Green Snake Troubles....

Jake, who has been concealing her identiy, surprized us this evening by laying 6 eggs in the corner of her cage. I guess we need to rename her....

Now for a bit of information on green snakes. Smooth Green snakes are the only snakes in eastern North America that are entirely bright green on their upper surfaces. This coloration camouflages them well in their grassy habitats. The head is slightly wider than the neck and is green above and white below. The belly is white to pale yellow. Occasionally Smooth Green snakes can be brown or tan in coloration. The scales are smooth and total body length ranges from 30 to 66 cm. Males are usually smaller than females, but have longer tails. Newly hatched Smooth Green snakes measure 8.3 to 16.5 cm in length and tend to be less brightly colored than adults, often olive-green or bluish-gray. Smooth Green snakes are harmless snakes, they are not venomous.

Smooth Green snakes mate in the spring and late summer. Females lay from 3 to 13 cylindrical eggs in shallow burrows, in rotting vegetation, or under logs or rocks. Females may share nest sites, each depositing their eggs into a single nest. Eggs are laid from June to September and the eggs hatch in August or September. Time to hatching varies quite a bit, from 4 to 30 days. This is partly a result of their ability to retain the eggs and incubate them in their body. Keeping the eggs inside the female would be beneficial to speed development because females can bask and maintain the warmth of their eggs if they are retained in her body. Young Smooth Green snakes mature in their second year.