Introduction | Range and introduction | Description | Mimicry | Feeding
Keeping | Breeding | Conclusion
 

Range and introduction to the species:

1. The range of Dasypeltis scabra (Linnaeus, 1758) includes the whole of Africa and a small part of the southern Arabian Peninsula (Yemen). Exceptions are the three great deserts; the Sahara in the north, the Kalahari in the south, and the Namib in the southwest, as well as montane regions at altitudes above 1500-2000 m. Thus, Dasypeltis scabra lives in regions where most of the other species also occur (sympatric).
     
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2.   Dasypeltis atra (Sternfeld, 1912) is a montane species that occurs not only in the mountains of Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi, but also in the lowland regions where it has an entirely different coloration. The montane form is mostly black, whereas lowland specimens may also be uniformly red or olive and exhibit a pattern.
     
3.   The ranges of Dasypeltis m. medici (Bianconi, 1859) and D. m. lamuensis overlap in the north of the D. m. medici range. It extends from the south of Kenya through Tanzania into the north of South Africa.
     
4.   Dasypeltis m. lamuensis (Gans, 1957) occurs in Kenya and Tanzania. There are uniform gray and reddish specimens.
     
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5.   Dasypeltis inornata (Smith, 1849) only occurs in South Africa (endemic species), and may be reddish brown or dark brown.  
       
6.   Dasypeltis palmarum (Leach, 1818) lives in the southwest of the African continent. Its range extends from the north of Angola to Gabon.  
       
7.   Dasypeltis fasciata (Smith, 1849) has the second widest distribution range of all egg eaters. It includes the whole of Central Africa and stretches from Ghana to Gabon in the western half and into the west of Uganda in the eastern half.  
       
8.   Dasypeltis abyssina (Duméril, Bibron & Duméril, 1854) lives in Ethiopia.  
       
9.   Dasypeltis confusa (Trape, J.-F. & Y. Mané, 2006) is known from Senegal (Casamace) to Congo. She lives in wooded savannah and dry forest. D. confusa is reaching the rainforest in Central Africa (northern Congo).  
       
10.   Dasypeltis sahelensis (Trape, J.-F. & Y. Mané, 2006) occurs in the Sahelzone from Senegal, Gambia, Burkina Faso, the southern parts of Mali and Niger.  
       
11.   Dasypeltis g. gansi (Trape, J.-F. & Y. Mané, 2006) is only known from the coastal area of Senegal and Gambia.  
       
12.   Dasypeltis g. latericia (Trape, J.-F. & Y. Mané, 2006) rang is from Senegal, Gambia, Burkina Faso, the southern parts of Mali and Niger and the northern parts of Guinea, Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria.  
       
13.   The Indian egg eater, Elachistodon westermanni (Reinhardt, 1863), is only known from nine localities. Its range extends from central to north India and from there, east to Nepal and the northwest of Bangladesh. This snake is dark brown with a white line running down in the middle of the back. The underside is off-white with some brown spots on the anterior sides. Its size is about 62 cm (males).