The ball python, which has been at the zoo since 1961, laid seven eggs on July 23, Mark Wenner, zoological manager of herpetology, told CNN.
“It was a surprise. We honestly didn’t expect her to lay another egg.”
Keepers had already noticed some changes in the snake, but Wanner said it was subtle.
Not the name of the snake, but according to the zoo, identified by the number 361003. She is believed to be at least 62 years old.
The ball python is native to Central and West Africa and can reproduce abnormally in what is known as facetive parthenogenesis, Xu said. Wanner said the Komodo dragon and some other snakes and reptiles also reproduce unknowingly.
Women can also store sperm for delayed fertilization, but Weiner said this is the longest documented case they have received in seven years after contact.
He released another clutch of eggs in 2009, but none of them hatched and there is no record of him being around the man again.
Wanner said she could have stayed with the man in the late 1980s and early 1990s because keepers put snakes in buckets while cleaning pet cages.
“We’re saying 1 plus plus years, but I mean, since she’s been physically with the man, she’s probably years easily close to 0 years old.”
Warner said they took two eggs for genetic testing to determine if the eggs reproduced sexually or inconsistently. Two more eggs have died and the remaining three eggs are being hatched.
He said he hopes to get the test results back in about a month.
“We can’t wait for the samples to be verified to get that information because it will terminate someone from the hearing or from what we may or may not think.”
Eggs are about half of their intake, Wanner said.
“If they survive and continue to grow, we expect hatching to come in the next two to three weeks.” “Our fingers are crossed that one of these animals could bounce, but we don’t know for sure.”
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