A Queensland family had a major fright when it discovered a mother python and her future babies hiding beneath a tarp in the backyard.
Snake Rescue Sunny Coast was called to a home in Battery Hill on the Sunshine Coast where its team found a Coastal Carpet Python wrapped around 20 eggs.
According to the snake catchers, the species usually lay their eggs around late spring to summer, with eggs to hatch in about 60 days.
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“When females are about to lay their eggs they will seek out shelter with high humidity like hay bales, compost bins, leaf litter ext as it’s required for incubation,” Snake Rescue Sunny Coast explained.
“Once the eggs have been laid, you will see the female travelling to a basking spot in the sun, to warm up her body, then back to her eggs, to transfer the heat.
“This will happen multiple times a day throughout the incubation period. She will also not eat during this time.”
The eggs have been taken to Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital for incubation and the mother python has been relocated to a conservation park, they said.
The Coastal Carpet Python can grow to about three metres long and are a common species found on the Sunshine Coast.
Around one in three pythons caught are usually located inside the roof of a house.
Although non-venomous and not dangerous to humans, they are known to eat small pets like cats, dogs and birds.
