Reptile & Amphibian Forums

when i was taking pics. of the baby indigo crossing the road in s. tx, i kept blocking his passage to get photos. he puffed up like most do but then he played dead by rolling his upper body over, opening his mouth, and then layed still. after this he got up and took off. it was not as exaggerated as a hog nose, but he was playing dead. is this normal?

News to me...but I have never had the thrill of seeing a wild Dry. Some snakes do curious things under stress, playing dead or hiding the head being fairly common. From what I hear, seeing a hatchling/juvenile Indigo is unusual, you were lucky.

I've seen the behavior once in a wild indigo. It had gotten into a yard with 3 big dogs and they were attacking it. I knocked on the door and got the owner of the dogs to put them up so the bad snake wouldn't hurt them. When I picked him up he was hanging limp and had many puncture wounds in him. I took him to the nearest wooded area and laid him out at the edge of the woods, thinking he was dead. I watched him as I backed off. He lifted his head looked around and quickly crawled into the brush.Happy ending and the first I had seen an indigo fake death. This is a different DOR indigo.

Dear Buddygrout, It sounds like you have seen some Indigos in the wild, a thrill I've never known. That is a handsome animal, and I would not have guessed d.o.r. had you not said so. Without giving specific locality information that would be a problem, could you comment on where D. couperi-red throat types are vs. the black types, and are they distinct populations or mixed up within populations, i.e. a given population shows a lot of variations? I only hear rumours here on the West coast, it would be interesting to hear from folks who have seen them in the natural habitat. Are red throats more prevalent at the South end of the range?..or scattered throughout? Thanks, Vic

I live in North Brevard county Florida. I've been a science teacher for 12 years, before that I read electric meters. I had to go in some remote locations to read orange grove and hunt camp meters. I have seen both red throat and mostly black indigos in the same area. I think it is an individual trait not related to habitat, of course I have no scientific data to support that claim. The DOR indigo in the photo was found on Cape Canaveral Air force station a couple of years ago. The biologists out there try to get DNA samples from road kills. I think they are trying to find out how diverse the genes are.
Here is another DOR from the same area not in as good shape as the other, but just as dead.

Thanks, that is interesting first hand information. Seeing an Indigo in the wild is a long term goal of mine.