Coimbatore : Russel’s Viper, one of the venomous snakes, gave birth to 35 hatchlings in captivity in a village on the outskirts today.

A resident of Kovimedu, Manoharan noticed the snake in his bathroom and sought the help of snake catcher Murali, who rushed to the spot.

Murali captured the snake and identified as Russel’s viper and put it in a gunny bag to release it to the forest areas.

In a few minutes, Murali realised that snake was giving birth to snakelets and kept the bag under a tree. After two hours, he found 35 snakelets.

The mother snake and hatchlings will be released to the forest area in Sathyamangalam in Erode district, Mupali said.

While ather snakes lay eggs and hatch them, but Russell’s viper is an ovoviviparous species, giving birth to young ones by hatching the eggs internally. The baby snakes moult as soon as they are born and are highly venomous, immediately after birth.