Reptile & Amphibian Forums

After much inner debate, I'm leaning now towards the side of yes, there in no reason an indigo could not be a first pet.
As a child I kept all the colubrids I could find (or Wayne Fowlie could give me). My sister purloined an eastern, cared for it for one year, and then re-sold it, realizing snake keeping wasn't her thing. Her one and only snake ever...and it was an eastern indigo. If a 13yr old child purchases a hatchling, he/she will be 15 or 16 years old before the snake reaches a size to deliver a significant feeding frenzy bite. By that time the child's an experienced keeper with the cautionary wisdom. I agree with Robert Bruce on this matter.

Side note: Have you folks done the myspace thing yet?

Check mine...www.myspace.com/jamespaschall

Might be good marketing.
Any herpetologist is a friend of mine.

I, like many of the posters on this forum, do not think that an indigo is a good "beginner" colubrid. This is not because of their bite pressure or temperament, as they are usually docile animals, but because of their size. Adult indigos require massive cages, and a lot of food. Not to mention the fact that they come with an average price tag of $1000. Add a $300 to $600 dollar cage to that and you are looking at a serious investment. Beginning hobbyists simply don't have the experience to do the right thing. No matter how many books one reads, none of those books tells the reader what to look for in common behavior.
It is a much more intelligent idea to purchase a less expensive, smaller colubrid before deciding to work with an indigo, or any other large colubrid for that matter. Also, if something were to go wrong because of a beginner's error the hobbyist would not have to have wasted thousands of dollars.
My dad bought my first snake for me when I was three years old. It was a California kingsnake, and I loved it just as much as I would any indigo. I'm now sixteen, I still have the same kingsnake, but over the years I've added a lot of snakes to my "collection". Among them were two Yellow Tail cribos, and I'm a better keeper for them now that I've had years of experience with other snakes. I know what to look for in their behavior if something is wrong, and I know how to care for them in ways that no book could ever teach me. It's a matter of experience, and beginning hobbyists simply don't have it.
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Roy Blodgett
Green Man Herpetoculture
royreptile@yahoo.com

1.1 Drymarchon corais
1.1 Masticophis taeniatus taeniatus
0.0.1 Coluber mormon
1.1 Lampropeltis getula californiae (desert phase)
1.0 Boiga dendrophila dendrophila
1.1 Corytophanes cristatus
1.2 Varanus acanthurus brachyurus (Mt.Isa)
2.2 Pogona vitticeps (snow and red/gold)
1.0 Iguana iguana

“All men lie enveloped in whale-lines. All are born with halters round their necks; but it is only when caught in the swift, sudden turn of death, that mortals realize the silent, subtle, ever-present perils of life.”- Herman Melville

Read Dr. Robert Seib's autobiography.

I think this link will take you right there.
Copy and paste if you must...you know the drill.

http://www.easternindigo.com/about.htm

"It's a never ending search for the truth"...Jimmy Page