Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i am considering getting a pair of indigos, but have a few questions. i have read up on the care and believe i wouldn't have a problem there.
i live in florida in the orlando area. how would i go about finding out permit info for florida?
i believe that i would have to have a permit for easterns, but what about texas, cribos, unis, ect.
is there a noticable difference in eastern and texas indigos?
i'm totally new to indigos. i've been into the pits and a few kings, but am thinking of expanding some. i'm just trying to get some preferences and info, before i invest.
and lastly, do you know of any breeders in florida? would i need to get a permit if i purchased and stayed in fl? thanks....
jonathan

Not long ago I would have told you it was impossible to get a permit to keep Eastern Indigos in Florida. Since a few have now done it I'll change that to very difficult.

As for the other Drymarchon species you shouldn't have a problem or need a permit. Texans are very similar to easterns in behavior, size, and temperament. They usually have varying amounts of brown mixed in with the black which differs from easterns.

Cribos tend to be a bit thinner and flightier, but that's a broad generalization and I have no personal experience with them (yet).

They are all very interesting snakes. Good luck finding one (or more) that works for your situation!

mike is right, the old FF&W guard has been replaced & things have loosened up a bit. i think the new wave realizes that they've been protecting the indigo to death. ie: you can't breed them but you can pave over them. re: cribos however, they are actually larger & heavier on average than indigos as adults though their hatchlings are smaller. as far as temperment goes, unicolors favorably compare to kingsnakes, complete kittens & very couperi like. blacktails are ok too but wc yellowtails can be quite nasty & actually aggressive. here's a couple of pics.......

thanks for the feedback and info. i'm a little confused though. i read the same thing last night, that it is possible to get easterns, but you can't allow them to breed. i'm just a hobbiest, but i always get pairs. i don't get the reasoning behind that law.
i've actually been kind of doing a little research on the uni and yt. truthfully, i kind of like my snakes a little agresive. gives me hope that they aren't totally domesticated but i don't want to have to get stitches every time i handle them. i'm going to have to think about that one some more, because the yt just look spectacular.
jonathan

Jonathan,

For what it's worth, I have three generations of captive-bred Yellow tails, and not one has ever bitten me or even seriously tried. The most aggressive behavior I've seen from any of them is a few times where one would "rush" at me from the rear of the cage when startled, but it would not follow through with a bite. It was more of a bluff, a territorial thing.

To me they show a little more personality than the other Drys, and they can sometimes be a little huffy (like some people) but still be easily handled. All of mine can be lifted out of their cages without a hook. They like most Drys will give behavioral cues when they are becoming irritated or tired of being handled. When that occurs, the prudent handler will act accordingly.

I will say that there are some YTs that are certainly less tolerant of clumsy or stupid handling, but I don't blame that on the snake. I always pay close attention when I first pull them out to see what kind of a day they are having!

Although I've kept five of the Dry species, I must say the YTs are my favorite.

Brian

brian,
thanks for the feedback and info. from your description, i believe i would enjoy the yt also. i will continue to do some research and hopefully a pair of yt or texas will come along that i can afford and will be my first dry's to be added to the "family". ttyl
jonathan

Prices on YTs usually varies more than you see with other Drys, because the colors on some are far better than others. The old adage, "you get what you pay for" generally applies.

Dan is right though about the temperament of some WC YTs. Some WCs can be totally mellow, while others are absolute terrors! A large, really mean WC YT is an animal to be reckoned with.

Brian

territorial is a good word to describe aggressive yt behaviour brian. that's exactly what it seems like. that big guy i call charger, didn't get that name for nothing!! i also had a huge female once, now in don bordner's collection that dean dubbed pyscho b**ch. he counted over 100 tooth marks in his arm after 'looking' at her one evening. i always seem to attract the vicious ones for some reason. :>/ good luck w/ your stuff this season & take care.....

teritorial? now that's interesting. i could imagine about a large unhappy yt. i don't mind fiesty at all, but i like handleable.
i've heard it expressed that their temperments vary widely. have you noticed if they have more of a tendency to be less agresive if you raise them from hatchlings? thanks again for the feedback and info.
jonathan

I think it is true of any snakes which are raised from hatchlings and become accustomed to being handled that the tendency towards aggression would be minimized. However, there will always be certain individual snakes (of many different species) that for whatever reason will resent familiarity and never mellow out. Those are snakes that I would avoid using in a breeding program, unless the gene pool for that species was so limited that you basically had no choice.

As I said in an earlier post, my first generation captive bred YT is every bit as mellow as the third generation animals. If you have good animals to start with, there is no aggression or bad behavior that you have to breed out of them.

Brian

what if you don't want sissy snakes???...one might want a guard snake or attack snake or a fightin' snake .....or ho'bout a REAL MAN'S SNAKE?????.....

Don't worry Bob, some of those Gray-Banded Kings of yours should be able to protect you. LOL Hey, the older I get the less drama I want or need when it comes to handling some of the larger critters!

A snake must draw blood at some point.

A mouse or Chicken chick is a good start but if they are willing to bite me it is a plus. It takes b@11z to bite something 500,000 times your size and tells you what condition (you) the snake is (are) in!
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"Life without risk is to merely exist."

Bill,

I'm afraid your comment says more about you than it does about the snake that bit you. Hmmmm....

Hope you're otherwise well.

Brian

You should have pretended not to know me! I hate when people see through my disguise.
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"Life without risk is to merely exist."

Ah, you give me too much credit!

Hope those big, yellow snakes aren't drawing too much blood.