School Snake Thought to Be Male Has 14 Babies in Virgin Birth [Video]

A Brazilian rainbow boa named Ronaldo, believed to be male by his caretakers, had a “virgin birth” recently, resulting in the arrival of 14 baby snakes.

The City of Portsmouth College in southern England, which cares for Ronaldo, shared in a press release that the school’s researchers thought the reptile was male until Ronaldo gave birth because a veterinarian had declared the boa to be a boy.

Ronaldo was later determined to be a female snake. Before anyone knew, she stunned students and researchers alike when she recently gave birth after having not been in contact with any other snakes for at least nine years.

Ronaldo, who is 13 years old, is believed to have given birth through a rare type of asexual reproduction called parthenogenesis, or a “virgin birth,” which is when an embryo develops from an unfertilized egg without fertilization.

The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play …