The Eggs are Hatching! Pictures!

[Catherine]

This morning three of the shells are empty and a saw a baby out for a few seconds and it was not the one I saw last night. I can see another nose poking out of an egg. The two eggs that we opened definitely have live babies in them. They look okay. I will know for sure when they actually leave the egg.
It must seem that they spend a long time in the egg after they start hatching, but this is when they absorb the rest of the yolk into their stomachs.

Hatching is a quiet exciting time because to see them I have to sit by the egg box very still. The box is full of peat moss, covered with sphagnum moss so the eggs are not fully visible. Baby snakes are born in secret and just getting a quick peek is amazing.

I will get pictures when I transfer them from the egg box. I set them up as a group with water and anything else they need. It lets them be together in a safe, quiet environment so they can gain confidence. The first two weeks of their lives they use up the yolk in their stomachs and grow. Then they will have a first shed. After that they will start looking for food. That is when I will offer them food. It has to be done carefully. If they get scared it can put them off of eating and sometimes they never eat.