eggs, but will keep an eye out for anything unusual.
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