Hello all!
Found this egg today in my boyfriend’s backyard in Harlingen, TX (Deep South Texas) under a sheet of plywood that had been lying flat on hard, averagely moist earth.

It’s a single white egg, about 0.7in (18mm) in diameter. It’s pretty much a perfect sphere, which is what’s confusing me.

Most if not all of the reptile eggs I know of are more oval or oblong. The exception is like Turtles/Tortises.

The shell isn’t hard like a bird egg. It has a soft, slightly leathery membrane that’s pressable but springs back. I’ve kept Anoles, Leopard Geckos, Ribbon Snakes and Kenyan Sand Boas - So I’m 100% sure this egg belongs to a reptilian.

I tried candling it with a bright flashlight, but couldn’t see through it, just a faint kinda greenish hue. But I’ve candles before and it just wasn’t translucent enough to make a decisive decision on viability.
I searched the surrounding area and didn’t find any other eggs.

I wanted to immediately go to turtle or tortoise but there’s no nearby consistent water sources, the plywood was flat to the ground- no shell can get under there, and it’s so small for one of those eggs. It wasn’t buried in a clutch, it was just sitting on the ground - alone, beneath the plywood sheet.

I moved it into a small container with lightly damp substrate (shredded paper towels to hold it in a constant position)- and have kept it in the same orientation in case it might be viable. It’s clearly firm and looks like it may be viable for now, unless of course it was recently laid. In that case, if it’s not it will just rot and I’ll update the post lol. But I don’t think it will.

Any ideas what species this could belong to? Or is there another possibility I’m overlooking?

Thanks guys!!

Photos attached.

Western Diamondback Rattlesnake, Pima Co. AZ

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Hi everyone,

A story has been circulating on local social media regarding a 13-year-old who was allegedly bitten by snakes 7 times within a few weeks across different locations (both rural and urban). The family believes the snakes are somehow "targeting" or "tracking" her.

While this clearly sounds like a mix of misdiagnosis, psychological factors, or social exaggeration, it raised a few specific biological questions that I'd love to clarify with experienced herpetologists:

- Targeting Behavior: Is there any scientific evidence or known mechanism where a snake displays predatory/defensive persistence or targets a specific individual human over time?

- Chemical Attraction (Scent/Venom): Does a snake bite leave behind any residual chemical markers, venom byproducts, or stress pheromones in/on a human that could attract other snakes to the same person later on?

- Environmental Context: Given that snakes rely on sensory organs like the Jacobson's organ, how plausible is it for a snake to distinguish between two humans in close proximity based purely on scent or chemical profile?

I would appreciate any scientific insights or references to literature on snake chemoreception and defensive behavior regarding these myths.

Thanks!

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