'Eggsellent' additions to college

One of the corn snakes hatching

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There has been some unusual egg hatching going on at Hopwood Hall College, with the arrival of four baby corn snakes.

The snake eggs were kept safe and warm in an incubator by college staff and animal management students until they were ready to hatch, a task which took over 60 days.

The baby snakes join the 10 other corn snakes the College houses as part of its growing collection of reptiles.

Andrew Dawson, Director of Life Sciences at the College, said: “The snakes are a welcome addition to the College. They are a great teaching aid for our students. They’ve been able to learn about rearing small snakes first-hand and we’ve even been able to help students learn about genetics through hatching our own snakes – it’s been a real life genetics class.”

Corn snakes are a member of the pantherophis guttatus species and are non-venomous. Originally native to North America, their colours vary but are usually a combination of orange, brown, yellow and black. While not the largest of snakes, they do grow to around four-five foot and live for between 15-20 years.

Although snakes are phobia-inducing for many people, the corn snake in particular actually has a great temperament, making it a popular pet snake. Indeed the snakes are very active so can be watched for hours.