Our Bullsnake Laid Fertile Eggs without a Father?!

[@bloodredruby69]

An update, because I didn't see one and people are asking. In the video "Our ghost bullsnake laid eggs!!" , Emily lets us know that the 'Jesus' clutch did all go bad.

[@karlahabbershaw1971]

Darn! Thank you I was curious

[@krystalz2166]

Thank you!

[@MEKCreations]

Aww, disappointing but understandable. It would’ve been cool if they ended up with Jesus sneks

[@ivy_lei]

Oh. Thanks!

[@CutThroatCat]

Ah thanks! I was wondering because I remembered hearing her mention a Jesus clutch in another vid but couldn't remember if she said if any made it.

[@ariwoodward]

If they end up hatching and looking different you'll have to check for any male escape artists nearby I guess!? This is so wild!!

[@zottelhuehs6375]

Some species shuffle their own Genes instead of coping everything identically when reproducing asexually

[@snipesKu]

true that bro

[@ConstantChaos1]

I mean parthenogenisis is a thing in snakes but that was my first thought too How funny would it have been if the breakin somehow resulted in eggs, like dude brought a snake and was like naw she needs a bf (ik the timing doesn't work but it's still funny conceptually)

[@ConstantChaos1]

​@@amybarratt4227 naw male snakes are generally smaller before reaching sexual maturity, just cuz he got out doesn't mean she could

[@Annie_Annie__]

@@ConstantChaos1This. Also, just because a male could get in, doesn’t mean Rocket _wants_ to get out. I know it’s not the same, but I used to keep pet rats, and I had some that would mess with the doors to their cage (no matter how big the cage) until they got them open. But I had other rats that I could leave the doors to their cage open while I went to the kitchen to get them a snack and they’d happily stay in the cage until I came and got them out to play. Somewhat similarly, my cat _refuses_ to go outside ever. He wants nothing to do with it. He’s completely happy with air conditioning, carpeted floors, and climbing bookcases instead of trees. My friend, on the other hand, can’t even use her front door because of the way all three of her cats will dive for it every time it’s opened. If they had their way, every door in the world would be open at all times and they’d be allowed to explore what’s beyond every single one of them. Some individual animals just aren’t wanderers and are perfectly happy in a little hide/den/hammock/whatever while other animals with bolt for an exit every chance they get. Maybe Rocket is just a homebody.

[@christinesinclair6938]

Well, snakes can have instances of parthenogenesis. If any hatch, they'll be female like her. But if any are male, then you have a romeo escapee. Also, thanks to this channel I was able to nearly touch an unidentified snake (either rat or garter and they're little so young). My beagle is mad it invaded her space.

[@zottelhuehs6375]

The female thing depends on if bullsnakes are zw or xy

[@KarlAndArma4ever]

​@@zottelhuehs6375 That's wild! Could you explain why that difference matters in parthenogenesis? I would Google it myself but I'm worried the information I'd find would either be incomplete or otherwise misleading.

[@koicaine1230]

I think this channel has helped a lot of people who fear snakes, myself included.

[@MapIePancakes]

Wouldn't it be an even split of gender? since male snakes are ZZ and females are ZW? meaning she'll produce some ZZ Males and WW Females? or are WW females unviable and they young will be all male?

[@guido1270]

Perhaps the process is different in colubrids, but parthenogenesis in crotalids, e.g. my dear departed copperhead, results in all male babies. This sort of makes sense when you realize that mom was unable to find a male, suggesting a shortage of males in the immediate area. Mom attempts to fix that.

[@lilyhughes1635]

I'm christian and thought this was really funny and took no offense to it whatsoever. This is a really awesome miracle, and love that you put it out for us to learn about and follow the progress. I've been watching your guys' videos for 4 years and have loved every one of them, and absolutely love you guys.

[@GreedyEmu7]

Ik me too 😂

[@authornmalone]

Parthenogenesis isn't a miricle, it's pretty common in snakes, turtles, fish, lizards, some plants, aphids and so on.

[@lilyhughes1635]

@@authornmalone That’s cool. 😊 My cactus did reproduce without any dude so now I know why. 😂

[@derAtze]

​​@@lilyhughes1635that's a plant, that has nothing to do with parthenogenesis Edit: autocorrect

[@lilyhughes1635]

@@derAtze actually parthenogenesis is very common in plants. Especially roses, bananas, grapes, tomatoes, papayas, and even some cactuses. Although the cactus I have didn’t actually have that little baby cactus from parthenogenesis specifically, it just happened because that’s the way that that type of cactus reproduces. I did some research after the other comment and parthenogenesis is actually very very interesting and cool and is worth the time and research. Also another thing, Ed and Emily and what they’ve built with Snake Discovery has brought me so much comfort and joy in my life. It brings me back this innocence and happiness that I feel like I’ve lost in my life and just want sometimes when I feel overwhelmed and stressed and just done with life. I’ve found so much love and support within the Snake Discovery community, can we just keep it this judge-free heart filled loving community? Just a thought.

[@gabriellawatt7135]

To all the people asking. All of the eggs have gone bad. In later egg videos Emily reuses the tub for other clutches and mentiones they all went bad.

[@melissajarvis4829]

Thank you!

[@resentfulshrimp8044]

As a religious snake lover I took no offense The "we'll check on them in 3 days" thing got a good chuckle out of me.

[@vroomfondel5447]

As an athiest, I also took no offense. And was really baffled who could be mad about something like this.

[@Polopony20.]

@@vroomfondel5447 I second

[@lemonshark4961]

The resurrection clutch 😂

[@silver_the_rowlet2521]

Resurrection and a paper towel shroud 😂😂😂

[@ConstantChaos1]

I'm a pagan and I didn't take offense and my clan has been relentless persecuted, so I'm pretty sure nobody is gunna care

[@jessemills7624]

Since this is the Jesus clutch, and you described the dry egg as being resurrected, if it survives and hatches I'd like to recommend Lazarus as a possible name for the baby.

[@nittygritty7034]

That's great

[@hayamy3583]

Yesssssss

[@kaitlin6184]

Yessss 😂

[@commandermercury6654]

That’s freaking brilliant! 😂

[@imadeterminedpenguinp8339]

Also the paper towel being a “shroud” specifically cracked me up

[@tainadeoliveira]

Ed and Emily: sorry Rocket, you're still too small to breed Rocket: HOLD MY BEER

[@midnights2631]

Rocket wanted kids that bad.

[@HissyFitPetTherapy]

Hands down, my favorite comment!

[@technoraptor7778]

She's like oh yeaahh!!?? 😖..🥚🥚🥚🥚😏

[@kittybun8845]

Sorry Rocket, you're too young to drink as well

[@emberaya]

hold my wine*

[@ToxikDnB544]

For those looking for a follow-up: They all went bad :( Upvote so people can see

[@QuinsCurse]

Ahhh thanks so much! I was looking all over the channel to find an ancwer

[@MacK-p1n]

:(

[@lisaevans1759]

Yes same thank u for update

[@lornacy]

Thanks for the update.

[@ScriptiCat]

Thank you so much! Was looking for an update!

[@star2705]

There was a case a couple years ago where a ball python, who was _62 years old,_ had a new clutch of eggs after not having been around a male for at least ten years. They all looked good at first, and although most went bad, at least one _did_ hatch. They were going to see if it was parthenogenesis, and they'll be publishing their results when they get them! (I think it was the St. Louis zoo?)

[@matthewpraayjr.9797]

Parthenogenesis is one of the coolest phenomenons in Reptiles

[@Etherealzyo]

Ikr

[@Fish88135]

what is phenomenons?

[@abbyew262]

​@@Fish88135 fact or situation that is observed to exist or happen, especially one whose cause or explanation is in question. "glaciers are unique and interesting natural phenomena" Similar: occurrence event happening fact situation circumstance experience case incident episode sight appearance thing 2. a remarkable person, thing, or event. "the band was a pop phenomenon just for their sales figures alone"

[@matthewpraayjr.9797]

@@Fish88135 phe·nom·e·non /fəˈnäməˌnän,fəˈnämənən/ noun 1. a fact or situation that is observed to exist or happen, especially one whose cause or explanation is in question. 2. a remarkable person, thing, or event.

[@Lilith_DragonPuppet]

Ikr

[@Kagedtiger]

I was all set to jump in with "retained sperm from a previous breeder!" but if you guys raised her up from a baby, then that shoots that theory! If it does end up being parthenogenesis, then that's super cool! Good luck! I hope they hatch!

[@joanneday7518]

If retained sperm could it have been from previous brumation?

[@carlosx8603]

@Joanne Day seems unlikely as they didn't pair her since she was too small so they likely wouldn't have done it even further back.

[@sherreesecoleman5241]

I was thinking the same thing until I heard that they raise her so that is weird

[@abehostetterjr.8702]

I was thinking maybe when younger was in with a brother to long and retained sperm and waited til Rocket your still to young this year and Bam

[@sisi7304]

Yeah I was thinking a similar thing, some sort of sperm retention but apparently not!

[@houndgirl7365]

Hey Emily one thing I learned is in the case of snakes for parthenogenesis is they don't have to be clones of the parents. Since she is a hypo albino all babies will be hypo albino, but if she was a hypo het albino it wpuld be like pairing with a hypo het albino normally meaning all babies would be albino, but because it's using both het genetic markers you can get 25%chance not hypo 25%hypo and 50%het hypo. I actually learned this on another channel a while back because as you thought one would think the clutch would be clones, but actually the sequencing used is just hers only expressed differently. It's really fascinating; Meiosis was one of my fave subjects in biology ^^

[@Dodl1]

I love Genetics, let them see this!

[@nikitalakhani5106]

Hi this is super interesting! Could you tell me the resource where you found this?

[@houndgirl7365]

@Nikita Lakhani honestly for the life of me I cannot remember, it was a snake breeder I remember that much. I think the reason I stopped following his is because he would pull baby snakes out of their egg before they were ready. He had the same thing happen with his female and I was shocked to see different variants and per this individual the female was not locked up either so no retained sperm. When he explained it though my biology/vet tech knowledge understood how that can happen. No male DNA isn't used, but somehow the females is and so technically Meiosis has to occur meaning they go through Prophase and all that fun stuff before duplication of daughter cells occurs (I encourage you to look up Meiosis and mitosis). The reason why insects and other critters that got through this phenomenon looks exactly the same is because there is no hidden gene in aphids or mourning geckos or whichever you put in that category so people don't really see the visible expression when complex genes are involved. I hope this makes sense. I'm sure there are papers on it, but for snakes it's not a super common thing (thus Ed and Emily having this be the first time despite breeding sooo many snakes every year).

[@alicecain4851]

I'm pretty sure you saw it on Clint's Reptiles because your memory about what the babies could be is very close to mine. Brian B's Green anaconda had a parthanogenic

[@MM-jf1me]

Adding to this: even if all her offspring from this clutch were her clones, that doesn't mean they would be identical to her or to each other. Some parts of an animal's appearance only become "locked in" during development -- for example, a clone of a calico cat would have different patterns in their fur and could look completely different even though the cat and the clone would share all the same DNA because color patterns in the fur of cats is something that is determined as the fetus grows -- the genetics determine the type of building blocks available, but the way those building blocks assemble for fur color is a bit more up to chance. I'm not sure how closely this example may be analogous to snakes, but just wanted to explain how the baby snakes could end up looking different from Rocket even if they all turn out to be hypo albinos with only a single parent.

[@nicolawalton3754]

This is very cool! I still remember Flora the Komodo Dragon from Chester Zoo who made headlines when she produced viable eggs despite never being near a male. The hatchlings were genetically tested and found to be a complete match to Flora - fascinating! I believe it was the first time parthenogenesis had been observed in Komodo Dragons.

[@lauratanner6493]

I love how you guys are no waste, it’s sad when eggs or slugs aren’t good but it’s great that they still get used by being used as food

[@avavulpes9106]

Rocket just determined to be a mommy. “NOBODY GAVE ME A BOYFRIEND SO ILL MAKE MY OWN!”😂

[@Kehy_ThisNameWasAlreadyTaken]

Well all the babies are likely to be male, according to some comments sooo :D

[@Woodleaf_critter]

She gives of single mom vibes 😂

[@marsupialsofmars3886]

IM MY BOYFRIEND

[@Blacktigress06]

She’s her own boyfriend.

[@Namaikhan]

Super neat! Parthenogenesis has also been confirmed in birds! There have been a couple instances confirmed in the California Condor breeding program, thanks to the meticulous genetic mapping they do to track the population! (All California Condors alive today are decended from a handful of individuals, so it's important to keep the population as genetically diverse as possible)

[@StonedtotheBones13]

Wooow :o California condors are so prehistoric too

[@Mew2Man]

I was thinking about the condors too! Would be really neat if this is the case here

[@MM-jf1me]

That's really interesting! I hadn't heard that about ANY birds before so I'll have to do some reading up on California Condors!

[@annetheelf8174]

I've heard this can happen in snakes, it's just extremely uncommon so how cool is it that this might be one of those cases!

[@fallensway855]

The first time I’d really heard about this happening was when Brian barczyk had one of his female anacondas have a virgin live birth. They thought she was a male and had paired her with their other female. Reptiles are pretty amazing that this is possible with them.

[@midnull6009]

it's not as uncommon as you think and it's happening more and more frequently It's also starting to happen in birds. There was a documentary about vultures. The y chromosome is slowly going away and it has been for a while now due to its nature.

[@annetheelf8174]

@@midnull6009 that’s so cool

[@snakewithapen5489]

@Mid Null Not many snakes have xy chromosomes, most have ZW/ZZ. More often parthenogenesis in snakes is a result of environmental pressures such as a lack of mates but abundant nearby food

[@ayajade6683]

​@@midnull6009 first of all we use ZZ/ZW for snakes and the y chromosome is disappearing isn't real it's a right wing dog whistle to justify persecution of trans peoplem. You have Google there's no reason to be this uneducated especially when you're using right wing propaganda so causally

[@noelbrucker135]

Oh my goodness. I lost it under the Jesus theme when you actually called the paper towel for the shriveled egg a “shroud” and said you’d “check it in three days”. ❤️

[@MaxAlexander-kg1xb]

I love how Rocket is looking up at the camera in the into like, “Do you like my creations? Look at them. They are beautiful.”

[@rubyamateurtactician4354]

People are already talking about parthenogenesis, so I'd like to make sure Emily knows that there is at least one all-female species of whiptail lizards. They're sometimes called "lesbian lizards" and I love them

[@Kamirose.]

Mourning geckos are also all-female and reproduce by cloning.

[@alisav8394]

They can't reproduce exclusively by parthenogenesis. Every species needs to mix genes between individuals at one point. So maybe they're reproducing mostly by parthenogenesis but at some point one of those lizards needs to be male and needs to breed with a female. Otherwise, one unusual drought/wet season would have wiped the whole species out.

[@laurendisney]

​@@alisav8394 there are no males. They're the result of hybridization, and because of the hybridization healthy males just don't form. New genetics comes from new hybrids, otherwise the babies come from parthenogenisis. They're called New Mexico Whiptails, if anyone is interested in them. Cool little ladies!

[@Lunishta]

​@@alisav8394 the lesbian lizards mate with each other iirc, I don't think there's any swapping of genetic material but it triggers them to produce eggs.

[@kharmachaos667]

Alisa, that isn't true. Mourning geckos really are all female, with the exception of a very rare sterile "male".

[@amykinz8160]

Emily: "We'll talk about what these could hatch _into_ in a little bit" Me, nodding: "Cockatrices."

[@usernamedaniedmrg]

😂😂😂😂😂

[@CW-po4bx]

Wait so a rooster is the father?

[@philippak7726]

@@CW-po4bx no no, you just have to incubate them under one (depending on the myth, some variants have the rooster lay it)

[@amykinz8160]

@@philippak7726 Or under a toad!

[@philippak7726]

@@amykinz8160 very true~ I love how many myths there are about them :P

[@moonbasket]

Wow. I guess the eggs haven't gone bad yet since the video was filmed and posted. Excited to see what happens! Also so happy to see Allie. Haven't seen her on the channel in a while. 😁

[@chiirela]

Yep that means they still going

[@AllThePeppermint]

Deeply devout Christian here. I study the Bible a ton. I found it hilarious and awesome that your beautiful bull snake had a "miracle clutch" which you aptly named a "Jesus clutch". Very tongue-in-cheek, which is my brand of humor. The design choices and drawings are adorable and clever.

[@RinLikesFish]

Seems to me that the snake discovery team never gets a break 😂❤ love you guys, yall are doing great!

[@ClintsReptiles]

If bullsnakes are ZW like most snakes (not boas or pythons), then the hatchlings should all be male like with komodo dragons. I hope there will be updates!

[@greenapple9477]

Hi Clint!

[@Crazy_Dawg]

@@greenapple9477 eat green apple

[@amandastakeonit7402]

😱🙃!!!! So not exactly, by definition, parthenogenesis?? Aren't 'Par' babies "clones" of their mother ergo females? This is so interesting! Emily: Look what miracle happened!! Clint: ....but WAIT there's more!!

[@raerohan4241]

​@@amandastakeonit7402 Not at all. Parthenogenesis just refers to the type of asexual reproduction in which a gamete develops into an embryo without fertilisation from another gamete. The resulting offspring do not have to be clones of the mother. They don't even have to be the same gender at all

[@conlon4332]

Yeah! I actually said something similar in response to someone else's comment! This is what I said: Based on a programme I watched years ago on parthenogenesis in Komodo Dragons, I actually think they would all be homozygous. They explained that the haploid egg cell - with only one set of chromosomes - duplicates those chromosomes to become a diploid cell with a full set of chromosomes that can go on to develop into a baby. But each set of chromosomes is just two identical chromosomes - which would make being heterozygous or "het" impossible. So if the mother was het hypo the babies would be half homozygous hypo and half homozygous normal. Obviously though, as she's homozygous for both albinism and hypomelanism, the babies will be too. I'm more interested in the sex of the babies. You'd expect that they'd all be female, but in Komodo Dragons it's the females that have two different sex chromosomes. So the babies have two the same of the two different chromosomes, making half of them male and half of them unviable. It would be like in humans if half are XX and half are YY, except if males were XX and females were XY. I don't know how sex determination works in Bullsnakes, so whether they'd be all male or all female, but if it's like Komodo Dragons that would explain why so many were infertile - because half the combinations are unviable. I think Sigh actually explained what I was trying to explain a bit better, though. Here's their comment: This is likely parthenogenesis with genome doubling occurring after meiosis (this is common in snakes, though I can't seem to find much information about parthenogenesis in bullsnakes specifically). The reason I think this is the case is the large amount of slugs- genome doubling after meiosis in ZW species results in half the eggs being non-viable. (Most snakes have a ZW sex determination system.) If that's the case this would mean three things: 1) all the babies would be male, 2) they would have around 50% of the mother's genes, not full clones 3) they would be homozygous for pretty much all traits.

[@sigh8522]

This is likely parthenogenesis with genome doubling occurring after meiosis (this is common in snakes, though I can't seem to find much information about parthenogenesis in bullsnakes specifically). The reason I think this is the case is the large amount of slugs- genome doubling after meiosis in ZW species results in half the eggs being non-viable. (Most snakes have a ZW sex determination system.) If that's the case this would mean three things: 1) all the babies would be male, 2) they would have around 50% of the mother's genes, not full clones 3) they would be homozygous for pretty much all traits.

[@Dodl1]

Like so that Emily sees it! I love Genetics, it's so interesting how life works!

[@Nevertoleave]

I knew birds had ZW with males being ZZ and females being ZW. And platypi being insane with like ten sex chromosomes. Never thought about snakes and lizards before

[@hjalfi]

This means you can't get stable lines of pathenogenic snakes, right? Because the children will always be male? So what sex determination system to lizards use, because it has to be different otherwise mourning geckos won't work?

[@Zela_Night]

@@hjalfi Lizards as a group have a bunch of different methods of determining sex. Some species have an XY system like mammals, some have a ZW system like birds, some have more complex methods like multiple (X1X2Y/Z1Z2W) sex chromosome systems.

[@feuerling]

​@@hjalfi mourning geckos basically clone themselves

[@luxtobeyou]

"Please don't pop it" Ally staring deep into the camera like "I don't know... I might pop it" 🤣

[@amandastakeonit7402]

😆

[@starchb0mb]

Hi Ed and Emily! AMAZING that this video is released today, because I just had a mystery clutch (10 good eggs, 12 slugs) from one of my corns who has reportedly never been paired. I'm betting it's not parthenogenesis but just that her previous "roommate" (cohabbed by former owner) was missexed as female but is male. Reptiles are fascinating ✨

[@alicecain4851]

That was quite a clutch! Best of luck to the eggs! 🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀

[@MostlyHarmless68]

Aww darn, I was hoping you had parthenogenic corns. 😊 Are you incubating them? My (probably) virgin female corn snake has never laid any eggs in the 5 years I've had her, but she was 8 when I got her and at 13 is probably too old for that anyway. It would be cool though.

[@DissedRedEngie]

"sorry, you're still too small for breeding" "fine, I'll do it myself"

[@TigerSira]

"you no think I'm ready for mate? THEN I CLONE MYSELF!"

[@lottaleissner497]

My thoughts exactly! XD She took "Go hug yourself" to a whole new level!

[@EmilyLongtin]

One of those babies is going to be very special and worshipped by millions in a couple hundred years

[@gregandshelly]

no iduls

[@kvllz9035]

Definitely not offended with the chosen theme for the 'miracle clutch', I actually thought it was pretty cool! The drawings were respectful and accurate as well! I hope they hatch!

[@Sharauni]

I love that she had Jesus eggs on 4/20, Fate has a great sense of humor XD Parthenogenesis is so cool! Congrats miracle mama!

[@citizenyarn]

The scepitcal part of me went to comedy situation where a staff member accidentally paired her with someone, went "oh no" and separated before anyone noticed. The rest of me is "nature is amazing and full of miracles." Definitely excited for this clutch!!

[@FinleyKnight-xt7nn]

When the eggs hatch, check to see if they’re all the same sex. If they’re males, it could be that she was isolated from males enough that the ‘need to save the species’ occurred. There is a theory that some reptiles might have ended up alone on islands after drifting across water and reproduced to continue keeping the species alive. this has also been observed in the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, Nebraska. They have had a species of shark and (i believe) a Boa that have reproduced without male contact. I think there have been a couple of papers written on the subject, and I am not very educated about it.

[@matthewmusco2581]

oh my god I didn’t realize how much I missed seeing Ally on the channel. with summer coming up I hope we have another taking ally to a lake episode.

[@comitlight4688]

I would have to imagine that, perhaps during a cleaning, a staff member accidently put her in with a male, thinking the drawer was empty? A couple of hognoses had been switched before, so it wouldn't be too surprising.

[@DRAG0NSPIRIT10]

I thought that too but I think it's far less likely to happen given the size of the adult bullsnakes, you'd definitely see if the bin was occupied. Especially since, as far as I'm aware, they don't have the instinct to burrow like Hognoses do. The Hogs all have deeper bedding to let them burrow, hence why putting two in the same bin could easily happen. But the Bulls don't need to burrow, they seem content with their hides/caves. So they should be visible. Failing that, if you don't see them you'll definitely hear them with their loud hisses and attitudes.

[@katyc.8663]

Rocket decided she was ready to lay eggs, male or no male. XD I can't wait to see what happens with the eggs. I hope they hatch. :D

[@Sidney_Williams]

Unrelated, but today I did something that I would’ve never done if it wasn’t for Snake Discovery. I picked up a wild isopod that had gotten lost in a rest area bathroom and put it in my terrarium (don’t worry, it’s just a plant terrarium, there’s no animals). If it wasn’t for this channel, I wouldn’t have even known what it was, let alone been comfortable enough to touch it. Yes I know, taking any animal from the wild isn’t ideal but the little guy was stuck in a bathroom, so I figured it was an upgrade.

[@Lochingbird]

I knew some birds could reproduce through parthenogenesis, never thought about other egg layers doing it as well!! Excited to see if her clones hatch out and if they're healthy!

[@lemonshark4961]

There are birds that reproduce through parthenogenesis? I've only heard of lizards and sharks that can

[@sallycinnamon5370]

I know Komodo Dragons can too. 😊

[@gregengel1616]

Yeah, the chicken eggs that you get in the store haven't been fertilized. When I was a kid, it was a common saying to say keep the roosters away from the in the house.

[@ravenreed5567]

There is a lizard here in the Americas where the whole species is female.

[@sallycinnamon5370]

@@gregengel1616 but that wouldn’t be considered pathenogenesis since they are infertile

[@splitdragon3004]

This happened with my ball python. I was not ready for baby snakes but I couldn’t find any reputable people to take them. So now I have 4 ball pythons

[@mirandaggrace]

My ball python laid mystery eggs a couple of summers ago, too. She's never been paired and it definitely freaked me out, especially since I have no where to incubate eggs. She laid 10 eggs, 9 slugs and 1 viable looking egg. Luckily, my local reptile shop offered to incubate the one good egg for me to see if it would hatch. The egg turned out to be unfertilized and rotted but it was certainly an interesting experience.

[@alexvaughan12345]

Some species of snakes are capable of laying eggs without mating with a male snake. This is called parthenogenesis, and it occurs when the female snake's eggs develop into embryos without being fertilized by a male's sperm. It's a rare phenomenon, but it has been observed in several species of snakes. That's how she layed eggs also u are amazing i am so proud of u ♥️ also hope u guys understand now if anyone didn't

[@alicecain4851]

Was raised religious, but am no longer. I didn't find anything you said to be at all objectionable. I hope we get to see a few of Rockey's babies. This breeding season is looking exciting, and it's hardly started! Even though you were still obviously shaky from having just been robbed, I want you to remember that you're surrounded by the miracles of all of your zoo animals along with your breeding stock and personal pets. You have an amazing staff! You have a wonderful group of subscribers along with your patreon backers. Your family and so many other content creators are also very invested in you and Ed just because you're multi-fabulous people. By being out there, you made yourself a target. I can't even put into words how sorry I am for that to have happened. But you don't have to become hardened because of this incident. You DID what you had to do to immediately safeguard yourselves, your staff, and your charges. You made sure that the grounds would become more secure for all of the staff and zoo animals. I'm hoping that no one ever closes the store/zoo alone and that at night that no one goes to their cars alone. I don't care if it's a male or female employee. Anyone can be assaulted and then the keys would be in the hands of a person(s) who could put the animals in danger. I'm hoping that now that you've moved, fewer people know where you live, Ed and Emily. Everyone should be very careful when they're talking to be aware of their surroundings and watch what personal information that might accidentally give out. I'm sorry for going on and on. Ed and Emily, you and most of your staff are around the same ages as my kids - 31 through 34. I understand this also means you're adults and know or have learned all of these things. Maybe you can do a yearly staff meeting to go over this feeling of being invaded and no longer feeling as safe. This will help everyone to remember to stay on guard to be a bit safer. Congratulations to Rocket! Congratulations to Snake Discovery! Even though you did get broken into, because of the things that were set in place, the burglar wasn't able to do that much damage and MOST importantly, no human OR animal were harmed. And everything is beefier and will be getting even better.

[@BeetleDragon]

If any of the eggs end up hatching I really hope you keep one and name her either Jesus or Rocket jr. :)

[@Re-writer233]

If it is a case of parthenogenesis then they could name one Rocket 2.0

[@Annie_Annie__]

Rename Rocket to Mary, lol.

[@mrs.h2725]

Or Brian 😂

[@jweaver9089]

i bet Catholics would get super offended if she named one jesus

[@jadedkitty728]

Or Mackie, short for Immaculate Conception :P

[@thelionoob]

parthenogenesis would be pretty interesting in a snake with codominant genes. Also, I wonder if that could have happened before with snakes that weren't paired but everyone assumed it was retained sperm from the previous season?

[@bo8jk]

Maybe but only if the hatchlings look exactly like mum since they would be her clones. If they look any diffrent it is probably retained sperm

[@JYYB]

She has never been paired Emily says

[@sog9636]

I don't think there was ever a clutch with only female babies but I might be wrong

[@TheChildofAuraReborn]

@@sog9636 The one I can remember off of the top of my head was Busty Rhonda’s clutch from last year, but that could have also been due to all the eggs going bad. Though I’ve heard parthenogenesis can result in some defective babies sometimes and I think there was a runt and a kinked baby in that one. Who knows with that clutch.

[@sog9636]

@@TheChildofAuraReborn then you're probably right :) i forgot about that clutch. Keen eye and impressibe memory you've got there :)

[@ArtzyZero]

Rocket and Rockot, her other snake persona, haha! It'll be cool seeing these snakes if they hatch and the new owners will have pretty cool origin story for their snakes!

[@not_3rd]

I stumbled upon this channel on the youtube app on my nintendo while being bored almost 2 years back! Now I actively watch all the videos that appear!

[@ittypittykrissstie]

Rocket really said: I heard about the Door. Here's a Donation. Hope it Helps. Lol

[@jettadin]

You say "excuse the mess", but considering we are getting Jesus eggs I think the mess is automatically excused and you don't have to worry! (Also, very excited for what this means, I love snake science and this channel has been very helpful in helping me get over a mild fear of snakes!)

[@alicecain4851]

Congratulations! Knowledge - and then wanting to gain more - does help by not leaving as much room for fear. Can't wait to hear which reptile you'll end up with!

[@bettyadamsoveranalyzes]

Parthenogenesis is actually fairly common amoung snakes and lizards. They won't necessarly looklike her as they can mix and match their own genes and with snakes and lizards which genes are expressed are highly dependent of environment.

[@bluecobaltsteph2689]

SO EXCITED for the follow up video! Parthenogenesis has been noted in a variety of snakes (I googled!) so hopefully it happens!!

[@reiphas]

As someone raised Christian, don't worry, you said absolutely nothing wrong. If someone tells you otherwise, they're a fanatic and their religious beliefs are more fragile than the paper used to produce bible pages. Also, noone should care about what fanatics have to say.

[@queenbee3647]

Emily shes a pretty snake. Good luck with the eggs. You dont have to apologize about the markings you put on the eggs. Its obvious you meant no disrespect. I wish more people even knew about the meaning of turning water into wine, the loaves and the fishes, etc. Were good. 😉

[@ZeFroz3n0ne907]

I also love how you are using a paper towel on the one egg, kinda like it has the Shroud of Turin over it. (The fabric that they placed over Jesus when he was in the tomb.) ❤Love the channel! You guys are amazing! ❤

[@BEKisara]

Lol, that was what I thought too. Emily even said "shroud." That egg should be all better in 3 days XD

[@jessicacarter3220]

I was going to say they can retain sperm for a couple years but since you raised her since hatching that's clearly not the case. If it is partho babies, I hope they're healthy! Often times they don't live very long due to just genetic issues. I can't wait to see what happens.

[@amya-kit.Conner.version-]

You guys made me have a love for reptiles. Snakes mostly. And yesterday I actually touched a snake for the first time! Thanks so much for inspiring my love for reptiles.

[@isabelbrown5906]

Any updates?

[@rayleenfoote7500]

Hi just wondering how this clutch went as I can’t find an update video. Thanks 💖💖💖

[@AJRoyalty]

I don’t know if it was meant to be a pun, but when you mentioned resurrecting one of the eggs I snorted so loud! ‘Cause it works on so many levels! Jesus, Easter, egg! It all fits!

[@sybilwinfield538]

And put shroud over it

[@AJRoyalty]

@@sybilwinfield538 I was submitting my comment as she said that and it made me think the resurrection bit was definitely on purpose! 😂

[@U-Gozoo]

Mystery eggs again?? 🤔 Hopefully this year is amazing last year was crazy 🤣

[@TheMegamangaArtist]

This is really awesome! I have not found any case of this Happening in bullsnakes, but as it is a special type of meiosis, any animal could potentially be able to do it. In most reptile Species, that do that on the regular, The Babys are not all genetic copys of mom, rather the animals do some "in house" cross over and by that can also produce males. I am really super curious on what those eggs will turn into!!

[@jrf79]

Hi Emily, I had a BP 24 yrs old female that was never with a male,ever....she laid 8 infertile eggs after all that time. amazing lol. I did breed her the following year and had 8 fertile eggs that all hatched.

[@rachelle6593]

How fun, can't wait to see these miracle babies! Some ideas or clutches (leaves, cartoons, social media & runes!)

[@aryknago7160]

Since this video got released, I hope at least one egg made it. One of my ball pythons layed a parthenogenesis clutch for me last year. It was my very first snake clutch. Sad news that I found out the hard way is that parthenogenesis eggs have a hard time making it through incubation. A 6 egg clutch turned to 2 by the last week, and then one. Despite hatching, the last one didn't make it past day one. My conclusion from this experience; Since the dna and everything is only coming from one source, aka the mom, it tends to make the babies extra fragile and prone to genetic misshaps, passing away in the egg and soon after hatching. You can get good babies from these clutches though! The odds are just low. But yes, if and when the eggs hatch, they should be genetic copy+pastes of Rocket. P.S. - If you do get viable hatchlings, I wouldn't recommend any future breeding plans with them.

[@annetheelf8174]

Oh my gosh the ball pythons hatched?! Can't wait to see the video

[@lizardkeeper100]

My first bearded dragon did that to me many times. that is actually where my user name comes from she had never been with a male and laid 100 fertile eggs (over like 5 years or maybe 6).

[@polaris_503]

She *really* wanted a mother's day gift ❤😂

[@rachelsheaffer99]

Is there an update to this clutch yet?

[@richardsonramble4166]

This clutch is exciting! Keep us updated please. 🐍

[@sera.84]

I read this as “ the church is excited”

[@mantis8894]

Parthenogenesis is wild. We had a jumping spider do it this year, but the babies did not survive long after hatching, which can happen with these clone clutches from what few examples of it I can find. Some lizards and bugs do it regularly with no issue, but most reptiles and birds that do it will see drastically shorter lifespans in the babies.

[@TheChildofAuraReborn]

I actually wonder: if Rocket is any het morphs, then will the babies possibly be divided into those morphs (by chance of occurrence like with a regular batch) or will they look EXACTLY like her? This is a fascinating way to start off egg season for sure.

[@amyangerer6966]

DO NOT leave us hanging on this one!!! I expect an update from this clutch immediately after it hatches or goes bad!!

[@SilverFoxfire]

Still waitin' for an update on this one... I'm really interested to see if any hatched!

[@anEizBerg]

oooh the immaculate snakeception!

[@eeveegirl1334]

If the eggs do make it and hatch; I would be very transparent with the linage, to their future homes if you're not keeping them. none the less i am looking forward to hatching season with you guys; get super happy when there are baby hognoses in the titles.

[@musical_costumer7976]

Using the words "jesus clutch" to describe a snake making and producing eggs without a partner is the best thing I've heard.

[@xerohelix6262]

This is so cool! I think it’s a way of rocket trying to cheer you up!

[@karenlee3198]

Love the theme! And I love how Emily delegated the marking duty 😂

[@MortimerLR]

Ooo, I love parthenogenesis cases! Edit: I also hope that they hatch and maybe they can be named Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh.

[@torisilver9488]

As if I couldnt love Emily more, your respect for Hayley is just beautiful ❤️

[@willow_haven3226]

Please do an updated meet all our snakes video! It'd be so interesting to see who you all still have vs your newer snakes 🐍

[@kh628]

Rocket really is living up to her name trying to do things faster than the humans had planned!

[@TimeLady128]

Can someone help me out and tell me in which video we get the updates to these miracle eggs?

[@bruce3195]

My cousin has a lake chapala x scotts garter snake that produced 2 babies through parthenogenesis, they didn't live for long saddly but definitely blew minds within the family, and led to a great deal of questioning as the resident reptile guy.

[@domiantics]

Huh, i wonder if they only seem fertile and are only that color due to the amount of calcium she had? Excess calcium? Super curious!

[@anndownsouth5070]

I wondered about extra calcium as well.

[@ismewhat1234]

When they broke into your store glad none of your pet's got hurt or stolen. But that was very sad And hope you and ed have a great day

[@denisenewman5024]

I love how you laid a "Shroud" on it and said "Im going to wait 3 days." just like Jesus :O) Also a Religious snake lover, nothing offensive said. Good Job Emily

[@elenaandevanciaccio]

You are the best and the funniest

[@cis4511]

Is there a video where they hatching?

[@celarts5752]

I know certain species of lizard can reproduce without a mate, maybe it could be an extremely rare but possible occurrence with other species of reptile? Idk

[@thatonepossum5766]

I think I’ve heard of reticulated pythons having fatherless clutches.

[@TinySwanGrandAdventures]

My brain immediately went to Mourning Geckos.

[@zottelhuehs6375]

I know of at least one ball python doing this

[@Bildgesmythe]

It's not that uncommon

[@my_granny]

If it's parthenogenesis, it'll be interesting to see if that happens with the daughters as well!

[@ameliatripp1868]

I love your video so much I watch them everyday I'm so happy that you became a youtuber❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@MishaThePolly_Therian]

If they actually didn't go bad then that's some crazy stuff! Maybe a male escape artist or some weird sciencey crap.. wish they didn't go bad that would've been so cool

[@faithelizabethclevenger4664]

Does anyone know what happened to the eggs? Did they go bad?

[@veronicanicholaides3368]

Would love to know what happened with this clutch!

[@steveandgingerfrisbee3250]

Her Jesus clutch!!!!😂😂😂😂😂

[@beautybybrittanyrenee8593]

What I find crazy is yesterday I saw a video about a reticulated that had never been with a male do the same thing. They did genetic testing and the babies were clones of mom. Natural is a beautiful and mind-blowing.

[@ahoyfamily]

LOL the fact that you called the paper towel a shroud so fits with the theme....