Virtually nothing is known of the life history and reproductive biology of the Desert Night Snake in British Columbia, and there is only scant information for this and other species of Night Snakes in the United States. Night Snakes are oviparous and lay eggs. Storm and Leonard (1995) give the clutch size as 3 – 9 eggs. Females grow larger than females. In southwestern Idaho, the snout-vent length of six sexually mature females was 494 ± 19 mm, while that of 41 mature males was 331 ± 5 mm (Diller and Wallace 1986). The age at maturity is unknown. Little information on survivorship and longevity is available, but the snakes can live at least 4 – 5 years (COSEWIC 2001).
| Night Snakes are thought to feed largely on small lizards but will also take a variety of other prey, such as amphibians, small snakes, and insects (Matsuda et al. 2006). These snakes are mildly venomous and subdue their prey with venom associated with specialized, enlarged teeth at the back of the upper jaw. Reflecting their mode of venom delivery, they are termed rear-fanged snakes.
| Night Snakes are secretive and mostly nocturnal or crepuscular, and as a result are seldom seen, even where known to be present. Night-cruising through appropriate habitats on warm nights has been used with success to locate the species (Storm and Leonard 2005, Weaver 2008).
| In British Columbia, the Desert Night Snake has been observed from June to early September (COSEWIC 2001). The snakes hibernate during cold periods in the winter, but there are no records of the species from communal dens used by other snakes or from other any sites in British Columbia (COSEWIC 2001). Mating probably takes place in spring, oviposition in early summer, and hatching of young in early autumn, but no details are available (COSEWIC 2001).
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