Going by the size of the skin she was a very big snake. I have sloughed skins from 120cm snakes and this skin was considerably bigger!
As the young snakes hatch, they use a small egg tooth to cut through the leathery egg casing. They lose this tooth not long after they have hatched.
Hole where young snake has broken through.
Close up of mature female skin. Top scales - Mid body section.
Eggs
Sloughed skin complete with eye scales.
Top scales.
Close up of belly scales.
Rob
Posts
Rob,
ReplyDeleteInteresting post! Enjoyed seeing the eggs and skin details. These snakes must be something like our Rat Snakes here in the US. Our grass snakes are small barely 2 foot long.
She is a big beauty and getting bigger hopefully. This really is a good find. Is she really over five feet long?
ReplyDeleteGive the dog walkers something to ponder and take their minds off the Boar.
Randy.
ReplyDeleteThe male grass snake is usually around 2 feet long, sometimes a little bigger, but the females can grow considerably larger.
The record length for a female grass snake in the UK is 7 foot!!!
Adrian.
The girth of this snake is bigger than any I have ever found or seen in the past.
I will try my best to photograph her next year.