UPI – A Brazilian rainbow boa at England’s City of Portsmouth College has defied the odds by producing a second consecutive birth without a mate.

The snake, curiously named Ronaldo, recently gave birth to 12 babies; this follows a 2024 surprise where she produced 14 offspring through asexual reproduction.

The process of reproducing without a mate, known as parthenogenesis, has only been documented in Brazilian rainbow boas on three occasions. Ronaldo is the first of her species known to have done it twice.

“I’ve done as much research as I can and I can’t find any record of it happening twice,” animal care technician at COPC Pete Quinlan said in a news release.

“I had my suspicions for a couple of weeks and then suddenly she was showing all the signs.”

Quinlan said the 14-year-old snake will soon be leaving the school.

“She was mine for nine years before she came here,” he said.

“And it’s almost time for her to retire and come back to me. She’s clearly had a great time at COPC – for parthenogenesis to happen, the conditions have to be perfect. Which I think is a great testament to the facilities we have here.”

-- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin