The World’s Oldest Known Snake In Captivity Became A Mom At 62

In 2021, the Saint Louis Zoo in Missouri lost a very special resident. She was a snake, but not just any snake. You see, this ball python was the oldest snake in the world in zoo care. She lived to a staggering 62 years old, but not before doing something remarkable just a year before her death. The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.

In 2020, the news broke that this ball python female had laid a clutch of viable eggs. It was unexpected for a snake in her sixth decade, and even stranger given the fact she hadn’t been in contact with a male for 15 years .

Ball pythons ( Python regius ), also known as Royal pythons, are a species native to the grasslands of central and western Africa. The average ball python lives up to 3