A Copperhead Snake Taking Its First Breath – Copperhead Institute (2015)

In this short observation you can see a juvenile copperhead individual taking its first breath filmed by The Copperhead Institute in South Carolina.

Copperheads are ovoviviparous, that is babies are born alive. Eggs incubate inside the mother’s body instead of being oviposited like many other reptiles such as turtles. Copperheads mate in the spring. This results upto 18 offspring in late summer or fall. Snakes may seem as asocial however, prior to giving birth female copperheads may gather in certain areas called “birthing rookeries.” How many females gather together in this fashion is still unknown. In evolutionary biology, kin selection predicts that the benefits of group behavior, such as predator defense, will be greater when groups are composed of related individuals, rather than unrelated individuals. Female pitvipers appear to show behaviors of parental care: They remain with their offspring until they have shed. Adults may also hang out together even outside of the reproductive season. Some snakes mate in the fall. These females will store sperm and defer fertilization for months, until the end of winter hibernation.

Baby copperheads are born 20 to 25 cm long (8 to 10 inches) with fangs and venom as effective as adult’s. At this stage in life they eat mostly insects. Caterpillars occupy a large fraction. Juvenile copperheads may exert ‘caudal luring’ by flicking their yellow tail tips while sitting still. The tail mimics a small caterpillar or other insect for luring a frog, lizard or skink.

Copperheads are venomous snakes and members of the pit viper family (Viperidae). Pit vipers have a heat-sensing organ in a facial pit located between the eye and the nostril. The organ enables locating prey by detecting their body heat. Copperheads attack people very rarely.