DAILY STAR
Staff and students at a college have spoken of their shock after their 6ft Brazilian rainbow boa snake called Ronaldo had a rare “virgin birth” and produced 14 babies.
Peter Quinlan, reptile specialist at City of Portsmouth College, said that they had believed the 13-year-old snake was male and added it had not been in contact with any other snakes for at least nine years.
He explained that the births were due to the rare phenomenon of parthenogenesis, a natural form of asexual reproduction where embryos develop without fertilisation.
He said that Ronaldo’s pregnancy was only the third to be documented for a captive snake of its species in the world.
He said: “I’ve been breeding snakes for 50 years and I’ve never known this happen before.
“Effectively the babies are clones of their mother although their markings are all slightly different.
“Ronaldo had been looking slightly fatter than usual, like he’d eaten a big meal, but we never thought for a moment that he, or should we say she, was pregnant.”
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