Snakes

We've had our first reptile study online using Google Meet, E shared about his study of snakes. Snakes are called ular in Malay. Snakes are scaly reptiles with no arms and no legs. 

After the male and female snakes mate, the female snake stores the sperm for one to two months in her oviduct. After fertilization, the female snake lays soft, leather-like, white-coloured eggs. The baby snake breaks the eggs using a special egg tooth. 

Some snakes (e.g. copperhead, rattlesnake, and garter snakes) give birth to live snakes. These are called hatchlings or snakelets.

Young snakes feed on rodents or other smaller reptiles. They shed their skin by rubbing it on rocks and other hard places. Snakelets shed their skin up to four times in a year.

An adult snake sheds its skin once or twice a year. The smallest snake in the world is the Barbados Threadsnake (Leptotyphlops carlae), it resembles a worm.