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Reptile reproduction
Changing colour, tail waving, stroking and bellowing are just some of tricks pulled by male reptiles to attract a mate!
© R GibsonAll reptile eggs are fertilized internally. Some females are able to store sperm over the winter months, others for many years: turtles can store sperm for up to four years and snakes can store it for six!
Some reptiles leave their eggs in well-hidden nests, others guard their eggs aggressively, often coiling around their nest and fighting off predators.
In some species of snake and lizard, the eggs develop and hatch within the female’s body and she gives birth to live young.
Green Mamba
Find them in the Reptile House
The male tracks female green mambas using his tongue to sense their scent. Rival males wrestle for several hours. The successful male courts the female in the trees and they mate there for more than ten hours. After a gestation period of about ninety days, the female lays between ten and fifteen long, thin eggs, which hatch after approximately three months.
Stokes' (Gidgee) Skink
Find them in the Reptile House
The eggs of gidgee skinks are carried by the female internally, the thin eggshell breaking when the young skinks are ready to be born. The female bears a litter of about three live young, each measuring around 10cm. Unusually for reptiles, gidgee skinks live in a colony. The mother and father are able to recognize by using their tongues and are therefore able to project them.
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