Egg eating snake

[Mix]

I know a lot of folks on this forum have knowledge about more than garters, and wondered if anyone has any experience or knows much about egg eating snakes? In particular the East African (Dasypeltis Medici).
I have tried researching these guys, but have found that information is limited and many times conflicting:
Some said they are the most docile and 'nice' snakes they have come across, while another said they were aggressive and not easily handled.
One said they do not breed captively, so most specimens for sale would be w/c, while another article said that they breed year-round.

I will of course continue to research, but thought it worth a shot to see if anyone here had any words of wisdom.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

Keeping these snakes is tricky. A lot of them won't feed in captivity unless they are treated just right and that's why I have seen vendors selling them with a "free feeding kit" that includes a syringe. That involves you sucking the contents out of an egg and syringing it down the poor snakes throat. To me, them selling the snake with a syringe is a huge red flag. in my opinion, if you have to force feed a snake every meal, what is the point? The snake is not happy and is suffering immensely. So, the most important aspect of keeping these guys is to get one that is feeding, and/or to provide the perfect habitat for it so that it will feed. For egg eaters, that pretty much means providing a cage with height as well as length, and providing a fake birds nest up at the top. You simply need to make the snake think that it has climbed up this stick and happened upon a bird nest.... and then place a small egg (quail eggs work) in the nest at feeding time. They are nocturnal and prefer to eat at night under the cover of darkness. I have read and been told that this is the standard way to start finicky egg eaters but once the snake gets into the habit of routinely eating eggs.... it will probably accept them just by you laying them under a dark hide. I myself plan to keep egg eaters some day, and since there is a bird farm down the road that sells quail and budgies I will not have trouble acquiring fresh eggs. As far as breeding in captivity.... I am pretty sure it's ben done, but you'll have to get healthy specimens and it will definitely be a long term project. I do know that they are very aggressive snakes and do not tolerate being handled. They are really a look-at pet only. They usually eat 3-5 eggs in a sitting and then not eat again for a month or so. They can only eat fresh, un-developed eggs. Egg eaters can even sense if an egg is bad and will not eat rotten eggs!

[Mix]

Thank you!
Most of that I had found in my research, but it was verifying whether they were agressive (or whether that even varied by sub-species) that was of most interest to me. I know they don't have teeth, but the last thing I want is to be stressing out my snake, and I guess it would be easy to do with one that is already agressive. I have since come across forum posts on RFUK (reptile forums uk) with photos of people handling their egg eaters... but that could be misleading. I'm not so worried about handling, as I really do enjoy just watching them, but of course, handling is essential when cleaning or quarantining etc.

I didn't intend breeding at all, but was interested to see the different messages being given out by different people! This is why I've been confused on the entire 'characteristic' of the snake. Some people saying they're aggro, some saying they're their pride and joy and so docile... Go figure.

I had heard about the tube-feeding thing, and it had been stated that this was an emergency measure and should really only be carried out by a vet or professional - so I am surprised to hear of people selling them with a tube 'kit'!! I agree that that raises a red flag. Perhaps those sellers are not housing them properly and so have unhappy guys?
I haven't gone as far yet as researching finch eggs locally available, but I can get quail eggs no problem. I would definitely make sure it was egg-feeding already.

I just think it's so important to have all the info you can get hold of before deciding to actually go get one.
I'm looking at getting a 51-inch tall viv in about a week's time, and thought that would be the perfect home for an egg eater - but it will be put to good use regardless
And I'm still hoping to find a melanistic garter

Thanks again so much for all the input! I have a lot to think on. xx

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

There is a BEAUTIFUL melanistic egg eater for sale on KS right now. If I wanted an egg eater right now, I'd buy her. She's solid, shiny black!

[gregmonsta]

Stop it Shannon :P .... not fair taunting us Brits like that!!!

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

I seriously have considered buying her! She is so beautiful, I just am not sure I am ready to take on an egg eating snake yet. I am looking into a pair of captive born calabar burrowing pythons. call me crazy, but they are certainly one of the oddest looking snakes out there! And I do plan to be the queen of oddball snakes....

[Mix]

Oooh, that's like the one I found for sale in the UK! I have an incredibly large soft spot for melanistics! I guess it might have been tempting me more than if it were a regular brown or grey one... I guess it helped it to catch my eye!

I actually would want to message the seller though, since there's no info on the snake itself (no age, sex, feeding, c/b or w/c etc), or advice on keeping - which kinda makes me question the site. Just an 'add to cart' button.

Is 'KS' a US site? Sorry for my ignorance

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

kingsnake.com..... it's got a really large classifieds section. Here she is...

kingsnake.com Classifieds: Black Egg Eating Snake: $125

[Mix]

Ooooh!! Lovely!

OK, I think I have confused different sites, because the one it's for sale on does include some info. I think my head's spinning with gathered information today! :P

Here 'it' is:
Egg Eater Snake - £59.99 : Junglebugs!,, online spider and invert store

I just want to pop my hand in there and remove that shed!

I notice the seller says at the bottom that they AREN'T aggressive... This is why I've been so confused and undecided. That and the possible difficult feeding, of course.

[Spankenstyne]

I have a medici & it's one of the most docile snakes I own. Strangely confident too, it won't shy away when someone approaches the enclosure or puts a finger near it's face. Even if they were aggro they have no real teeth to speak of & don't get very large so they aren't capable of doing any damage even if they wanted to.
Mine seems to do best with med-high humidity & cooler temps, ambient basement temps with no hotspot. Around 65-75 winter (usually around 70 though) and 75-85 summer during heat spells (more often 75-ish though). I've found that sometimes it takes a few days of leaving the eggs in there before it'll decide to eat, but usually they're gone the next morning when I feed. This might be where people have feeding problems, they haven't waited it out. I've been told they tend to binge eat which makes sense as they would raid a nest and likely go without for a while looking for another opportunity in the wild, but that said I've had success feeding weekly a couple of eggs and also with feeding several eggs with a few weeks between feedings. I haven't had troubles getting mine to eat while the previous owner did have some issues. I believe that most of those problems are likely husbandry related & people trying to keep them like they do the rest of their snakes. I set up an Exo terra type enclosure with real and fake plants, some fake vines to climb & hang out on, & a cork bark slab "tree" with a fake birds nest up top made from one of those peat pots from the garden store. I tore a piece off and shaped it like a nest. It's pretty dry here so I mist it most evenings with the odd day off here & there for some variance.

I find the biggest problem is securing a regularly available food supply. I'm lucky to have a friend with connections who supplies me with finch & budgie eggs most of the time but winter seems to be a problem getting eggs.

Couple of pics from June of last year (haven't taken any recently)
Unfortunately these shots don't show much of the back pattern but it has the typical white cross bands along the back.







If you have a food supply and enjoy something a little different then I say go for it.