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May indigos generally be handled with little fear of being bitten? (outside of a feeding response of course - say, if you smell like food)

It is a case where it might be a bit of a chance while removing them from the enclosure, but they're good to go once they're out sort of thing?

>>May indigos generally be handled with little fear of being bitten?

I've never bitten any of my snakes when I handle them.

>>It is a case where it might be a bit of a chance while removing them from the enclosure, but they're good to go once they're out sort of thing?

Once in hand, indigos are pleasant and fun to handle. I normally listen for huffing and hissing when I open a cage. If I hear it, they're hungry and will shoot out looking for food. I use a snake hook then. If they don't make any sound, I just grab them.

Easy

DT

Ha ha

(... however, you DID answer my question!)

I only bite my snakes in self defense.

They're all different. Some never offer to bite. Some always try to bite and some are just unpredictable.

I have a male Yellowtail that will bite at any opportunity. I have a LARGE female Yellowtail that will offer no resistance trying to get her out of the cage, but once you have her out she begins looking for the easiest target. I have a pair of adult Blacktails and a pair of adult rubidus that never try to bite. I have an adult male Texan that is very unpredictable as to when or where he will try to bite. Most Easterns I have seen and kept were very docile. I've only been bitten by a Eastern once and I have no earthly idea why he bit. I had him for many years and that was the only time in his life he ever offered to bite anyone.

They are individuals, but certain subspecies seem to be more or less likely to be snappy on the whole. Easterns seem to me to be overall the most placid subspecies, with maybe Blacktails and Unicolor running a close second. Yellowtails seem to be the most likely to be snappy with Texans pulling up second...

He was fine until you got him. What did you do to him ??

I personally think the yt's are much more likely to be aggessive than any of the other subs, and easterns are most likely to be gentle. most of the bt's, unis and texans I've seen have been docile, although dryguy has a male texan named chainsaw that lives up to it's name.

But yt's are the only ones (in my humble opinion) that are more likely to be aggessive than not. Of course gentle handling might settle them down. or not. just like people, some of them are just jerks.

I LOVE yt's though. Just depends on what you like. Working with a big old mean yt is like the rush you get from working hots, only without the fear of actual death!

I dunno what I did to him, Dean. You are right, though. He definitely doen't like me. Or, maybe I just taste good.

By the way...I have Chainsaw now. He's the big male Texan I was talking about in my earlier post.

OH,
From what I understand that Big Tex is appropriately named after the power tool best fitting his attitude. Fluffy doesn’t fit…

Dann….

Yeah, he has a bit of attitude at times...

This guy is not named after a power tool. He has hit the back of my hand from his hid before. I could not believe the power of that contact. This is Fast Ed the BT I got almost three years ago. He is in full hunt mode here.

I am beginning to recognize a pattern here. It seems as though every other owner has a problem with YT's.
I have a YT which I acquired from Bobby Lee. Bobby informed me that the individual was quite calm and easy to handle. Well, I receive the snake and it becomes a complete monster! It bit me, bit my shirt, bit my kitchen tables leg and oh, it has bitten my wife 3-4 times, but she continues to work with it.
Also, I understand that Dan F. acquired a large female from Bobby I believe, which Bobby claimed to be quite tame, if I remember correctly. Well, I was informed that this particular female will come straight at you, given the chance, and earned the name "B!tch from He!!" However, the snake is now in the hands of the infamous YT propagator Don Bordner, who claims it is quite calm.
Hmmm, anyone want to take the male I have for a while, just to test this theory?
Of course I have spoken with Bobby on this subject, he claims it's his smooth touch!

i think dean named her that after she went on a biting rampage one night here in 02. even bit herself up pretty good while she was at it!.....i got her from mark lucas as a wc five footer. she was built like a rotweiller and just kept getting bigger. her attitude never improved and she was a real pia to deal with. to clean her cage was to take your life in your hands and she was particularly fond at lunging at faces. when she got over 7' i'd had it w/ her and sent her to bobby for attitude rehab. i guess it worked. all i know is i don't have to deal w/ that satanic thing anymore!! lol......

Dean

Do you feel that CB are also more agressive ? I know the one I got from you and another I got from Bobby Lee where very mellow a little flighty but have never gotten agressive with me.

Keith
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Keith...

Here's my thoughts on that:

Raise up a baby and handle it gentle fairly often: you'll have a docile adult.

Raise a baby yt up and don't handle it much...you'll have a mean snake. I've never personally raised up a baby, I got all mine as adults. But the animals I bought as cb adults were just as mean as imports...because they came from large collections and didn't get handled much.

What is interesting is that the babies I produced this year all came out biters...but none of them seem to bite now. They are a but whippy, but don't bite.

As long as they stay used to handling, I don't THINK they'll get mean, but I can't tell you that for sure....

I've had a pair of eastern indies for about a year and a half. They are the most gentle, pleasent serpents I've ever seen. Of course sometimes I get the huff, n puff, or the ocasional tail rattle. But I just ignore it and gently, slowly, calmly reach in and pick them up. My female will lay still in my lap for some time, but the male likes to cruise imedeatly. In summer, I take them out to the front yard to soke up rays, take a dump, and get exersize. Keep close by cause they can realy move when they want to, not to mention the possibility of a hawk deciding snake sounds good for breakfast.
BUT, when I am feeding them, I am extremely careful! Espesialy with the male. He goes ballistic sometimes. Use tongs to present prey, and keep your face away! And I never handle them for at least 24 hrs. after feeding. That's for their safety as well as mine.
All in all though, they are the most tolerant of being handled of any snake I've seen in 41 years! Good luck.
Tony.

Eastern Indigos that are well fed and handled frequently are just slightly nervous when taken out of the cage. If not fed well, and hungry, just takeing them out can evoke a feeding response, as movement attract their attention as much as scent. This may mean that you COULD get bit. Usually, if the snake is hitting the glass in front of the cage when you go to take him out, he is hungry, which means that he could mistake your hand for his next meal, esp if their is ANY scent of any mammal on it. Cats included. I've tried it, it works

So, your best bet is to feed the snake well, give it adequate time to digest its meal, and then take the snake out, without hesitation and lot of fumbling around. Movement triggers their feeding behaviour,as does scent. So,use a snake hook if you must, but dont spend alot of time fumbling around the cage. These anlogies apply to Eastern(Couperi) and Blacktails. I have no idea about YT's, I have heard something about them and the devil, but it is probably just idle gossip.

Best o' luck,

Fred Albury