Common egg eater, Egg-eating snake, Rhombic egg eater
Dasypeltis scabra, known as the common egg eater, egg-eating snake or rhombic egg eater, is a species of non-venomous snake endemic to Africa.
Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal",...
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TerrestrialTerrestrial animals are animals that live predominantly or entirely on land (e.g., cats, ants, snails), as compared with aquatic animals, which liv...
Oviparous animals are female animals that lay their eggs, with little or no other embryonic development within the mother. This is the reproductive...
Precocial species are those in which the young are relatively mature and mobile from the moment of birth or hatching. Precocial species are normall...
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starts withD. scabra grows to a total length (including tail) of 40–46 inches (100–120 cm), and has almost toothless jaws. Dorsally, it has a series of rhomboidal dark brown spots on a lighter background. There is an alternating series of brown spots on each side and a distinct V-shaped mark at the back of the neck. Ventrally it is yellowish, either uniform or with dark dots.
Dasypeltis scabra is found in sub-Saharan Africa. It can also be found in Saudi Arabia and in other countries of the Middle East.
Dasypeltis scabra can be found in a variety of habitats. They are not found in closed-canopy forests nor in true deserts, but do inhabit most ecosystems between these extremes.
The rhombic egg eater is nocturnal. Although mainly terrestrial, it is a good climber and is known to scale rock outcroppings and climb trees to raid birds' nests.
Dasypeltis scabra feeds exclusively on eggs. The lining of the mouth has small, parallel ridges, very similar to human fingerprints, which aid in grasping the shell of an egg. Once swallowed, the egg is punctured by specialized vertebral hypapophyses which extend into the esophagus. The shell is then regurgitated in one piece, and its contents passed along to the stomach.
D. scabra is oviparous. In summer, a sexually mature female may lay one or two clutch of 6-25 eggs each. The eggs measure 36 mm × 18 mm (1.42 in × 0.71 in). Hatchlings are 21–24 cm (8.5–9.5 in) in total length.
