22 python eggs hatch in incubator

Hatchlings are healthy and being fed with small reptiles

As many as 22 Indian Rock python eggs were hatched successfully at an artificial incubator at a forest office in Parambuzha, Kottayam on Monday.

The eggs along with the mother python were rescued from an isolated property along the Changanassery-Kavalam route a month ago. While the mother python had been released to the Pampa forests a couple of days later, forest officials decided to hatch the eggs in their care.

Accordingly, the eggs were kept in a glass box without ceiling and special attention was taken to keep the temperature inside the box at 24 degree celsius.

“Favourable weather and synchronization with the nature are the two crucial factors facilitating the safe hatching of python eggs. Hence, we put plants inside the box, which also helped maintain the temperature at the desired level,” explained Abish K.A, a forest watcher who coordinated the hatching process.

According to him, the eggs began to hatch out from Sunday midnight onward and the last among the python babies came out from the shell as late as by Monday afternoon. Interestingly, one of these eggs had two babies in it, taking the total number of python babies to 23

“The hatchlings, measuring an average size of 45 cm, are healthy and will be fed with small reptiles until they are capable of surviving in the wild. Thereafter, they will be released to their natural habitat, probably in the Pampa forests,” the official added.

Besides these 23 baby pythons, the forest office here currently houses at least a couple of adult pythons and cobras, caught from the human habitats over the last couple of days. They will soon be released to the wild, officials said.