# eggeating snake vs chicken egg.(DUW)



## dtknow (Nov 30, 2010)

Shot this neat series of my female tackling her first chicken egg...incredible to observe.


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## skippy (Nov 30, 2010)

that's a trip... what do you feed the babies?


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## kevin91172 (Nov 30, 2010)

WOW!! man that is amazing! Thanks for sharing,very great pics,would like more to see this Live.BTW how long does this take?


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## kevin91172 (Nov 30, 2010)

guessing here??? you put down the paper to better from the substrate getting swallowed?


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## dtknow (Nov 30, 2010)

skippy: The babies will eat finch egg-but I usually tube feed them with a syringe/catheter tubing a ml or two of egg-increasing as they get older. They are now over a foot in length.

Kevin: Quail eggs(smaller) are swallowed in seconds and take maybe 10-20 minutes to regurge. This chicken egg took probably 20 minutes to swallow and an hour till regurge. And you are correct on the paper...these guys are really good at getting substrate out of their mouths(if it doesn't stick to the egg shell when it is regurged) but I figure better safe than sorry. I can actually hold her in one hand and have her take a quail egg from my fingers...very tame and trusting.


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## kevin91172 (Nov 30, 2010)

dtknow said:


> skippy: The babies will eat finch egg-but I usually tube feed them with a syringe/catheter tubing a ml or two of egg-increasing as they get older. They are now over a foot in length.
> 
> Kevin: Quail eggs(smaller) are swallowed in seconds and take maybe 10-20 minutes to regurge. This chicken egg took probably 20 minutes to swallow and an hour till regurge. And you are correct on the paper...these guys are really good at getting substrate out of their mouths(if it doesn't stick to the egg shell when it is regurged) but I figure better safe than sorry. I can actually hold her in one hand and have her take a quail egg from my fingers...very tame and trusting.


Nice! let me know after the Holidays if you have any available for sale.

I usually take precautions when I Feed,Hell just in case.Especially when I spent a lot of time ,on .....well you know


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## hassman789 (Nov 30, 2010)

Wait? what does it regurgitate? I'm a noob with snakes, never mind one that eats eggs lol.


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## Ookamii (Nov 30, 2010)

It regurges the egg shell, it has special muscles that break the shell and it only ingests the liquid.


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## dtknow (Dec 1, 2010)

The snake also has downward pointing spines on certain vertebrae which slit the shell. It would be impossible to crush the eggs and keep the membrane intact otherwise. Still-as anyone who has tried to squish a chicken egg in their fist can attest-this takes some doing!


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## the toe cutter (Dec 1, 2010)

Another great African colubrid, and awesome shots too! I'm working right now on getting a trio of D medici within the week(if the guy ever gets back to me) and a pair of D scabra and D atra here soon as well. I absolutely love these colubrids and its nice to see someone else breeding them in captivity. Great work!


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## dtknow (Dec 1, 2010)

I am pretty much broke ATM but would love to take up another Dasypeltis species sometime soon. If you succeed with your medici I'd also love to trade bloodlines-they are one of the most beautiful Dasypeltis out there!


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## Terry D (Dec 1, 2010)

Dtknow, I've always been utterly amazed by these guys! Thank you for sharing.  Terry


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## eruheru (Dec 1, 2010)

nature is beautiful!


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## KnightinGale (Dec 1, 2010)

Oh, that looks so uncomfortable! I know it's not for them, but wow! Great shots. Cool to see the whole process. Thanks for posting!


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## pouchedrat (Dec 2, 2010)

Did you ever get males with the babies?  I still have my three females, all three doing really well (although my first one STILL will not eat on her own.. the other two eat quail eggs fine though).  

That chicken egg is crazy.. I don't see mine doing that, but my largest female definitely looks about the size of yours, so I guess it's all possible!


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## dtknow (Dec 2, 2010)

eruheru: indeed!:clap:

Knightingale: I've always wondered about that. I'm sure it is at least somewhat uncomfortable but it seems they figure its worth it at the end.

Pouchedrat: I have 2 babies ATM. I am pretty sure it is 1 male and 1 female. LMK if you are interested in him. If your female is over 3 feet in length, and about as thick as a 50 cent piece she could probably do the same. Try with a pigeon egg first which is a tad smaller.


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## Cirith Ungol (Dec 3, 2010)

Very nice pictures! Thanks!


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## Lucas339 (Dec 3, 2010)

if i could find a steady source of eggs, i would be interested in getting some.


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## dtknow (Dec 6, 2010)

Decent sized snakes can take button quail-coturnix quail eggs. Easy to find-ethnic markets frequently have coturnix quail eggs-button quail eggs can be had from pet stores/feed stores, etc. etc. It can be quite challenging to track down food for smaller snakes. Keep in mind that if mousers were not so commonly raised baby cornsnakes and similar would be just as difficult to feed!

Also-even without buying in bulk-eggeaters prove much cheaper to feed than other snakes.


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## Lucas339 (Dec 6, 2010)

how long do the eggs keep when buying in bulk?

and have you found any opposition when you buy the eggs from pet stores?  or do you just not say what you are going to do with them?


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## dtknow (Dec 6, 2010)

Eggs will last a month or two in storage in the fridge. Supposedly the snakes can judge if they are good or bad also-I wouldn't feed any eggs that are dented or otherwise compromised however. So if you had one adult eggeater eating quail eggs 1 dozen quail eggs(can be had for about $1 at many stores) could last you 1-2 months easily. 

A petstore or two I've been to has been kind of defensive(you want eggs?)...they often think I'm trying to hatch them or something(even though they will throw them away). In chain petstores it is against store policy to breed animals so even if the finches have eggs they cannot give them to you. They throw them in the trash. Actually, some employees just as readily throw baby birds into the trash-but that is another story...

 Many stores are very cooperative after hearing what they are for though and I've had some people put aside eggs for me and let me know!


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## Lucas339 (Dec 6, 2010)

thanks for the info.  i will have to start looking into the asian markets around me.  i know of one bird store but i assume i will run into the same opposition once they hear what they are for.

these animals have a super unique look about them which is what draws me to them.  ill have to get my ducks in a row!!


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## 1Lord Of Ants1 (Dec 7, 2010)

Whoa...I gotta get me one of those! I have 3 quail and 5 chickens and I'm sure I would be set for a couple of those, I'm overloaded with eggs! Of course my mom would freak out...


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## crixalis (Dec 8, 2010)

wow! this is amazing


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## Dravensmom (Dec 10, 2010)

wow I had no idea snakes could eat eggs. Can all adult snakes do this or just eggeaters? Do they live on just eggs? I have never been able to keep a snake because I could never feed it mice.. I could feed a snake an egg though lol. What is the price range on these guys?


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## Lucas339 (Dec 10, 2010)

there are 2 CB ones in the classifieds right now by a certian someone....hint hint!

not all snakes can eat eggs.  i have seen/heard of hognose snakes eating hard boiled eggs but would reccomend feeding eggs to anything but egg eaters.


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## dtknow (Dec 10, 2010)

Dravensmom: Some other snakes will eat bird eggs. Gopher/king/ratsnakes are well known for this. But this doesn't mean they can be fed solely eggs in captivity.(it'd be an interesting experiment-but I bet some kind of malnutrition would set in)

However, Dasypeltis(African egg eaters) feed only on bird eggs in the wild(very rare, one species of snake outside Dasypeltis is thought to do this). Also, they are by far the best adapted for the job. They can swallow eggs far bigger than their nonspecialized cousins can for their body size-and are the only snakes that reject the eggshell. Other species can only eat rather small eggs for their size.(i.e...the snakes are nearly big enough to eat the parent birds as well) and digest the shell.


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## Lucas339 (Dec 13, 2010)

i think a calcium deficiency would develop with a diet of eggs in other species of snake.


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## dtknow (Dec 13, 2010)

Perhaps.

But keep in mind that other species of snake would not reject the shell. However-recall chicken eggshell as quite high amounts of phosphorus in it. Presumably eggeaters get some calcium from swallowing tiny bits of shell-but based on the excellent job they do keeping the whole package together it must be an incredibly small amount.


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## Dravensmom (Dec 13, 2010)

Cool thanks for the info.. I will have to look into getting one of these someday


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## Lucas339 (Dec 14, 2010)

it would be interesting to compare the amounts of calcium in the shell of an egg to that of a rodent.  im sure that info exists somewhere on the net but id put money on rodents having more calcium.  egg eaters probably have developed (almost used the evil word) to being able to survive with smaller amouts of calcium than rodent eaters.


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