Quote Originally Posted by NickB View Post
I remember reading a report of Natrix Maura (Viperine) eating flies in the wild, someone posted about seeing it on some website. Ofcourse flies don't really have much of an exoskeleton though. Out of interest how come Thamnophis can't digest exoskeletons but they can digest skeletons from rodents?

PS.
I know I bumped this. I was searching for something and bumped into this.
Different material. Chitin requires different enzymes (chitinase), or, according to wikipedia, "bacterial symbionts and lengthy fermentations". You'll also find that many animals have trouble with keratin as well.

I'd also like to hear more about this fly eating thing.