Vasanth Mendon from Malpe had called herpetologist Gururaj Sanil to inspect an anthill that had come up near his house. Gururaj found that there were several young ones of Cobras living inside the anthill. Fearing that the young ones will be hurt if they break the anthill, Gururaj resorted to filling the anthill with water. In this technique, as many as 24 young cobras floated out. Since there were 24 hatched egg shells inside the anthill, it means that all the young ones had come out safe.
Gururaj says that the lifespan of a Cobra is about 25 years and an adult Cobra lays about 8 to 15 eggs. The number of eggs increases with age. The adult Cobras lay eggs during March and April and the eggs are hatched during May, June-July. The young ones are usually 10 inch long, of which male ones grow upto 7 feet and females grow up to 5 feet.
Python
In another instance, Sundari Acharya from Nayampalli of Udupi had called Gururaj on May 17 informing that a constrictor had laid eggs in the cowshed. Even when Gururaj informed the family members that the young ones will go all by themselves once the eggs are hatched, petrified family did not agree. With this, Gururaj had to get the eggs out of the cowshed and take it to a safe place.
Pythons are the only constrictors which hatch their eggs. However, if there is a change in place then the pythons refuse to hatch the eggs. Hence Gururaj had to make arrangements to hatch the eggs using artificial techniques.
The young ones of pythons stay together in a pack and once the first layer of skin is shed, they part ways. These hatchlings can stay alive for about a month even if they do not find any food, says Gururaj.
Normally pythons lay about 15 to 30 eggs. The adult pythons prefer warm places to lay eggs and hence if they venture towards human settlements then they usually head to the sheds to lay eggs. They lay eggs around March, April while the young ones are out by July. While the young ones are out, the mother leaves to hunt for food.
It is said that no matter how many eggs are hatched only four to five of the young ones of the Cobras and pythons survive. The young ones often become food to mongoose, peacocks, fox and other wild animals, which feed on them.
The young ones have been released to Western ghats.
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