Dasypeltis medici
Dasypeltis medici, also known commonly as the East African egg-eater, the eastern forest egg-eater, and the rufous egg eater, is a species of nonvenomous snake in the subfamily Colubrinae of the family Colubridae. The species is endemic to Africa.
Etymology
The specific name, medici, is in honor of Italian physiologist Michele Medici.
Geographic range
Dasypeltis medici is found in Eswatini, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Habitat
The preferred habitat of Dasypeltis medici is lowland evergreen forest, at elevations from near sea level to.
Description
Dasypeltis medici may attain a snout-to-vent length of for females, and for males.
Diet
Dasypeltis medici, like all species in the genus Dasypeltis, feeds exclusively on birds' eggs. It can swallow an egg three times the size of its head. The egg is slit open by vertebral hypapophyses which extend into the esophagus. The collapsed empty shell is regurgitated.
Reproduction
Dasypeltis medici is oviparous. An adult female may lay a clutch of 6–28 elongate eggs, each egg measuring.