Noodle

Noodle is an African egg eating snake, she is an adult and she's about 5/6, she is native to sub-Saharah Africa, she lives in woodlands, savannahs and scrublands. They can grow to about 24-36 inches. In captivity, African egg eating snakes can live about 10-15 years.

By Lola Watts (Student Volunteer Ranger)

Key Facts

Special adaptation

Noodle has a special digestive system that has been adapted to the eggs, she has a specialized vertebrae in her neck which allows her to crack the egg and get the yolk and whites without swallowing the shell.

After she has gotten the yolk and everything from the egg, she regurgitates the shell as it doesn't have good nutritional value, and her body cannot digest the shell.

Ovovore

Egg eating snakes are ovovores, which means she only eats eggs, they mainly go for birds' eggs from nests and its usually small bird eggs such as finches, quails and canaries.

Enclosure requirements

Her temperature should be around 26-30c and a slightly warmer area for healthy digestion, her humidity should be around 40-50%, having overly high humidity can cause shedding issues as well.

Lifespan

They can live up 10-15 years in captivity and so require a long commitment from potential pet keepers.

Did you know?

Did you know African egg eating snakes don't have teeth? Unlike most snakes, African egg eating snakes don't need teeth to eat as she doesn't have to capture or hold onto any prey, when they eat eggs, they swallow it whole. Inside her throat she has bony projections called hypophyses, to crack the egg open, extracting the nutritious content.

Sense of smell

They've also got a great sense of smell which means they can detect what stage of development the egg is in, fresh eggs have a different chemical composition then eggs that have been incubating for some time, as an egg matures, its internal chemical structure changes, releasing distinct odours that the snake can detect. The snake avoids eggs that are already too old or are already developing embryos which can be too hard to eat or have less nutritional value.