Northwestern Garter Snake Giving birth
Garter snakes do not lay eggs. Like many other snakes including boas, they are ovoviviparous. Ovoviviparity, ovovivipary, or ovivipary, is a mode of reproduction in animals in which embryos develop inside eggs that are retained within the mother's body until the offspring have fully developed. The eggs incubate while still inside the mother. This is a Thamnophis ordinoides (Northwestern Garter Snake) giving birth to 6 live babies. Gestation (actually, incubation) takes 60-90 days.
