African egg eating snake

[T.ass-mephisto]

about how long does it take from starting on an egg to expelling the shell?

 

[dtknow]

arachno-nono: If he's coming to you for eggs...you should definetly go for it! Mine has been quite a neat creature to observe so far. I just got back in town and my roomate showed me the video footage he took of the snake(unfortunately it had just swallowed the egg when he noticed it). The skin is stretched so tightly you can clearly make out the spots and pattern on the ingested egg. I added in another quail egg today and we'll see if I can get it on film myself. She's actually my first snake so I can't compare her to much else. I did recently get to baby Honduran milksnakes and so far it seems the milksnakes are much more ready feeders after they both took pinkies from my fingers(I even picked one up and helped him because he swallowed his tail first and could not get the back leg in). One thing I have noticed is that the eggeater is quite nocturnal. When I first got it it would start moving about an hour after lights out(whether lights went out at 9 or a 2am). Recently I found her curled on a horizontal branch sort of like an ATB at 5 pm and my roomate during a similar occurence opened the cage and she crawled right out onto his arm. A bit wiry/jumpy but not much more so than the Hondos. Hope to get a male and maybe try breeding. My main worry then would be incubating eggs(supposed to need it a tad drier than most) and of course securing eggs for the hatchlings.

T.ass-mephisto: Depends on the size of the egg. The times I observed small eggs it took about 10 mins for the whole thing(most of the time was spent gradually crushing the egg and allowing the juices to flow out). I'm sure for a larger egg it takes much longer.

 

[dtknow]

This was her maybe a week ago. She shed perfectly today(one piece, eyecaps included). :clap:

She's had 5 meals since I've acquired her and seems to be much plumper than the first photos at this point. Will try another feeding today since her last meal was about 10 days ago.

 

[arachna-nono]

We ordered one for my co-worker that will be here today.... it'll be cool to see it. I know I can get eggs year round (we have a finch and quail breeder that is just a few minutes from us, and button quail lay year-round), so if my co-worker has good luck with his, I may go for it too!

 

[dtknow]

awesome! Who did you get yours from and what sp. is it? If you guys keep doves or have the ability to, IME those and similar eggs are great for picky eaters and are more readily taken(thin shell, less work involved). I put a dove egg, 2 button quail eggs, and a coturnix quail egg in with mine last night. I did see her about to eat the coturnix egg but she got startled and broke it off. This morning the dove egg is deflated and all the others remain the same. Whether it was her or the male I do not know, but most likely her. Speaking of which.

I recently got a male...which turned out to be from the same group of imports my female was. Anyway put them together and within minutes the male is sniffing the female and they locked up sometime that night(peeked in and he disconnected in the morning). Mating is somewhat rough as it involves a mating bite whereby the male bites the females head, neck, or back. Pics soon.

Also, anyone have any advice on abrasions? It seems all the activity caused them to rub against a sharp piece of decor and some of the scales are abraded(lighter color). Should I just leave them alone and let them take care of it themselves or should I put anything on it? I think I found the culprit their favorite coconut hide developed a crack with a sharp point that they likely rubbed against moving in and out of it.

 

[dtknow]

Female pre-mating.

Mating bite to head(male actually engulfs female's entire head and kept it there for a minute or two).

Bite to the female's midsection

male realigning jaws after biting female.

Now if only he'd feed as readily as he would mate!

 

[dtknow]

Some updated pics. She has since shed and the abrasions are all gone. She feeds about 2x a week on pretty much any eggs I put in.

You can also see that she has really increased in girth...about the thickness of a quarter. Seems her tail did not increase with the rest of her body.

The rather slimmer/smaller male...who has still not eaten. He is maintaining his weight so I think he is ok.