Yellow bellied sea snake surprises vet clinic staff by giving birth

A sea snake found beached in Queensland and taken to a nearby veterinary clinic has shocked staff after they came back to check on it, astounded by what they discovered. SEE THE VIDEO

A vet nurse got the surprise of her life Thursday morning when a venomous sea snake unexpectedly gave birth in a Queensland veterinary clinic.

Trish Prendergast was even more surprised when one of the baby serpents started swimming backwards.

“I read this morning they can swim backwards and the baby just swam backwards. That was so unreal to see,” she said.

The approximately 70cm long yellow-bellied sea snake was found washed up on the beach in the Townsville suburb of Pallarenda in Far North Queensland by a local before daylight Thursday.

Exclusive photos: A yellow-bellied sea snake found beached in Far North Queensland Thursday morning has given birth to four live young over 24 hours while at a veterinary clinic. The 70cm long serpent was taken for a health check with the intention of returning it to the ocean when it started delivering the babies. Picture: Trish Prendergast

Jeremy De Haan, 27, of Jeremy’s Reptile Relocations Townsville said a member of a wildlife group asked him to collect the snake after being contacted by the man who found the stranded animal.

Mr De Haan took the aquatic reptile to Miss Prendergast – a fellow snake catcher and senior veterinary nurse at My Pet Hub Townsville in Thuringowa Central – for a check-up about 7.30am before planning to return it to the ocean.

Miss Prendergast, 45, said it was the first time she had treated a yellow-bellied sea snake, although she had treated other species of sea snakes in the past.

The venomous reptile had to wait to be assessed once the morning rush of clinic opening was over and, when she returned about 9am, Miss Prendergast said she was surprised and thrilled to find a baby snake.

“When I went to check on her there was a baby about nine-tenths of the way out,” she said.

Exclusive photos: The snake with the first two newborns. Picture: Trish Prendergast

“It still had a little bit of its tail to come out.”

The owner of Snakenurse Townsville Snakehandler said a second baby was born about 1pm and a third about 2.30pm.

“These two have come out head first,” she said, before the third was born.

“It was amazing. I’ve never seen snake give birth to live young.

“It was super cool.

“One of them still has the umbilical cord attached.”

Miss Prendergast said the baby reptiles were about 22cm long.

Because sea snakes can have between two to six offspring, Miss Prendergast suspected the mum still had more to come overnight Thursday.

Delighted staff members returned Friday morning to discover a fourth baby had been born.

Miss Prendergast said the yellow-belly was brought in to be assessed to ensure it was healthy enough to be released back into the ocean.

Exclusive photos: A yellow-bellied sea snake found beached in Far North Queensland Thursday morning has given birth to four live young over several hours while at a veterinary clinic. Picture: Trish Prendergast

“Normally (sea snakes) are sick or injured if they are beached,” she said.

“They give birth in shallow pools of water, so whether it got disoriented or washed ashore while it was trying to look for somewhere to give birth, we don’t know.

“It could be stress-induced labour or she could have been looking for a shallow pool and couldn’t get back.

“But the babies are well, they don’t look premature to me. They look just like their mama.”

Mr De Haan told the Courier Mail he often received calls for beached olive or spine bellied sea snakes, but it was unusual to come across a yellow bellied sea snake, particularly a pregnant one.

“I haven’t heard of a gravid sea snake giving birth while in care,” he said.

“That absolutely shocked everyone.

“It’s definitely rare.”

The snake was found beached Thursday morning. Picture: Jeremy’s Reptile Relocations Townsville/Facebook

Earlier, Mr De Haan said he was thrilled with coming across the species.

“My goodness, day absolutely made with a holy grail sea snake!,” he initially wrote on Facebook.

“The Yellow-bellied sea snake. Called in to parks and wildlife early this morning before I got the call to rescue.

“Such an incredible species and thankfully very full of life, experienced veterinary health check before a hopeful release to come.

“Big thanks to member of public Liam who sat with the snake for multiple hours to ensure its welfare. I dropped everything to get to this animal as fast as I could!”

A couple of hours later, Mr De Haan updated the post and to announce a “pretty insane situation” had occurred.

“A phenomenon I’ll (probably) never witness again, the female giving birth while in care,” he wrote.

Staff said the snake may have become disoriented when looking for give birth. Picture: Jeremy’s Reptile Relocations Townsville/Facebook

“All documented and will give updates. Just wow.

“ … They don’t go to sand to give birth normally. This is all a pretty insane situation that is next to unheard of (or) documented.”

The new serpent family of five will be released back into the ocean on Friday.

Yellow-bellied sea snakes are the most pelagic – or widely ranging snake in the world – occurring in the open ocean well away from coasts and reefs, according to information from the Australian Museum in Sydney.

The species averages about 1m in length, with females usually larger than males, while scientists believe the gestation period of gravid females lasts about five months.

There have also been occasions where the venomous snakes have washed ashore in New South Wales, generally following storms or strong winds, according to the Australian Museum.

In some cases, pregnant females were among those washed ashore in Sydney in the past.