Blotched snakes on the Red List hatch at Moscow Zoo
At the Center for the Reproduction of the Rare Animal Species of Moscow Zoo, which is overseen by the Moscow Department of Culture, 21 young snakes have hatched from four blotched snakes. Visitors can see these rare snakes on the Red List in an exhibit in the old part of the zoo. Tickets can be booked using the Mosbilet service.
“Blotched snakes from the Rostov Region have been living and breeding in our laboratories since 2012. We came from the Tula Exotarium. The eggs were placed in a special incubator, where they remained for 54–59 days at a temperature of 26–27 degrees Celsius. Young blotched snakes look completely different from adults: they are white and gray, with a zigzag stripe along their backs. In appearance, they closely resemble the venomous steppe viper,” says Svetlana Akulova, Director General of the Moscow Zoo.
Herpetologists at the Center for the Reproduction of the Rare Animal Species plan to raise the young snakes until next year and then, once all the necessary documents have been completed, release them into the wild to increase the local population.
Blotched snakes, also known as Pallas’s rat snakes, are non-venomous snakes belonging to the colubrid family, found in southern Russia, Bulgaria and Romania, as well as Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Adults average up to 1.5 meters in length, while larger specimens can reach almost two meters.
These reptiles are excellent climbers, scaling rocks and trees, where they bask on branches and search for food, while taking shelter in cracks in the ground, under rocks and in rodent burrows. The snakes may have two periods of activity during the day: at sunrise, they emerge from their shelters and bask until 09:00–10:00, then hide and return to the surface at around 3:00 p. m.
In early 2025, Moscow Zoo set a world record for the number of animal species in its collection, with 1253 species; by 2026, their number approached 1280. That was the result of the long-term effort taken by zoologists, veterinarians, keepers, and other staff. The zoo’s animals can always be watched online.