Ladder snake

The stair serpent, also known as the stair snake, is a species of snake that lives in the Iberian peninsula and in some Mediterranean regions of France. Beyond these areas you can also find it on the island of Menorca.

Characteristics of the staircase snake

 
The stair serpent is a robust and large species that can reach up to one meter sixty in length in some cases. Its head is very well differentiated and it is strong and wide while its snout is really prominent in relation to its lower jaw. The scale of the face of this snake is large and very visible and located between the internal areas. As for its dorsal scales, it is worth noting that these are bright and very smooth, being also pleasant to the touch, while its tail is really short.

The females and the males do not differ much but the seconds usually have the head and the tail wider and longer while the females have more ventral scales. A part of this, it should be noted that there are appreciable differences between the different ages of the snakes, because while the newborns do not exceed 30 centimeters and have a classic staircase design with two longitudinal farms that end up joining the tail and have a color between gray and yellow with spots, adults are getting darker and brown, with thinner lines. As they become large, they lose the "rungs" or transverse lines and when they measure about 95 centimeters, they only have the design with the longitudinal lines

Where does the stair serpent live?This type of snakes can live in many different places of the Mediterranean areas but they are usually found in clear Mediterranean terrains such as bushes or places where there are many stone rocks, as well as they appear in different types of meadows and crops.

They are also found in the sierra, in holm oak forests, in river groves, in humid meadows, and even in dumps and urbanizations, since they always choose habitats where there are many dams and if the terrain is very dry they are placed in the boundaries, since they are more humid. Even specimens have been found up to 1,350 meters above sea level, specifically in Guadarrama. Normally it is a specimen that usually hibernates from the month of November to the month of March. Between May and June it is much easier to find male specimens. On the other hand, the females are much more hidden at that time and when they are easily located it is in the months of September and October. The easiest thing is to find these copies in general in August.

It is a kind of diurnal snake, although on the hottest days of the year it also comes out at night because it really likes the heat of the asphalt of the roads. They rest under large stones and usually move about 100 meters each day, although their total living space can be greater than one hectare.
Reproduction of the staircase snake
The ladder snake is a kind of reptile that usually breeds between the months of April and June, although it usually does so in May and June. At this time copulation occurs, which can have a duration of one hour. A month later the females lay their eggs under trunks or stones, as well as in burrows or huras and they usually lay 4 to 14 eggs. These animals also lay eggs in the leaf litter and even in small holes that they themselves excavate. The eggs of ladder snakes are white and are between 26 and 33 millimeters in width, as well as up to more than 50 in length. The females take care of the place where they have laid the eggs for several days and almost all of them reproduce every year.

It will be between 1 and two and a half months later (55 or 69 days normally) when the eggs hatch, in the month of September almost always, or at the beginning of October in some cases. When they are born, the young will not feed until the first molt and their feeding will consist of first insects and small mammals, like rats or rabbits, later. The females of this type of reptile reach sexual maturity with 5 years and 65 centimeters while the males do it with less age and 50 centimeters. These animals in freedom can get to live about 20 years, although this is exceptional and the average life is many years less