Care of Eastern Indigos

This is by far the most difficult section for me to write. I do not feel expert at raising Eastern Indigos. There are others who are raising them and who have written care sheets. I strongly urge those interested in their care to carefully read others’ care sheets because we all do it differently. But here is what I do.

The single most important point is that I treat neonates as different species from juveniles and adults. Once a neonate approaches about 24 inches in length, or about 6 to 8 months in age, I move the animal from a bus tray into a drawer cage. The drawer cages adds a new vertical level to the environment which forces the snake to climb from the lower drawer into the upper environment. I also add some type of cage furniture to the upper enclosure to allow the snakes to climb even more. In the example in the photos below, I use live Japanese Maple branches in water. I spray the branches which raises the humidity in the environment. At this size, the surface to mass ratio of the animal is still quite high, and they are susceptible to dessication, so maintaining some humidity is still important.

The need for exercise cannot be overemphasized. All Eastern Indigos at all sizes require a lot of room, and, preferably, something upon which to climb. If you are limited on space, I would recommend a bigger vertical environment over a larger square footage.

Animals which attain a length of about 4 or more feet are housed in large, dry cages, with a big water container than cannot be tipped over. Almost any cage works for big snakes. The bigger the snake the more critical to control temperature. I find that when the ambient temperature exceeds 80 degrees, adult snakes suffer from obvious heat stress. You find heat-stressed adults inside the water container. This is an emergency! Do whatever it takes to reduce the ambient temperature to below 80 degrees. Adult Indigos can have a hot spot somewhere in the low 80’s, as long as their cage is large enough to get away from it. Adult Indigos seem to do well at about 75 degrees. Here are a few photos of different cage setups that work for adult Indigos.

Below are history notes and photographs of two females and their clutches, hatched here in ‘96 and ‘97B

[96female]
[97female]

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