Dasypeltis

Dasypeltis is a genus of nonvenomous snakes, family Colubridae, subfamily Colubrinae, comprising 18 recognized species commonly called egg-eating snakes or egg-eaters, found throughout Africa primarily in forested and wooded habitats. Members range from about 30 to 100 centimeters in total length and display variable coloration including browns, greens and solid black; the genus is specialized to feed exclusively on eggs, using extremely flexible jaws and necks to swallow eggs much larger than its own head, then cracking the shell with bony protrusions from its spine before regurgitating the crushed shell. When threatened, Dasypeltis species perform a saw-scaling display, rubbing their body scales together to produce a rasping warning noise; the genus is one of only two snake genera, alongside Elachistodon, known to have adapted to an exclusively egg-eating diet.