Durban — More than 10 black mamba snakelets will hatch from a 2.5m mama in two to three months.
That was according to Durban snake catcher Nick Evans who literally had the last mamba clutch (group of eggs) of the season in his hand.
Evans said he caught a couple of gravid (pregnant) black mambas this season and other snakes.
He said they let the mothers lay their eggs and then release them because most of the time, he catches the mothers when they are about to lay their eggs, for example, in someone’s retaining wall. However, in the wild, most of the mothers would leave their eggs, except for pythons and skaapstekers who remain with their eggs.
“This clutch is from a 2.5m black mamba. She laid 13, including one infertile egg. The eggs are over 6cm in length and 3cm in width. Large eggs!” exclaimed Evans.
“In 2-3 months’ time, they’ll hatch. They’ll have the same venom as their parents, so one can’t exactly play with them.”
Evans said he would release the snakelets soon after hatching.
He said all snake eggs were stuck together and when people found round eggs in piles of sand or compost, not joined together, those are usually agama (blue-headed lizard) eggs.
Evans also thanked the Slabbert family for their help in the matter.
Last December, Evans brought a gravid green mamba to Dangerous Creatures at uShaka Marine World after he removed it from a home on the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast.
The following morning the team discovered 11 healthy eggs, on Valentine’s Day, 2022, the eggs hatched.
Daily News