Details of the breeding in the wild of most tropical snakes are not well known.
Many of the vipers may follow the general system of North American rattlesnakes, which have been much studied. Males search for females. When one is located, perhaps by a pheromonal trail she lays down, the male accompanies and courts her for several days before mating occurs. Fighting between males for the same female is probably uncommon, because it is rare for two males to locate the same female at the same time. North American rattlers have distinct breeding
periods, but many tropical vipers may breed at almost any time of year. Most
snakes that lay eggs deposit the eggs in a suitable location and depart; the parents
provide no care of the eggs or young. A few snakes guard their eggs.
Vipers. Most of the vipers give birth to live young. The FER-DE-LANCE has a reputation as a prolific breeder, females giving birth to between 20 and 70 young at a time. Each is about a third of a meter (1 ft) long at birth, fully fanged with active poison glands, and dangerous. Palm vipers have clutches of up to 20 live young,
and TROPICAL RATTLERS, 20 to 40. The BUSHMASTER is the only egg-Iaying
viperid of the New World, usually producing small clutches of 10 or fewer eggs.
Coral Snakes. CORAL SNAKES lay eggs, up to 10 per clutch.
Boas. Boa Constrictors give birth to live young. Litters vary between 12 and 60,
each snakelet being about half a meter (1.5 ft) long.
If you want to read about Eco-Tourism, Ecology, Behavior, Breeding and more of Costa Ricas' Fauna, we recommend to buy the Travelers' Wildlife Guide of Costa Rica by Les Beletzky (or Belesky) with beautiful illustrations by Davis Dennis. This priceless guide is our constant companion, when we travel around Costa Rica, Panama and Nicaragua.
To buy the complete book visit Interlink Books
The team of FlamingoLink, S.A. wishes you the best of times in our little paradise called Costa Rica.
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