Quote Originally Posted by ConcinnusMan View Post
Ever boil an egg or peel a boiled egg? You might have noticed a membrane. Sort of a "skin" Egg laying snakes have a leathery "shell" which isn't calcified so it isn't hard, but inside that, and around any egg "guts" (yolks and whites) but between the shell, is a clear membrane holding the contents inside, while still allowing gas exchange through the membrane. C'mon Robert. You should know this. It's high school level biology. You're not fishing for homework answers again, are you? Even chicken eggs are nothing more than a clear membrane and contents until they are being laid. Then the calcium goes on and hardens as it dries, after coming out. Like a final coat of cement as it's coming out.

Snake eggs do not have separate yolk and whites like bird eggs do. It's basically just a yolk. When the egg is infertile, or otherwise doesn't develop, it comes out as a "slug"

Here's a video I shot and uploaded, that clearly shows the egg produced by an Ovoviviparous garter snake. T.s. concinnus. These eggs came out with a clear, yet very flexible and hard to break membrane around them. That clear membrane is the only thing holding each baby inside their own egg while it's inside the mother. Sometimes babies are too weak, or otherwise struggle to break free of the membrane. Some babies break out before emerging from the mother. and I believe that many fully-developed stillborns are a result of the membrane breaking too early. Perhaps a few days too early. Here you can see the baby break free of the membrane. It's not unlike the membrane found around the yolk and whites of any egg. You must understand that live-bearing reptiles still have eggs. They just don't have a shell, and are held until they are fully developed. That's why reptiles are "gravid". They don't get "pregnant". Look up the definitions. In short, live bearing garter snakes are egg layers. They just wait full term before they "lay their eggs"

no im not fishing for homework answers...thats on the shhshhhh its so quiet thread(still need help on.) i learned about membrains in middle school. look at the homework i posted in the so quiet thread. THATS ap highschool/college biology!

thank yall so much i can now better explain how rattle snakes arent the only live bearers thanks! very informative