As of Spring 2007 I have decided to no longer work with Eastern Indigos. I will leave the page up as a reference for those looking for a little information.

CARE SHEET FOR EASTERN INDIGOS

(Drymarchon corais couperi)

SCOPE

This is to help you keep and breed Eastern Indigos. I will cover caging, feeding, breeding, temperatures, lighting, heating and anything else that I can think of . There are many keepers of indigos and probably just as many recipes for successful captive keeping and breeding. All of these different techniques are very similar and are simply variations on a common theme.

First of all, these are the coolest snakes, ever, period. OK, I am a little biased, but I'm not the only person to come to this conclusion. I had better explain why they are the coolest. I have read and heard stories about them being "Lap Snakes" where the owner could leave the snake on her lap and it would just lay there. Mine watch me when I am in the room. Although a bite from an indigo can leave quite a "mark", indigos "tame" well and tolerate lots of interaction. As long as a keeper isn't being confused for a meal, an indigo will probably never bite.

They may be the most intelligent snakes there are. King Cobras and Retic's may be smarter, but they are not within the scope of the typical herp keeper. What do I mean intelligence? Although I find it hard to put my finger on it, maybe we could call it awareness and/or an unusual sense of recognition.

I currently own and have owned many different kinds of snakes, including all sorts of boids and colubrids, but none are as fun to keep. They command a certain level of loyalty from their keepers. I would be surprised if you ever sold your first pair. I have offered significant amounts of money to a frustrated indigo owner who wouldn't part with them regardless of his troubles with them.

These aren't just good pet animals. Their beauty makes them wonderful display animals too. Rarely does a snake make a high quality pet and display animal. After you've admired an adult male indigo in his cage, take him out and hold him. I've had mine several years now and I'm still impressed every time I handle him.

CAGING

These snakes do get big. Not retic or burm big. You will never have the need to have 2 people in a room just to hold and indigo. 9 feet has been recorded but 6-7 seems to be a normal max size. They are also active snakes with fast digestive systems. They need space to move around and keep their muscles and digestive tract moving. They are jet black suggesting that they use direct light to thermoregulate so a basking area and cooling area are needed.

I use 4'X18"X18" for an adult female and 3'X 4'X 18" for an adult male, and they use every inch of that space. I put a basking light at one end and a hide box at the other. I use pine shavings as a substrate but any non-toxic substrate (never cedar) should be fine.

I use an 8-quart Tupperware tub as the water dish. This keeps the humidity up and gives them a place to soak too. I also use the 8 qt Tupperware with a hole cut into it for a hide box. They will spend 80% of their lives in this box.

TEMPERATURES, LIGHTING AND HEATING

These snakes thermoregulate. It is less important to have perfect temps if you have a good temp gradient. The cage is heated by day with a 65-100 watt flood lamp. If you choose to use this type of bulb, make sure it is a "flood" and not a "spot". The spot will create a hot area that is too hot and may even pose a fire hazard. The light is controlled with a rheostat and an appliance timer. 8 months of the year I give them a 12-hour on/off cycle with a day time high of about 80F ambient and 100F in the hot spot. They go under the spot when they are cold, simple as that.

At night I maintain the temps with a ceramic heater or a radiant heat panel controlled by a baseboard thermostat. I prefer the baseboard heater thermostat to a wafer thermostat because this snake is strong enough to bend the wafer or cut itself on it. Most baseboard thermostats aren't very precise, but indigos can tolerate a wide range so precision isn't too important for maintenance. I set night time lows (ntl's) at about 68F to 70f most of the year.

FEEDING

With adults you have a few concerns. An established indigo wont be a problem eater as far as willingness to eat. You must concern yourself with injuries from killing the prey. They do not constrict their prey; they beat it senseless, hold it down and eat it alive or dead.

These snakes are so strong. My female has carried its pre-killed rat and slammed it against the roof of her cage, and then against the floor of her cage. I began feeding them pre-killed when at less than 3 feet and only 1 year old, the snake almost broke the glass killing a mouse. Feed pre-killed! .

They eat frequently with their fast metabolism. Expect to feed youngin's every week and adults every other week. If temps are good you should be getting waste from the snake within a couple of days. Their waste is different from most snakes and it smells worse too. You'll be forced to clean the cages more if you like to feed a lot.

If a healthy snake refuses food, it is probably going into a shed. They have to be really hungry to eat when they are blue. I don't remember it ever happening with mine. Wait for them to shed and they will be back to their typical ravenous selves.

These are diurnal snakes and are more likely to eat in the daytime. I rarely see them move at night. In the warmer months they probably will take food at night. I think that feeding in the day is healthier as they can get right under the hot spot if they want.

The last thing is supplementation. My theory is something like this. Florida is a big bed of limestone. The level of Calcium in everything is going to be higher. I have used a few different methods to supplement. I think as long as you provide calcium and Vit D3 with an occasional vitamin supplement powder sprinkled on the prey, you'll have a healthier indigo.

Click on Picture to see a mating video (Windows Media Format)

BREEDING

This is where things get a little bit tricky. These snakes breed in the fall and into dead of winter instead of before or after like many snakes. It will be over 200 days from breeding to hatching. My recipe works to stimulate breeding and with a little luck, healthy eggs and hatchlings. It goes something like this (not precisely).

1. March 1 through Nov 1 I use 12 hour lighting and 70-degree ntl

2. Nov 1-14 begin decrease the daytime lighting to about 9 hours a day with ntl about 70 Nov 7 stop feeding

3. Nov 14-31 I decrease daytime highs (dth) to about 75 degrees with 8 hours of light. Ntl about 65 degrees

4. December 1-7 I decrease dth's to about 70 degrees with 8 hours of light, 60 ntl

5. On the day previous to breeding day, I turn off the basking light altogether with the cage getting only to room temp (65-70). Let ntl get to about 55-60 degrees. After 24 hours of this low heat and at night, put the male in with the female. He will chase her if he is ready. She wont run much if she is ready. I stay in the room for the first 15 minutes to make sure everything is OK then check back in every few minutes for a few hours. Once they begin breeding I leave them alone. It takes hours for them to mate. Mine seem to take about 9 hours.

If they refuse to mate or if you want them to copulate more than once, go back to step 4 for a few days to a week and back to step 5. If they have bred before and the female refuses to breed on subsequent tries, Mission Accomplished (maybe). You wont know until typical signs of gravidity are apparent.

I found it useful to go to www.weather.com and check the temperatures in Tallahassee FL to see how cold and when to drop temps. You'll be amazed at how cold it can get in that part of the world. You don't need to get the temperature down to the same levels it gets there (don't simulate an arctic blast zooming down into Florida to get your indigos to breed, it's a bad idea.) to stimulate breeding. It just helps you relax a bit to know indigos thrive under rather cool conditions at times.

Continue to offer pre-killed, small meals to them both, especially the male, except for Step 5. You don't want a big hungry male in with the female. You may end up with one very well fed male. This is advice from Chuck Elliot. I've seen nothing but desire to mate from my male when placed together with the female if I use these steps. However Chuck has worked with LOTS of indigos and his advice sounds wise on the matter.

Reverse the process to bring them out of winter mode. I do this once the female has mated and then later refused the male. If they mate, mark it down on the calendar. You should get eggs in about 100 days.

I give the female a nesting box, a Tupperware 8 qt with a hole cut into the lid for her. I put vermiculite and moss in it. I don't have a precise amount of water that I put in. I just add water until when I squeeze it a few drops of water come out. The female will be restless and will refuse food. I feed her smaller meals until she refuses to eat. She will drop eggs over a 2-day period. I turn off the basking lights when she is laying and use the Nighttime heater to keep the temps at an even 80f. She still has room light to know day from night.

I incubate the eggs at 79f +/- 2 degrees. Keep the humidity up as you would with any other reptile eggs. I check my eggs to make sure they do not go rotten and remove any that do. I also may put on Tinactin anti foot fungus powder on the eggs to prevent fungal infections. Indigo eggs are big and are a significant drain on a female's reserves

After about 100 days the eggs will pip. But don't worry; your troubles are just getting started. Some indigos are wonderful eaters but even a healthy clutch will have some that will be reluctant. If they don't take pinkies right away, try scenting with anything that it might eat in the wild. I have tried goldfish, lizard, frog and trout scent. What I have had the best luck with is Bait Grade Herring. With my babies, Herring scent on anything causes a feeding reflex. I've even seen them bite themselves because they had some scent on them. Scenting with a trout that had been in the fridge for 2 months seemed to be the trick with a couple of bad eaters while it's clutch mate was taking pre-killed pinks from my hands and others were taking fuzzies. The thing is try everything before force-feeding.

If you have to choose between force-feeding and watching a snake die, try force-feeding. I would also try soaking in Pedialyte first and then try feeding. When you force feed, either use Ensure, Pediasure or just a pinkie head. I found that I had the best luck with force-feeding a pinkie head one week and then using the trout scented pinks the next. I have never seen one eat overnight. Their appetites are better when I feed all my indigos in the early afternoon.

FEDERAL PERMITS

The Federal (USA) Govt. considers Eastern Indigos (Drymarchon corais couperi) "Threatened" or "Endangered". Classified as such, they cannot be sold, traded, or bartered for in interstate commerce without a federally issued Interstate Commerce Permit.

If you want to buy an Eastern Indigo from someone within your own state, the only regulations will be those of your particular state. No Fed permits are required for INTRA-state commerce.