Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,

First off, I've always wanted an Indigo snake. An Eastern Indigo to be exact. I've got a few questions that hopefully you can help me with.

1) How many gallons should a tank be for a full grown eastern indigo to be happy in?

2) how much would a jet black ( except chin ) baby/juvenile eastern indigo cost me ?

3) Are they hard to take care of in relation to other snakes?

4) what is your overall perspective of them?

5) are they worth the money?

6) Whats the world record length? Average length?

7) lastly, would you reccomend a female or male for a 1st time indigo owner?

THANKS A LOT IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR HELP, YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW BAD I WANT ONE, AND HOW MUCH I APPRECIATE YOUR HELP, THANK YOU

1) How many gallons should a tank be for a full grown eastern indigo to be happy in?

Probably 175 gallons or larger. It doesn't make sense to me to keep Indigos in aquariums once they start to get some size on them. It is difficult to clean a big aquarium, and big Indigos can be messy snakes. One of the large front-opening plastic cages or a well sealed homemade plywood front-opening cage is much easier to deal with and probably less expensive. Adult Indigos need 6 ft x 2 ft of floor space at a minimum.

2) how much would a jet black ( except chin ) baby/juvenile eastern indigo cost me ?

Cost varies depending on the breeder. The average seems to be around $700-$750, plus permits and shipping

3) Are they hard to take care of in relation to other snakes?

No. Just different

4) what is your overall perspective of them?

Indigos are the premier snake. As Dean A. says "The Great American Serpent".

5) are they worth the money?

Yes. If you want an Indigo they are.

6) Whats the world record length? Average length?

For an Eastern, the record is somewhere aroung 9 feet, I think. Average is closer to 7 or 7 1/2 feet.

7) lastly, would you reccomend a female or male for a 1st time indigo owner?

That depends entirely on what you want. The males get somewhat larger than the females, but I've not noticed a difference in disposition that could be attributed to the sex of the animal.

Forget the aquarium. A three foot Vision cage is good for a couple of years. Move up to a four foot cage when indigo passes five ft. Aged newspaper is fine for substrate. Your goal is ease and thoroughness of cleaning, which you should do at least twice a week. If was to keep only one indigo I'd go with a male. As an adult they have a larger head than female and are more impressive animals.