Viviparous and oviparous snakes: lifestyle, home maintenance and how photos can breed

Snakes are animals associated in our brains with mystery. Judge for yourself: Eve was given an apple by a snake. There are a number of other examples where the serpent is already a positive character. These are interesting animals that appear in a large number of mythological and artistic works. Among the latest creations that describe snakes is Harry Potter, where the ability to talk with these creatures was presented as greatness.

Snakes: general characteristics

But let’s move away from fiction and talk in more detail about who they are and how snakes reproduce. In general, these are cold-blooded animals belonging to reptiles. They are common in many parts of our planet. Due to their physical characteristics, they can live in any areas where it is not too cold. And this is almost our entire planet. Only in Antarctica snakes are not found, as the temperature there is too low, which can reach -80 degrees in some areas.

Some people don’t know what cold-bloodedness is? Do snakes really have cold blood? coolness means change in blood temperature under the influence of external factors. That is, if it is forty degrees outside, then inside the snake is approximately the same temperature. If it is 10 degrees there, then there is a high probability that the animal is about to hibernate. Snakes breed only when they are alert.

In general, there are more than three thousand species of snakes on earth. This is a very big number. This ranges from very venomous snakes that can kill a horse, to completely harmless ones that you can even have as a pet in your home. Of course, such creatures only very strange people can afford, as guests will be scared almost always. Nevertheless, there is such a possibility, and why not talk about it?

Reptiles also differ in such parameters as:

• dimensions. They can be both very large and very tiny. Some snakes are 10 meters tall, while others are only a few centimeters.
• habitat. Snakes can live both in deserts and forests or steppes. Some do not keep snakes at home “under the ceiling”, but equip a special terrarium for them. And it is also a good option if you want to keep snakes in your house.
• reproduction. How snakes realize this quality depends on the conditions. If it is warm enough, snakes can mate and give birth to offspring. And this is really a birth, and not laying eggs. Snakes are among the first animals in which live birth is the instrument for producing offspring. True, not all snakes can give birth to children. Many still lay eggs. In this regard, they also differ from each other.

See how interesting? Actually, therefore, it is not necessary to talk about the reproduction of snakes as a whole set of different species. After all Each species has its own breeding habits.different from other animals. Nevertheless, common features can be said. So let’s talk about the mating season of these animals.

The mating season of snakes

The photo shows how the snakes breed. This process looks really nice. In most cases, snakes are heterogeneous creatures. Although it happens that among these animals there are hermaphrodites. Since the reproduction of snakes is of different sexes, a male and a female participate in this process. An unprepared person cannot distinguish one animal from another. After all, they almost do not differ in external signs.

Sometimes it may be that the female is smaller. But this happens only in certain species. In most cases, the snakes are all the same in external indicators. Sometimes males still have a flat tail. As stated earlier, the temperature must be comfortable enough for the snakes to breed successfully. Most often this happens in the spring, when it is still not too hot, but not too cold.

In ecology, there is such a thing as the optimum zone. These are the conditions that are ideal for a certain biological species to live in a single population or individual as a whole. Everything that is not included in the optimum zone is called the pessimum zone. These critical conditions do not always have a bad effect on the animal’s body.

Let’s just say that they sometimes have an adverse effect, but at the same time the animal can adapt to environmental conditions. And then all the lost functions will be restored again. Approximately the same thing happened with the snakes living in the deserts. And this confirms that the photos of snakes that breed in deserts are really beautiful.

Hermaphrodites

Particular attention should be paid to hermaphrodites. They, as is clear to the average person, have both female and male genital organs. They are meet infrequently, but it happens. Most often, hermaphrodite snakes are understood as island botrops, which lives in South America. It is interesting that this species has both ordinary heterosexual snakes and hermaphrodites capable of giving birth to offspring; such snakes cannot be killed.

Also among snakes, parthenogenesis sometimes happens – a method of reproduction, due to which a new individual can appear from the mother’s egg without the participation of the male. So we can conclude that snakes reproduce in three ways: heterosexual, parthenogenetic and hermaphroditic. And all these types of reproduction in the photo are quite beautiful.

Serpent’s egg laying

Each animal pays special attention to its eggs, because the success of procreation and maintaining the integrity of the population depends on this. That’s why the place of laying eggs must meet the following requirements: comfort, safety and silence. For example, such a place in steppe snakes can be called a hole where they hide their eggs.

Forest snakes usually place their eggs under snags, and in the desert this place is sand. As you can see, the variety of snakes is also expressed here. Parents care for the eggs exactly until the moment the animals are born. Most often, this is done by the female, warming them with the help of contractions of her own muscles. Nevertheless, it’s definitely not possible to call caring snakes. But they are not as arrogant as, for example, cuckoos.

There is simply no need to raise offspring in these animals. It is originally ready for adulthood. Many biological species do not have this feature. Even man, who is considered the most developed being, needs education at the earliest stages of his life. In general, scientists have noticed a trend that the more developed a biological being, the longer the process of raising children takes.

viviparous snakes

Let’s just say snakes are no longer viviparous, but ovoviviparous. To explain the principles of this type of birth of a child, it is necessary to describe the process of maturation of the embryo itself. From the very beginning, it always matures at the parent. After that, eggs may be born, which will continue to develop in the external environment.

Ovoviviparity is characterized by the development of an egg inside the female, and after this process reaches its peak, a snake will be born, which hatches from the egg in the mother’s body. At this time, the egg itself comes out. Wherein such animals remain independent right from the moment they were born.

However, truly viviparous snakes also occur. As a rule, these are boas or vipers that live near water bodies. In this case, their child in the early stages of its development is fed from its parents through the placenta using a complex system of interconnected blood vessels.

That is, snakes reproduce in all three ways:

• egg laying;
• ovoviviparity;
• live birth.

Breeding snakes at home

Naturally, you should not have a snake that will crawl around the room to scare people. But the terrarium can be equipped. Recently, this form of keeping pets at home is gaining more and more popularity. The reason for this is that snakes are unpretentious, they do not need to be walked, they lead a mostly passive lifestyle. The biggest problem with snake breeding at home is the need to create a beautiful and comfortable terrarium.

Photos of such terrariums can be easily found on the Internet. Here are some more photos of really good terrariums that will suit snakes. Snakes are unique living creatures in terms of care. For the most part, they only need to be fed. Why not buy a terrarium so that you can enjoy the snakes not only in the photo, but also live?

How snakes breed: photo