Egg Eating Snake Not Eating Troubleshooting

Its literally in the name!

For egg eating snakes, periods of not eating really is the #1, and practically only, anxiety producing thing about them. So lets go over it. 

First thing first, I'm sure you already went over the usual husbandry stuff of temperature/humidity /security (hide)? No? Start there first. Yeah? Ok moving on. 

So it's important to know that egg eaters in the wild are boom/bust feeders. This means that they will eat as much as they can for about 3 months (while the birds are laying) and then not eat for the rest of the year. So your egg eater may just not be hungry. Its very normal for them, it doesn't mean there is anything wrong. 

But ok, lets assume they are or may be... 

If you've been consistently syringe feeding them, the odds are high that they just aren't hungry enough to make the effort to take down the egg. Why put in the work when you can get your human to do it for you right? 😂 

So as odd as it sounds if you want that baby to eat eggs, sometimes you gotta stop feeding them to get them feeding. Now you can only do that safely if you know how much they weigh, so you'll need a microgram scale, weigh them, stop feeding them by syringe for 2 weeks, weigh again. If they've lost more than 10% of their body weight, syringe feed until they're back at weight. If not, offer the egg that week see what happens.

If the concern with the syringe feed is that they aren't growing enough to gain size, then the best thing to do would be to use the smallest egg possible and add some of the powdered quail egg to bring up the nutrient density. that will help them grow. There's more details on why that is here.

Having that said, they really don't grow as noticeably as carnivorous snakes do. If you were to "power feed" them (which again is normal for them), they may gain 2-4x their bodies weight in a year- which is still massive growth!  So if they started at say 3g, they might weigh 6-12g within the first year. For a carnivorous snake that starts at 150g getting to 450 is a huge visible difference, but when your egg eating snake starts so tiny, and the change occurs so slowly- it's totally understandable to be anxious about if they are gaining weight. So what to do is to get a gram scale (that can measure in 10ths of a gram for hatchlings), and weigh them whenever you need that reassurance. That way you can see the progress easier.

It can be a little anxiety producing, especially if you come from a carnivorous snake background. Hey Im used to it, and I still do it regularly so it's totally normal to have a little anxiety about it. So get you a gram scale. It helps. 

Ok so now that we've gone over those things, let's talk about what to try to get them onto the eggs.

First up we need to know if the eggs are good. They won't eat them no matter what we do if the eggs are bad or have started to develop a chick inside (no longer entirely liquid).

To test if eggs are good, use the float test. Submerge the egg in water; if it sinks and lies horizontally, it's fresh. If it floats or tilts upward, it's old or bad. Additionally, crack one of the eggs open and inspect the white. It should be thick, slightly cloudy, and not watery. If the white is watery, it's likely an older egg.

Sometimes suppliers collect eggs over several days to acquire enough to send in one shipment, and some bird species have only an 18 day incubation from laid to hatch, so if the egg is starting to develop an embryo (there's parts that are no longer liquid) the snake won't eat them. 

Another thing to consider is how you may be storing them. If you're keeping them in the fridge with your other food items, sometimes the smells from the other food can make egg shells smell odd.

This is especially true of commercially bought eggs because, along with other criteria, for an egg to be USDA-grade, it's required by law that eggshells be sanitized before being packaged and sold. As a result, this process strips the eggshells of their natural protective oils — which makes the shells smell less bird like and the thousands of tiny pores in the shell more easily permeated by strong odors that could be lurking in your fridge. Onions are a notable offender. 

The solution here is to store them in an air tight plastic carton, you can get a basic pack of two off of Amazon for $10 here. Theres fancier models that you can record the dates with and stuff like that too. 

or simply place in their own mini fridge if you're feeling extra fancy 🤣

So take a sniff. If it doesn't smell like bird to you, they're not gonna know what it is, and won't eat it.  

Another thing since we're on the topic of storage, since eggshells are so porous, bacteria that form on used eggshells can easily contaminate the rest of the eggs— so never return used eggs to a carton. According to the Food Safety and Inspection Service, you should never reuse an old foam egg carton for that same reason, too. If you're using the plastic reusable kind, running them through the dishwasher before reuse is fine. Be sure to follow the usual safety protocols you would for handling raw eggs. Stay safe of course.

Ok so eggs are good, moving on.

First thing to try would be to spray the cage down daily to keep a relative humidity of 80% for about a week. You can let it dry out between sprays every day, but spray down every day.  In the wild the birds laying season corresponds with the annual rains. So recreating the rainy season oftentimes makes them think, welp, better eat while the eating is good!

I do this to regulate the females breeding cycles too, works great.

Another thing that can have a factor is where the eggs are. You'd think having the eggs higher in the air would make them more likely to eat them. Not so much actually. If there isn't adequate space to "do the dance" of eating the egg while it's up high, then they often times won't. I could venture a guess that maybe they just don't want to fall with a mouthful. The solution there of course is to offer them on the ground. Don't worry they do predate on ground nesting bird eggs in the wild, so they still will recognize it as food there. 

Another thing to try is to place the eggs inside a dark hide. Yep, just like other snakes sometimes egg eaters are shy. Eating is a vulnerable thing, so sometimes they don't want to be watched while doing it. So if you take a little black bento box (like a Tupperware container or deli cup) and cut a hole in the side for access and then place the eggs inside it, sometimes that's just how they want it. 

You can also try dipping the egg in the water from strained canned chunk chicken in water- (do not use the oil from a can of chicken in oil! ) This can restore the smell that was stripped from the egg during the sanitizing process for commercial sourced eggs. Btw, all commercially bought eggs should be rinsed off before being offered since the sanitizer may not be safe for them. this process will restore the smell lost.

More things to try would be to take a small needle and tap a tiny hole inside the egg. That can make it smell more. We find we need to do this more for egg eaters that are in their senior years, but it sometimes does help with young eggies too. 

Some report adding some feathers to the area of the eggs has helped. I haven't had that experience personally but it makes sense. 

Welp, I hope that helps some to give you some ideas on what to do to help your egg eater back on feed. 

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions :)