Suddenly, 14 newborn small snakes were slithering in Ronaldo's terrarium, a rainbow boa.
The unexpected birth was highly surprising in two ways, reports The Guardian.
Firstly, the staff at City of Portsmouth College had assumed that Ronaldo was a male. Secondly, the 1.8-metre-long reptile had not been in contact with other snakes for at least nine years.
"We couldn't believe our eyes," says animal keeper Amanda McLeod in a press release from the southern England institution.
The event is described as a miracle. In reality, it is believed to be a case of parthenogenesis, also known as virgin birth – a rare but natural form of asexual reproduction where offspring are produced from unfertilised eggs. The young are therefore, in practice, clones of their mother.
Ronaldo is, moreover, clearly not a male, notes reptile expert Pete Quinlan at the Portsmouth institution. Despite his many years in the business, he says he is in shock.
"I've been breeding snakes for 50 years and have never heard of this happening before," Quinlan says in the press release.
"Ronaldo had looked a bit thicker than usual, as if he had eaten a large meal. We didn't think for a second that he, or should we say she, was pregnant."
