Scales also allow snakes to move. Most snakes push their large belly scales along uneven surfaces, thereby moving their bodies forward in a series of waves. Reproduction Starting Out Snakes reproduce either by laying eggs or giving live birth. Egg-laying species lay leathery eggs, often in rotting leaves or in old logs, where they can be kept moist and warm. Newborn snakes hatch by cutting through the eggshell with their sharp eggtooth, which is lost soon after birth.
Live birth means that the babies come out of their mother fully formed and ready to face the world.
Technically, the young simply hatch from eggs inside the mother. Then they are born. Live birth is often seen in snakes that live in water or in trees where there may not be a good place to lay eggs. Snakes do not require prenatal care as mammals do. At birth, snakes are ready to take care of themselves.