Snake at Phoenix Zoo gives birth without male partner

PHOENIX — A baby snake was found inside its mother’s enclosure in the Phoenix Zoo despite having no male partner for her nearly 10-year stay, but there’s a good reason for it.

The young Brazilian Rainbow Boa, found on Aug. 3, was likely born through an asexual reproduction process called parthenogenesis, according to a zoo press release.

The process, which occurs occasionally in reptiles, happens when an egg develops without male sperm fertilization.

Parthenogenesis, however, has only been documented once in boas — 2018 at the Sacramento Zoo.

Because snakes provide little or no assistance to their offspring, the mother and the baby are already separated.

The baby will be able to be seen by zoo guests in the reptile nursery area on the children’s trail near the wallabies.

The mother is still at the Forest of Uco trail in the boa hut.

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