This is Bumblebee! You can call him Bee :) I got him March 20! He is the most adorable-est snake ever. He’s beautiful and fascinating and shy So shy that he’s been hiding since I got him, but that’s ok because I can watch him from the camera when he comes out at night so I don’t scare him He likes to stay in his cave but I take him out sometimes (to check on him, weigh him, clean his cave, and once to just hold him) and once he came completely out on his own! He’s eaten 2 eggs already and should eat another in the next few days He is a Dasypeltis Gansi! He is no more than 2 years old and we bough him from a pet store in Florida who got him and his siblings from a breeder. He is most likely a male because his sister is much bigger and already had eggs. He has fasted for a little while before. African Egg Eating Snakes are well known for their eating habits! A study showed that the ratio from their head to their meal is larger than that of a reticulated python, which are known for swallowing prey as large as deer and even humans! Their head structures are a contributor to that: it is very flexible and the jaw is made up of 2 pieces (like other snakes). Their teeth are shrunken down so much that they are barely there, so if they bite it’s not anything but a little pinch! My snake eats button quail eggs like most other males and juveniles, but younger snakes will need much smaller eggs like finch eggs (which are VERY hard to source). Adult females are capable of handling normal quail eggs you can buy at the supermarket and some can even get big enough to handle chicken eggs! As you can see in the pictures, the snake will first smell the egg. It can tell with just a few tongue flicks the exact age of the egg, so it can determine how safe it is to eat (it cannot eat rotten or developed eggs). Then, it will swallow the egg whole, push it down their throat, and crack it with 2 or 3 bony protrusions in their throat! It will then squeeze the egg until all the contents are out. This takes a while, it took my snake ~30 minutes. Then, the snake will push the shell back up and regurgitate it! It’s crazy to watch. The egg is now reduced to broken shards clinging together by the membrane. And now I will explain every single picture! 1 and 2: photos from the seller 3-5: weighing him and health checkup (all good!) 6-14: Regurgitating an egg shell! 16-23: looking around 24-33: swallowing an egg! Notice how you can see how flexible his skin is! The egg is actually visible underneath :o 34-36: regurgitating the egg! 37-42: just lookin’ around 43-51: climbing around 52-57: just lookin’ around 58-61: came fully out of his cave for the first time! 62: just climbing (probably out of order lol) 63-67: Eating button quail egg, took him about ~30 minutes to finish it 68: regurgitated the egg shell into his water bowl so the camera couldn’t see it, but I got it out earlier and it’s soooo gooey 69-75: Eating a conturnix quail egg! It’s bigger than the eggs he’s been eating, and it took him about ~1 hour to finish this one 76-78: Regurgitating egg shell 79-83: Swallowing a button quail egg, took ~30 minutes to finish 84-87: Regurgitating shell 88: Looking for more eggs. He dug around the nest before giving up 89-90: Left his cave again! Climbed around out of sight 91-92: Egg shells 93: forgot to add this one but it was before he started eating, he explored around a lot and left his cave completely without touching it at all for the first time! He climbed around the branches but was mostly out of sight. Isn’t he cute :) Many pictures to show my appreciation for him, will update regularly!
If you consider getting this snake, make sure you do lots and lots of research. This species is generally easy to care for if you meet its requirements. The many issues people come across are: - Not finding the right eggs - Snake not eating the provided eggs - Only wild-caught snakes And that’s just for this species, there are plenty of other issues that come with just getting a snake, or any animal for that matter. It may seem discouraging, but you will probably need to wait a while before getting a snake from this genus. But I have some advice! FEEDING: Feeding is the main issue when it comes to these snakes. People will buy them just because they don’t eat rodents, but there are plenty of snakes who don’t! For example, Garter snakes can eat insects, fish, and many other things. There are many other snakes like this. Sometimes sellers will say you just need to crack a chicken egg into a bowl and it will drink it. IT WILL NOT! in very rare instances it might, but this is super unnatural for them. If they see a broken egg in the wild, it will assume it is covered in bacterias that will make it sick. These snakes can also be VERY picky. It might be able to handle a chicken egg, but it just won’t want to. Maybe it’s just uncomfortably large even though it is capable of eating it, or maybe it just doesn’t want to eat it. Some snakes will only want to eat certain types of eggs, or will only take fresh eggs. I’ve watched Bee reject a few eggs that I later find are bad, so I don’t have to worry about him eating rotten eggs. They can take fertilized eggs as long as it is very fresh and not developed. For these snakes, fresh, unfertilized eggs will be best. So having your own birds like finches or quails would be a great idea, but that’s a whole other thing. I just buy my button quail eggs online, conduct a float test, and give my snake 2 or 3. Choosing the right egg size is also important! Young snakes will need very small eggs, like zebra finch eggs. Often, breeders will syringe feed their babies. Some owners do this too, but know that it is very risky and could result in serious injury or death for your snake so only do this with professional help. Adult males and younger females can take button quail eggs. Adult females can usually take normal quail eggs, which you can find at local supermarkets. Publix usually has a bunch. The bigger the snake the easier it will be to find eggs. Also, another big issue is that these snakes are NOT known for being reliable feeders. They are actually known for gorging on eggs then fasting during the rainy season. This is because in the wild most birds will not be laying year-round. Do not expect your snake to eat once a week all year every year even if it’s cbb, because it is natural instinct that tells them that an egg during winter must be rotten. Some snakes will eat irregularly, so it won’t follow a seasonal pattern. I think my snake does this but I’m not certain. I just feed my snake 2 or 3 eggs and if the snake doesn’t eat them within the week, I toss them and reset. I’ve only put 2 at a time so far, and after leaving them for 3 or 4 days he takes one. Last week he was interested in a second egg but it was no longer good so he left it, so I put in some new eggs. I currently have 3 eggs in a bird nest I bought from Petsmart. SNAKE SOURCE Finding captive bred and born Egg-Eaters are rare, especially in the United States. However, if you watch morph market, one will occasionally pop up. Just make sure it is from a reliable breeder and not something like Imperial Reptiles, who are known for selling sick or wrong animals. There is also a breeder called House Snake Morphs & More. As far as I know a she does not currently have any available, but contact her and she may be able to find you one. Last I asked she had a clutch of eggs and some adult females she might release once they recovered from breeding season. She is where I bought Honey from, she is very reliable and Honey’s passing was entirely my fault because I did not properly prepare nor do the proper research. She helped us figure out what happened and how to improve. Also, I did have a conversation with a former breeder of these snakes. He provided me with a lot of good advice and information. He said he used to breed wild caught egg-eaters. He said that internal parasites are not much of an issue. But of course there are ethics and stress related issues as well as other health concerns. Just be patient and wait for a cbb snake. OTHER Some people will also get these snakes because biting is not a concern. If you are not okay with biting then you are not ready for a snake, or any animal for that matter. Cats and dogs are more dangerous than snakes. For smaller snakes it might be a little nick, larger snakes it might hurt more but still not an issue (excluding large constrictors) Always do your research before buying any species of animal, especially these snakes.
