Durban - Local snake catcher Nick Evnas said eggs collected from rescued Mozambique spitting cobras around two to three months ago hatched on Friday.
Evans said when he checked on the eggs on Friday night, he was delighted to see that two clutches had hatched.
“Their mothers were caught together with my friend Duncan Slabbert. Both were hiding in a hole in a garden in Shallcross, in early December. After laying the eggs, the mothers were released,” he said.
Evans said he will be measuring all of them, and checking the male-to-female ratio as well.
“I try to record everything. There’s just over 30 from the two clutches, so measuring all of them will be a tedious task, involving a lot of concentration,” he said
He said last year’s babies were 28cm-35cm in length.
“These little cobras are cheeky! They hood up immediately, and they do spit. Well, they try. I haven’t seen or felt venom come out. Perhaps there’s some microscopic drops. I wear glasses to be safe when handling them. The amount that comes out will very quickly improve,” said Evans.
Evans said these newly hatched snakes are more than capable of biting.
“So they might seem cute to some, but don’t try to cuddle one,” he warned.
Evans said these snakes will be released in a natural area far away from people.
“Many will likely not survive to adulthood, due to natural predators such as birds, mongoose, and monitor lizards,” he added.
Commenting on Evans’ Facebook page, people asked why he is not raising the snakes himself to give them a better chance.
In response Evans said he tries to let nature take its course.
“Yes, sounds odd, as I let the mothers lay in captivity. But that’s because I caught them where they were going to lay their eggs. If I relocated them while pregnant, it would likely be a very stressful situation, having to find a new place to lay,” he said.
He said if he raises them all to a larger size as well as all the other babies that hatch, there will be an overpopulation.
“A role snakes serve in the ecosystem is being food for other animals. Also, juvenile cobras will help control numbers of juvenile frogs,” said Evans.
He said if the snakes are kept in captivity for a period of time, they could potentially develop a disease or a parasite that could spread to wild snake populations.
“Sometimes young snakes are fussy feeders, and can die in captivity,” he added.
