Domino's babies

Domino and Phineus the beau corn snakes laid a clutch off eggs 2 months ago. The babies have come out of their eggs and are enjoying their very first meal today. When a snake is pregnant she is called "gravid" she has to eat extra calcium so she can produce healthy babies with strong eggshells. The shell of the eggs is not like birds eggs. Instead of being hard and brittle, reptile eggs are leathery and flexible. They need moisture so they don't dry out and as the babies grow inside the eggshell stretches. The baby snake has a small egg tooth that helps them make a small slice in the shell. They peek their head out and will emerge fully within about a day. The baby snake explores the world he has just come into, everything is new and scary. During the first week the baby snake doesn't eat, he's still living off of the nutrients that were in the egg. After about 7 days the snake will shed for the very first time. After it sheds, the snake will look for its first meal. The only thing it can eat at this point is very very young mice pups. As the snake grows bigger it will shed and start to eat larger prey. It will mature at 2-3 years and by about 5 years it will be almost full grown. Corn snakes can live up to 25 years!

Congratulations Domino and Phineus on a clutch of beautiful babies!