WINDSOR STAR (Ontario) 30 May 05 Baby pythons steal the show (Dale Molnar)
Kingsville: Cleopatra and Julius Sqweezer are the proud parents of 20 new children.
The couple are Burmese pythons at Colasanti's Tropical Gardens, where over the past five days, their baby snakes -- 10 to 15 inches long -- have been hatching from 35 eggs laid by Cleopatra nearly two months ago.
Cleopatra has been coiled up on the eggs ever since.
This is the largest number of python eggs hatched at Colasanti's in the eight years the snakes have been there, said zookeeper Andre Streicher.
"We're probably going to donate them to other zoos," said Streicher.
"This way zoos and other places don't have to go to the wild to get these snakes," said Streicher.
"We're not going to sell them to the public."
Streicher said the snakes are all healthy and will be separated into groups of four or five so they can be monitored to ensure they are eating properly.
"They probably won't feed properly for three to four days ... they are still full from (feeding on) their yolk sack," said Streicher.
He said they will be on public view for as long as they can keep them.
"They're known to grow six to eight feet in their first year of life."
He said they will reach their adult size of between 20 to 27 feet in seven to 10 years.
"The females will average in length anywhere from 16 feet to 27 feet long," he said.
"Males will average 14 feet."
There are still four eggs in an incubator which will likely hatch in about two weeks, Streicher said.
The first snake to hatch was named Selena.
None of the others has been named. The father is an albino snake but Streicher said none of the babies is albinos.