Reptiles hatch at Al Ain Zoo

Visitors to Al Ain Zoo will soon come face to face with a host of newborn reptiles, from snakes to pythons to tortoises, after around one dozen were successfully hatched. Courtesy Al Ain Zoo

Visitors to Al Ain Zoo will soon come face to face with a host of newborn reptiles, from snakes to pythons to tortoises, after around one dozen were successfully hatched.

The babies are being cared for at the zoo’s reptile house, by a team of vets, before eventually being shown to the public.

There are three young Afro-Asian Sand Snakes, born following three months of incubation. After their mother laid her eggs, they were moved to an incubator where the temperature and humidity were controlled. The babies, which are around 35 centimetres when they hatch, can grow anywhere up to 1.2 metres, and are being fed mice and geckos. In the wild, their diet would mainly consist of lizards, rodents and birds.

The zoo also welcomed five Royal Python newborns. Also known as Ball Pythons, they hatched at the zoo following 95 days of incubation. The eggs were removed from the mother in order for vets to monitor them closely. In the wild, the eggs would normally be laid in a deep hole or hollow log, after which the mother would curl around them throughout the entire incubation period.

Also joining the zoo were two newborn Spiny-tailed Agama lizards, known locally as Dhab lizards. Little is known about the hatching process, with the zoo’s lizards burying their eggs in deep natural holes within their enclosure which were inaccessible to zoo staff.

Several Indian star tortoises were also born after 110 days of incubation. As a result of habitat destruction and the exotic pet trade, the tortoise is listed as endangered by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.