Vote for BP.Net for the 2013 Forum of the Year! Click here for more info.

» Site Navigation

» Home
 > FAQ

» Online Users: 1,347

1 members and 1,346 guests
Most users ever online was 47,180, 07-16-2025 at 05:30 PM.

» Today's Birthdays

None

» Stats

Members: 75,937
Threads: 249,130
Posts: 2,572,295
Top Poster: JLC (31,651)
Welcome to our newest member, GeorgiaD182
Results 1 to 10 of 15

Threaded View

  1. #2
    BPnet Lifer Bogertophis's Avatar
    Join Date
    04-28-2018
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    20,825
    Thanks
    29,436
    Thanked 20,605 Times in 12,314 Posts
    I'm sure that hungry wild rat snakes steal some bird eggs but not many could actually down a chicken egg, they're too big. I suppose my 7' male FL-blend rat snakes could do so, but I've never offered them eggs & have no plans to do so. Most (raw) chicken eggs can transfer salmonella so I'd not be inclined to try it for that reason alone.

    Wild gopher-bull-& pine snakes are somewhat notorious for stealing chicken eggs from hen-houses. My sister used to raise chickens & occasionally found a rotund gopher snake that had slinked into the barn for breakfast, then was too fat (full of eggs!) to leave without her opening the door & chasing him out. Talk about embarrassing!

    Apparently snakes can digest egg shells alright, but the African egg-eating snakes have a specialized projection in their throat for puncturing the eggs they ingest, & apparently are then able to swallow only the contents of the eggs, & "spit-out" the shells. I don't know how successful they are at all times however, since snakes really cannot cough or anything- apparently this puncturing of the egg shells takes place more or less at the back of their mouth, not so far down?

    And keep in mind how easily the shells of wild birds are crumbled- they're nothing like domestic chicken egg shells that are quite hard to break, otherwise they'd never get to market. I actually think that if a pet snake swallowed a chicken egg, it might end up cutting up their insides by the pieces of eggshell before it had time to be digested, so for that reason I'd recommend that no one try this.
    Last edited by Bogertophis; 03-27-2021 at 11:35 AM.
    Rudeness is the weak man's imitation of strength.
    Eric Hoffer (1902 - 1983)

    The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” ~ Gandhi

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v4.2.1