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I have a question for some of you more experienced veterans of snake care. How much handling do you recommend for an eastern indigo throughout the stages of it's life? I realize that too much handling is not a good thing, but I would guess that a certain degree would be more beneficial to them than not handling them at all. I tend to try and give pet snakes some freedom in my yard and try to minimize conveying to them that I am restricting them. My wife or I will typically take out her Rainbow Boa once a day for about an hour or so except for her Tuesday feeding --- then she stays in her cage uninterupted for a day and a half to 2 days. I will be getting a neonate eastern indigo soon.

Here's another related question. Does the average backyard lawn hold any serious or harmful threats for a snake? I usually let my snakes crawl in the grass.

All thoughts appreciated ... John

I think that once a snake has becomed accustomed to being handled, and it is clear it isn't stressed by handling, it's probably tough to handle it "too much". As long as you give it adequate time after feeding, you're probably doing just fine.

If I held each of my snakes for an hour a day, I'd have to be holding a snake every waking hour of the day... and lose sleep too.

As for letting the snake meander in the back yard, sure there could be something there that could make the snake sick... BUT if you think it adds to the quality of the snakes life, maybe it's worth taking the risk. Your call.

Good luck with the new Indigo. They are the best pet snake in the world.

Doug T

>>I have a question for some of you more experienced veterans of snake care. How much handling do you recommend for an eastern indigo throughout the stages of it's life? I realize that too much handling is not a good thing, but I would guess that a certain degree would be more beneficial to them than not handling them at all. I tend to try and give pet snakes some freedom in my yard and try to minimize conveying to them that I am restricting them. My wife or I will typically take out her Rainbow Boa once a day for about an hour or so except for her Tuesday feeding --- then she stays in her cage uninterupted for a day and a half to 2 days. I will be getting a neonate eastern indigo soon.
>>
>>Here's another related question. Does the average backyard lawn hold any serious or harmful threats for a snake? I usually let my snakes crawl in the grass.
>>
>>All thoughts appreciated ... John

Neonate snakes are hardwired with fears of being eaten by larger animals. Indigos are no exception.

They are MUCH different in "personality" when young because of this. They are flightly and basically always want to hide, especially when you or any larger animal is around.

Too much handling may stress out a very young snake. I would say it would be a good idea to handle the young indigo for maybe 10 to 15 minutes, or maybe a little longer, on the days that is has no food in it's stomach.

But, I think if you let him crawl in the grass...he's simply going to be in a panic mode looking for a place to hide, assuming there are birds and other predators ready to snatch him up at any moment.

Watch your snake for cues. If it takes off constantly looking to hide...let him hide and give him a break from the handling and being exposed. I think it is pretty stressful for young snakes.

As it grows and begins to become more bold of nature, you can increase these kind of activities. I'm sure the snake will "enjoy" an occasional crawl in the yeard as it gets a bit older, and it should help muscle tone.

This forum is definately a great place to ask questions and kick ideas around.I definately will restrain from letting the neonate loose in the grass for quite some time. I'll concentrate more on insuring that he has a sense of security within his hidebox and cage and gradually build his "comfort" level up for being handled.

Thing I would worry about is hidden gopher holes and such. You snake could disappear very quickly.

Conrad

>>Thing I would worry about is hidden gopher holes and such. You snake could disappear very quickly.
>>
>>Conrad

That's a good point! Especially with a snake like an indigo.

My wife thought of an idea of having an outdoor enclosure for some recreational time during favorable and ideally temperate days. Would need to be REALLY secure for an indigo though.

Although it would be an investment of time energy and space to provide a more natural, larger and alternate area for occasional recreation, in a way I'd bet that it would help to preserve and encourage some of their natural instincts.

>>Although it would be an investment of time energy and space to provide a more natural, larger and alternate area for occasional recreation, in a way I'd bet that it would help to preserve and encourage some of their natural instincts.

The Palo Alto Children's Museum in California has an outdoor terrarium with skinks, western fence lizards, and alligator lizards. They have a 20' by 10' oval shaped swimming pool like structure. It has walls that are 2.5-3' high all around painted to make them to slippery for the lizards to climb. Inside there is a small pond, live plants and rocks for hideaways. You would need to add a strong steel mesh roof and bigger hides for a large snake.

I would have a PVC pipe that runs between my indoor and outdoor cages with valves to prevent entry into the pipe. If the snake took to hiding inside the pipe then you would need to be able to fill it with water to force it to exit.

My outdoor cage would enclose a medium sized tree, heavy duty shrubbery, and a small pond. All sides would be enclosed with heavy duty 1/4" wire mesh. The floor mesh would be buried 12" underground with dirt and sand on top.

Conrad

I often imagine building large outdoor enclosures for my indies, and some day I will. I admire your sense of quality of life, as these animals deserve it. You probably know what to look out for, but I will give some obvious advice anyway in the hopes that it will save you some tears.

At this time I would like to remind you of rule #1 for snake keeping,..."if escape is even remotely possible, it WILL occur!"
If there is any way for them to get out, or for a preditor to get in, they will find it. And if there is any bacteria, parasites, viruses, or fungas, they will find that as well. I encourage you to think this all the way through FIRST!

Also, whenever I take my snakes out for exersise, I stay very, very close, and I keep my eyes peeled for hawks. I try to pick an area which has shade, but no foliage, no holes, no cracks, and no other animals. Be careful, and good luck.
T.
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"No tree would have branches foolish enough to argue amongst themseleves".

DISCLAIMER: My experience is limited. MANY other forum users know much more than I do.

We have 4 '04 neonates - two Tex and two Rubys. All four are June or July hatchlings. We only handle them when the cage needs to be cleaned. They go into a holding container (opaque) and back into the cage with as little handling as possible.

My instinct is that these babies are an ideal meal for LOTS of predators. This is probably hard-wired into them. I don't want to stress them by handling any more than necessary. Since they are eating like typical Drymarchons, I expect that they won't be tiny for too very long. By year one, I expect that these animals will be awesome.