Excitement & Discovery: Snake Babies

On July 13th at about 10 a.m., our 1st of 7 snake eggs hatched. And slowly throughout the day the remaining 6 hatched out. We were the proud new mamas for these little snakes, which measured about 12 inches long.

Thinking that since they would be born into captivity, they might be somewhat tame and immediately used to us and quite possibly... not strike at us. However, let me tell you, these little baby black racers came out of the egg with a striking force. Nature. My son was quite crushed, not afraid, just sad that the snakes wouldn't give him a chance to be their friend. However, snake #5 was quite pleasant. He (or she) would sit on his hand and wouldn't bite and Stone was in his own little heaven.

We did have a little bit of trouble with Snake #7. He stuck his head out of the shell and then sat there for quite a long time. He looked fine and so I told Stone he wasn't to touch him and to let him enter this world all on his own. For once, he listened, and he watched intently to see if he'd moved. An hour went by, nothing. Another hour, nothing. So I told him if he didn't move within the current hour, he had my permission to pick it up and break the shell. Well, that happened and when it did, the snake was dead. Very strange because it looked completely healthy and content. (Little did we know he had been dead for all that time.)

I made a deal with my son that he could keep the snakes for 5-6 days and then release them. He enjoyed them so much. Every day, several times a day, he would go outside and pick them up...Catch them tiny lizards to eat, olding them, letting them crawl all over him, letting his sister hold them. It was quite a site. I enjoyed every minute of it. However, on day 3, when Stone woke up, he noticed that all but 1 of the snakes were missing out of his cage. He had forgotten to zip the screen enclosure he was keeping them in. Now, mind you, the night before I told him to MAKE SURE that the snakes were secure. He assured me that there was NO WAY they could get out. However, he was proven wrong yet once again by his nagging mother.


And then there was one. Unfortunately this was not the "nice" one. It would strike at him often, but once he got him in his hand, the snake would sit pretty still, wrapping his tail around one of Stone's fingers. Stone got quite friendly with the snake, catching him food: tiny baby lizards that were all over our patio and yard. The snake seemed quite content...

Now, for the other 5 that were loose somewhere on my patio... that's been a real mystery. However, 2 days ago I was watering some of my plants and found a complete snake skin in the rocks on the patio. So I guess they are still there...growing. One day I fear that I will have 5 large snakes overtaking my patio. Like the movie "Snakes on a Plane," it'll be "Snakes on the Patio."

Well, time was up for Stone and the snake and it was time for the him let the snake go out into the world. On Friday night, we released him into the yard. He moved so quickly that we lost him within seconds. However, I know we'll be seeing them ALL in the future.

Snake Eggs and Abortion

So, about a month ago, I was driving home down my street when a neighbor flagged me down. I thought he was waving so I waved and continued driving. In my rear-view mirror I noticed him, but this time it was a definite flagging down. I backed up the minivan and rolled down the window. Mike (a/k/a Mr. Greenjeans) said he was doing some landscaping and when he lifted up a concrete block, there were 8 eggs under it. So he thinks they are snake eggs and is wondering if I'd be interested in taking them home for Stone. Now, any reasonably sane woman would scream "HELL NO!" I mean, what's he thinking? What am I going to do with 8 eggs that we don't even know what they are?? He must be nuts! However, my response was quite the opposite. I grinned quickly and said "Sure, I'll be right back!" I quickly drove 3 houses down, jumped out of the van, yelled for my son and husband and the rest is history...

This was 4 weeks ago and nothing has happened. We put the eggs in a small plastic tank and covered them with a flat rock. Stone's been putting a misting of water in them whenever it doesn't rain. But still...nothings happened. Then my son (mind you he's been home schooled for 2 years and we've already started our 3rd year) says, "Mom, I think we should sacrifice one of the eggs and see if they're growing and what they are." And once again, any fairly sane, normal person would probably say "What??" But I agreed with him. I didn't want 8 eggs sitting on my patio rotting. I mean, secretly l was quite curious as to what they were too. We've never been so "lucky" as to find eggs this size. They are about 1.5" in length.

So as it goes, I let him crack one of the eggs open. Wow! When I say that I had no idea what was about to happen, I mean I HAD NO IDEA WHAT WAS ABOUT TO HAPPEN! The egg was very soft, so it wasn't like cracking open a chicken egg from the refrigerator. He had to pry into the egg to open it. When he did, the amniotic fluid drained out and out came a 6 inch long SNAKE, completely clear, with 2 big black eyes. The best part (sarcasm) is that it's breathing. Yes, it's breathing and took several breathes there on the rock he was cracked open on for about a minute. It was about the saddest thing we had ever seen. It was so sad knowing that we were so curious to see what was inside that we were willing to "sacrifice" it and watch it die a slow, painful death.

My son didn't seem as moved as I was. It was way too interesting to 1. find out that it was indeed a snake and 2. there were 6 inches of snake crammed into that little egg!

So now we wait, knowing that there are 7 more of these little snakes just readying themselves for us. Every day, several times a day, we check on them to make sure they haven't hatched without us noticing. My husband doesn't seem to mind, however, he HATES snakes as well as all of the other little rodents, insects and mammals Stone catches and brings into the house. He's a trooper though. Especially since it's usually him that has to take care of these things when it comes down to it. Seriously, Stone thinks he's the next Steve Irwin, but he is just 8, I mean, 8 and 1/2. And seeing as I have a 2 yr old to also take care of, Bob is really a great husband to do all of these things for me (and Stone).

When the snakes hatch, I'll post photos. This should be interesting as I am of the opinion we release them as soon as they hatch, but Stone wants to set up a "snake home."

I have created a monster!

P.S. Oh, did I forget to mention the giant Hawk that keeps landing on my screen enclosure watching the eggs?? That's another freaky story...