Although essentially a savanna species, this species is found in a wide variety of habitats from semi-desert to clearings in tropical forest, although it is absent from closed forest (Spawls et al. 2002). This species feeds on bird eggs. The female may lay two clutches of between six and 25 eggs per year.

This species ranges from the southwestern Cape in South Africa through Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, the southern and western Democratic Republic of Congo and most of East Africa to the Gojam area of Ethiopia (Bates and Broadley 2018). Isolated subpopulations occur along the Nile Valley in both Sudans (with a single specimen from Kutum in Darfur, away from the Nile, and may represent an extremely northerly, relictual isolate), and another apparent isolate is known from Wadelai in Uganda (Bates and Broadley 2018). Studies have concluded that, contrary to previous belief, this species does not reach West Africa (Trape and Mané 2006). Subpopulations from Egypt and the Arabian Peninsula have been described as new species (Bates and Broadley 2018), although these authors refer a specimen with the imprecise locality "Arabia" to D. scabra. The lack of records from western Ethiopia is undoubtedly an artefact of undersampling (S. Spawls pers. comm. 2014). Its presence in Djibouti has not been confirmed, but its occurrence in this country is considered "potentially probable" (Ineich 2001). It is widespread almost throughout East Africa, being absent only from Kenya's dry north and east (with the exception of Wajir and Buna) and from the rainforest belt bordering the Albertine Rift in western Burundi and Rwanda (Spawls et al. 2002). It has a very wide elevational range, occurring from sea level to montane regions, but at least in East Africa is replaced by the montane egg eater (Dasypeltis atra) above 2,600 m asl (Spawls et al. 2002).

There are no known species-specific conservation measures in place for this species, however, in places its distribution coincides with protected areas.