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So i think it started about 2-3 yrs ago. I went to a friends house to see his E Indigos, it was love at first site. I was determined to have Indigos from that point on. So, not long after i was offered a defective Indigo for a somewhat discounted price. I was going to receive him as soon as he switched to mice. Waited and waited and waited, well that snake died. I haven't been paid back for him yet. I was discouraged but i was not beaten. As time went by i considered getting one of the subspecies. I had found one or two Indigos on the classifieds but they were out of state and i didn't want to trouble with a permit and that whole process. I ended up with a mean as hell little yellow tail cribo. This wasn't the same though, so i eventually found him another home. Months went by and i got an e-mail from someone about some indigos and a waiting list. I was ready to go but a little broke and had to make the decision to take myself off the waiting list. I told myself "self, maybe this is something you will just have to wait until later in your life for". I started to accept that reality. All along i have been living vicariously through this forum (which is pretty slow at times). So time goes by and one day i see an ad for some Indigos in my state, my little wheels started turning again. I was willing to do anything so i started preparing to sell my investments snakes. I tried to contact this person for a few weeks but got no reply. I started to get that feeling again like it was just not going to work out for me. So one day i decide to try an call this guy again, whammo, he answers!! We talk for about an hour and we strike a deal. After a few almost sleepless nights, the day came for me to drive up to Hollywood to meet this guy with the Indigos. So my girlfriend and i drive for 2 1/2 hrs on sunday up to see him. We get there and we talk for a few hours. He showed me his big collection including a unicolor, several all blacks and a few red throats. Finally i get to hold one in my hand again after a few years. My girlfriend told me she's never seen a look on my face like that before. So chose a pair of solid blacks, and decided to take one home now and the other when i got the rest of the money. We left the guys house and went for a drive down Sunset and Hollywood Blvd to do some sight seeing, i had never been there before. We saw an Elvis impersonator and some other strange people. We got a little hungry and decided to stop for some food before driving back home. We ate lunch in the car with the windows down to keep my Indigo cool. So then we drove home. On the way we stopped at a petstore for some shipping boxes. I told a friend of mine what i had just bought and i tell him to come out to the car to see it. Im feeling really proud, and excited to FINALLY have my very own E.Indigo. We get out to the car, i open the box and GUESS WHAT!!!! NO INDIGO!!!!! Im ready to just take a short walk off a long pier. NOOOOOOOOOO!!!! We pull in the back of the shop and scour the car for a half hour. No luck, so i drive home. We get to the house and i just feel like dying. So grab a flashlight and keep looking, nothing. I have torn the car apart. I gave up thinking i'd just have to wait and see. An hour later im just sick to death worrying so i go back out to the car. I close the doors and sit there thinking. Then, i look infront of me at the dash where the air bag is and theres an edge i feel around it and pop it off. I shine my flashlight around and BAM i see his shiny black scales shining back.....YES!!!!!!! YES!!!!!
So im tearing apart my dash for like an hour trying to get at him. He was all over the place. Im going totally nuts...."C'mon you damn snake PLEEEEZ come out!! Then he sticks his head out, i reach out for him and he just slithers right onto my lap with no coercement. I pick him up in both hands (gently) raise him over my head and shout "YES"!! at the top of my lungs, at 10:30 at night. I bring him in and give him a small rat and put him away. I never thought this day would come....I feel i have reached the pinnacle!!! Hope you enjoyed the story and here are the pics....

NICE!!

Can you tell im impressed?

YES!!

UH HUH!!

BIG!!

This is in the dash of my Jetta. The box with the yellow writing is the airbag thingie, he was right behind it.

experience like that!!! I Do have my share of mishaps in my 30 plus years of herping . . . And just got my FIRST Eastern Indigo hatchling last year as well (was 20" long, is now a little over 3 foot). I used to have several texans a long time ago that i bred, but have to admit that this IS my first (eastern) and favorite snake in my collection. Hopefully I can post some pics soon. First have to replace my broken digi-cam. Thanks for sharing the story and nice pics. Good luck, and hopefully no more air bag lovin' Indigo's, LOL.

Zee

Hello, ZPD,

Did you happen to get that male from Robert Bruce? I spoke with him on the phone last night and he told me someone had come over and acquired a male and was going to acquire the female at a later time. I'm really glad you found him though and gald to hear you had fun in No. LA
I had a six foot male get lose in my car several years back, didn't take long to find him, but he was entangled within the wiring beneath the dash. It took 4 hours to dismantle the dash and remove him. I then had to pay my mechanic another 400.00 to to reconnect everything I had pulled lose from the wiring harness and put the darned thing back together.

I guess i got lucky! I was preparing to call the service dept. of the nearest volkswagon dealership the next morning if i did not find him that evening. Yes Robert Bruce was the guy that sold him to me. As soon as i can i will be picking up the female from him.

Dude, I and all the rest of us probably have several of those stories! It's enough to make a grown man cry! So I'm gonna tell you what another old herper told me once, and that advice has paid off to this day. If you take the folowing to heart, and you ALWAYS live by this rule, you will greatly reduce the chances of heart break. Here it is,.......

RULE #1 AND THE MOST IMPORTANT RULE OF KEEPING SNAKES IS,... IF ESCAPE IS EVEN REMOTELY POSSIBLE, IT WILL OCCUR, SO MAKE ABSOLUTELY SURE THAT IT CANNOT!!!

Learn it, live it, and save your hair! LOL
Tony.

dude, im living the first half of your story. i want a dry, preferably a black tail or tex indy, and im having such a hard time getting any good leads. theres a guy in-state, but hes hard to get a hold of. plus, with 3 kings and 2 pines, i feel my plate may already be full. im willing to wait it out until i have the proper space, time, and feeding capabilites for such a beast. its so hard to wait though!! especially when you post pics like that, lol!

greg