Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Don't snakes when they lay eggs incubate them themselves? Or do some just leave them their and they incubate naturally? Hows it work?

ron

A little bit of both ways. Most colubrids just lay 'em and leave 'em. Some Pythons and some Elapids will coil around them and "brood" them. They will actually shiver to raise their body temps as needed.

I believe a lot of it has to do with environment. For example, alligators will create a moist bed of grass, lay their eggs inside the middle and cover them up with more greens. The composting grass and folliage naturally heats up and therefore, incubates the eggs. Snakes know intuitively to lay their eggs in moist places and since a lot of the snakes we keep as pets come from tropical environments, the eggs wouldn't get too cold before they had a chance to hatch.