Just like chickens and other birds, snakes also come into this world hatching from eggs. Inside snakes’ leathery eggs are tiny baby snakes that are ready to emerge and grow. Snake eggs provide a fascinating insight into snake biology, a subject that is not often covered. This YouTube short by @jasonarnold-snakeman shows a snake hatching from an egg, a rare and amazing sight. Read below to learn about snake eggs and how snakes hatch from them.
A snake with its eggs.
©iStock.com/Ken Griffiths
All About Snake Eggs
Snake eggs come in clutches, or the number of eggs born from one snake. Clutch sizes vary depending on the species and size of the snake. Most snakes lay clutches of anywhere from three to 25 eggs, while larger snakes may lay even more eggs. Once the eggs are laid, incubation takes around 45 to 70 days, depending on the species and the temperature. In moderate climates, temperate snake species typically hatch in about 42 to 60 days. In controlled and artificial settings run by biologists, some snake eggs have hatched in around 24 days!
When hatchlings are first breaking out of their eggs, the snakes have a temporary structure called the egg tooth. The egg tooth is a small, pointed projection on the snout. The snake uses this protrusion to “pip”—or cut—the shell. Because of the thickness of the leathery egg, the snake makes repeated cuts over two to three days before emerging. Once the shell is open enough for the hatchling to exit, the young snake will leave the egg and begin its life. Most snake species are fully independent after hatching, meaning that they don’t rely on any parental care. While this may seem strange compared to the human post-birth experience, baby snakes instinctively know how to survive. After hatching, baby snakes start by hunting small prey such as insects, and as they grow, they move on to larger animals.
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