A snake that was thought to be male has surprised staff at the Deep Sea World aquarium in North Queensferry, Fife, by laying a dozen eggs.

Houdini and Alex, two North American corn snakes, were both thought to be male, but staff were stunned to find on Tuesday that Houdini had produced a clutch of 12 leathery, oblong eggs overnight and was coiled around them.

It is the first time the snake species has bred at the award-winning aquarium since the pair were re-homed there 18 months ago, with an assurance that both were male.

Aquarist Paul Strachan said: "It has come as quite a shock to us.

"We were given Houdini and Alex by a reptile rescue centre in the north of Scotland about 18 months ago and were told at the time that both were males.

"Snakes become sexually mature when they reach a certain weight, and this is obviously the first time they have bred as they have only just reached the size.

"But it's good news, it's our own little Christmas miracle. And we're all really looking forward to seeing the colours when they hatch out in ten
weeks or so.

"Although they are exactly the same species, Houdini is a red morph and Alex is a grey, so it is difficult to tell which colours the young snakes will be. It will depend on what is the dominant gene"

He added: "Although it is hard to tell the sex of a snake, it is possible for a vet to check using a process called probing, but we didn't think it was necessary as we understood Houdini and Alex were both males and we just went along with that.

"We never separated them and we never noticed any signs that they were sexually mature, until now."

Once laid the adult snake abandons the eggs and does not return to them.

Houdini's eggs have been carefully removed by staff and have been placed in a specially-designed incubator. The young snakes are expected to be born in around ten weeks time.

Corn snakes are non-poisonous, and live off small rodents and lizards. They originate from North American, living in overgrown fields, forest clearings or abandoned buildings or farms.