Reptile & Amphibian Forums

The vendor that Gila posted the link to did buy a pair of '03
babies from me this year.

If he said they were '02's...I think that must have just been a mistake. There's no advantage to saying they are '02's...it would look a lot worse actually that they were so small.

I didn't sell him any '02's...

btw...bobl, no...the animals Dixon had for sale were not from my stock...

look like some wrong incubation temperatures or inbreeding...or something....imho.

You must have made some personal observation that I missed. Did you see spinal kinks, or some other defects that would be either congenital or related to embryonic development problems? I didn't see anything like that when I picked them up and looked at them. They just looked undernourished to me and one of them looked like it was in stuck shed at Daytona (which would bolster the undernourished idea).

Not that it really matters at this point as far as anyone on this forum buying them, because I don't think that's going to happen unless the vendor gets a little better grip on reality as to pricing. When I saw them they looked to me like they could easily be salvaged at that point (especially now knowing they are '03's), even though they have really missed some prime growing time. That's been a few weeks ago now, though...it could be a whole different story by now as to salvaging them.

Dean Alessandrini produced these babies. I can assure you that there were no problems with incubation temperatures or lineage. I would buy them right now at a more reasonable price just to try to save them. $1,200.00 for a pair of malnourished baby Texans is insane. $500.00 for the pair would be more like it now, assuming they haven't deteriorated further.

not referring to the animals at Daytona, but the ones that are advertised on Colubrids for sale. I am aware of Deans quality in the animals he produces. He denies that the animals that are posted originated from him. Oldherper, check them out and let me know what you think. Maybe it's just the angle of the camera...they looked deformed to me.

I really couldn't tell much about the juveniles he had pictured, but the female looks pretty fat to me. She looks like she's about 4 or feet long or so, and very thick for her length. One thing that I find as odd...if you click on that picture and enlarge it, she appears to have the neck "flash" like a really dark colored uni or BT.

I don't know Dixon at all, so I can't attest to the quality (or lack thereof) of his animals, and I have no clue as to the origins of this snake.

Take a look at the picture under his ad "Adult Female Texas Indigo"

Click on the picture to enlarge it and tell me what you think.
Dixon's Ad

Dixon is a long time contributor to this forum and a good guy.

I'm not sure where his Texans came from though. He himself did not produce them though.

I was not able to find the picture of the babies on the classifieds?

but...hearing what you said...remember that only a fraction of the erebennus range is in the US. The snakes ranging deeper into Mexico can have a lot more "light" coloration.

Erebennus is extremely variable. I seem to remember an post some time ago from Chris Harrison (CHRISH), who has found Drymarchon throughout TX and Mexico, that light and dark specimens can be found throughout the range.

I think scale counts would be the only way to know for sure.

dean is correct as usual. this sub can look very different locale to locale...i have a texas male that looks quite similar anteriorly to the one pictured in dixon's ad but is jet black at least the last 1/3 of his body, probably a bit more even. he really does not resemble any texas indigo i have ever seen in person or in pics....other than possibly the one shown in roger conant's field guide. the truth be known, what we really know about the race drymarchon at this point in time....can barely fill a thimble compared to what's actually going on out there. carl has the most experience here probably w/ dealing w/ this sub in its natural enviroment. maybe he will regale us w/ some of his herping stories from back in the day if we ask him nicely........;-]

My first Texas Indigo catch...I was about 13 or so...Down in deep S TX, near Edinburg...Just got a tent set up and headed out about 2 o'clock(this was in March I think) into the the mesquite...Fairly quickly saw a black tail disappear down a rodent hole..Ran to it...started diggin like a puppy..about 2 feet in or so, I got a hold of the tail of what semed to be a fairly large Indigo...Dug with one hand while holding on to the tail and screaming for someone to help..After what seemed like hours, I was holding a 7'+ Errebennus!! What a rush!!

As I've said before, TX are the most variable Dry's...I've had them so black you couldn't tell them from Couperi and others that look like Coachwhips on steroids!! Locality did not seem to matter...i.e. You would think the blackest might be from the northern portions of the range in TX, but it did not seem to matter..
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Carl W Gossett
Garage Door Herps
Monument,Colorado...northern territory of the Great Republic of Texas

that was fun! now i need a drink of water......LOL!

Gotcha.