You pose an interesting question, and I will try my best to answer it competently and clearly.



I have kept Eastern Indigo (D.c. couperi) since about 1987. I have bred them since 1990. In the time that I have kept and bred these fine serpents,I have utilized every conceivable food source known to mankind. Including live baby snakes, either cornsnakes or kingsnakes. I have also used quail, goldfish, guppies,Gambusia, frogs,salamanders,and very very old Trout..frozen thawed..And also pinkie mice, split brained mice,pinky rats



Having said all that,I have had a certain percentage of neonates feed initially on UNSCENTED pinkie mice. Often right after shedding. These represent the head of the class as far as I am concerned. Often, even ones that are resisiting taking their first meals succumb to hunger pangs and accept a pinkie, sometimes weeks or months later than their brethren....



When they dont accept pinkies, after a long enough length of time, I often scent the pink with either really stinky and old trout, a suggestion that was made by Doug T. and that WORKS . like a charm, or I use live fish, but not goldfish. Goldfish that are sold as feeders are often sick and a diet of them is totally thiamine deficient as well.. I use Guppies. Females.Big ones..Sometimes with Fancy tails



On to the use of snakes....I have also used neonate snakes , usually garters or cornsnsnakes. These are usually either eaten with gusto or summarily rejected. For being ophiophagous snakes, Indigos often REJECT the prospective offer of other snakes in captivity. Go figure...Guardian of the Forest eh?



With neonates that have eaten snakes and are used to this prey item, I put SEVERAL small corns or garters in a medium sized baby food jar that has holes(Ventilation) in its lid. I place this in the middle of the cage and put 12-15 pinkies that have ALSO been scented with snake skin all around the outside of the jar circling it. The Indigo reacts to the scent of the snakes in the jar and also the scent of the mice that have been scented. And they strike at the jar, and in the process hit the scented pinkies.



No, it doesnt always work, but it has for me, and is worth a try. the one thing you dont want to do is continue feeding and offering live snakes to this Indigo. You will be doing yourself a disservice if you do. I was a vendor at a Reptile Show in Pomona years ago, and a customer came up that had bought an Indigo from a competitior that wasnt feeding on mice yet. He fed it baby corns, which he had many of(He bred corns) The snake was now an subadult and would not feed on anything else beside snakes. Even scented rats would not do. Now THATS a hassle.





Best of luck with your Indigo. If you have any questions email me at aztecfred@msn.com and Ill try to help you as much as I can.And also go to Indigosnake.com, its a wealth of knowledge for free.





Sincerely,



Fred Albury





P.S.

I now disdain the use of frogs,salamanders and goldfish to start D.c.couperi off on, the parasite transmission is to high in my opinion and they are not easily procured food items so it can become a a hassle.

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