Snake Eating Chicken Egg
Like 1 Dislike 0 Published on 22 Jun 2012
This is a Common or Rhombic Egg-Eater (Dasypeltis scabra). It is indigenous to Southern Africa. As it's name clearly suggests, it feeds on birds' eggs. Because of its diet, it has no need of teeth, and is therefore a completely harmless snake. If threatened it puts on a big display of aggressiveness, rubbing its rough scales together to create a hissing sound. For this reason they are often mistaken for poisonous adders, and killed. However, they pose no threat whatsoever.
When feeding, "...an egg is taken into the virtually toothless mouth and passed onto the neck region. There it is cracked length-wise by a series of bony projections that are part of the vertebrae. Muscular contractions then crush the egg and the contents are swallowed. The crushed shell is regurgitated in a neat package." (Marais, Johan. 1999. Snakes & Snake Bite in Southern Africa. Cape Town: Struik Publishers).
This recorded feeding process took +- 2 hours.
Filmed & Edited by Barry de Villiers
Song: "Wing Deep" by Jubilee
19 June 2012
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