Duberria lutrix
{{Short description|Species of snake}}
{{speciesbox
| name = Common slug eater
| image = 1 Slugeater - duberria lutrix - Cape Town 3.jpg
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| genus = Duberria
| species = lutrix
| authority = (Linnaeus, 1758)
| synonyms = * Coluber lutrix Linnaeus, 1758
- Elaps duberria Schneider, 1790
- Calamaria arctiventris Schlegel, 1837
- Homalosoma lutrix – A.M.C. Duméril & Bibron, 1854
- Duberria lutrix – Broadley, 1998Boulenger, G.A. 1894. Catalogue of the Snakes in the British Museum (Natural History). Volume II., Containing the Conclusion of the Colubridæ Aglyphæ. Trustees of the British Museum. London. xi + 382 pp. + Plates I. - XX. (Homalosoma lutrix, pp. 274-276.)The Reptile Database. www.reptile-database.org.{{cite journal | last = Pyron| first = R.A. |author2=Burbrink, F.T. |author3=Wiens, J.J. | title =A phylogeny and revised classification of Squamata, including 4161 species of lizards and snakes | journal = BMC Evolutionary Biology| volume =13 | pages = 1–53| year = 2013|doi=10.1186/1471-2148-13-93 | pmid=23627680 | pmc=3682911 | issue=1 | doi-access = free }}
}}
Duberria lutrix, or the common slug eater, is a small, ovoviviparous,{{cite book |editor= Roland Bauchot |title=Snakes: A Natural History |publisher=Sterling |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-4027-3181-5 }} molluscivorous, non-venomous snake, which is endemic to Africa.
Description
Adults can be up to thirty to forty cm (approximately twelve to sixteen inches).{{cite book |author=Carruthers, Vincent |title=The Wildlife of Southern Africa: A Field Guide to the Animal and Plants of the Region |publisher=Struik Publishers |location=Cape Town |year=2005 |pages=92 |isbn=1-86872-451-4 }}
The common slug eater's colour can vary, but they typically have an olive green to brown or russet back, grey flanks, a yellowish or cream belly, and a black, more or less complete, vertebral stripe.
Geographic range
This species is found in Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.{{NRDB species|genus=Duberria|species=lutrix}}
Subspecies
Six subspecies are recognized, including the nominotypical subspecies.
Diet
As the name implies, the common slug eater is a specialised predator and feeds on snails and slugs, mostly finding its prey through chemoreception, using its tongue. It swallows its prey quickly before too much defensive mucus is produced, extracting snails from their shells through the shell opening, or by smashing the shell against a rock while grasping the soft body in its jaws.{{cite book |editor=G. M. Barker|title=Natural enemies of terrestrial molluscs |publisher=CABI Pub |location=Wallingford, Oxon, UK |year=2004 |isbn=0-85199-319-2 }}
Breeding
The common slug eater usually gives birth to litters of three to twelve young.{{cite book |author=Walter Rose |title=The Reptiles and Amphibians of Southern Africa |publisher=Maskew Miller |location=Cape Town |year=1950 }}{{Cite book |last=Branch |first=Bill |title=Bill Branch's field guide to the snakes and other reptiles of southern Africa |publisher=Struik |year=1988 |isbn=0-86977-641-X |location=Cape Town |pages=[https://archive.org/details/billbranchsfield0000bran/page/63 63], [https://archive.org/details/billbranchsfield0000bran/page/244 pl. 28]}} However, broods from large females may consist of as many as 22 newborns, each measuring {{cvt|8|to|11|cm}}. The total combined weight of the young may exceed the weight of the female after giving birth. Birthing season is January and February (late summer in southern Africa).Branch, Bill. 2004. Field Guide to Snakes and Other Reptiles of Southern Africa. Third Revised edition, Second Impression. Ralph Curtis Books. Sanibel Island, Florida. 399 pp. {{ISBN|0-88359-042-5}} (Duberria lutrix, pp. 79-80 & Plate 28.)
Captivity
The snake is a popular pet, which feeds and breeds readily, and because of the nature of its prey item, it is easy to keep.{{Cite web
| title = SA Reptiles (forum)
| year = 2008
| url = http://www.sareptiles.co.za/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=9548
}}
Defense
When alarmed, the snake secretes a noxious substance from glands near the base of the tail and rolls up into a defensive spiral with the head in the middle, leading to the Afrikaans common name {{Lang|af|tabakrolletjie}} ("tobacco roll").{{Cite web
| title = Slug Eater - Duberria lutrix
| series = The ultimate field guide
| year = 2008
| url = http://www.ultimatefieldguide.com/Slug%20Eater%20-%20Duberria%20lutrix.htm
}}