Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Can we see some feeding pics and possibly some pics of what these snakes can do? I've been reading up on these snakes here and otherwise. I think this is one of the most interesting snakes ever. I mean a large powerful snake that doesn't constrict, but rather grabs and overpowers and thrashes it's prey with its'jaws. Before you judge,NO, I am not one of those
"uh, yea, I'm going to get the guys over with some beers and potato chips and I'm gonna throw in a live rat for Petey to eat, uh huh huh huh huh h.." guys.No. I don't do that. I try to be a little more respectful of the snake if you know what I mean. But back to the point I mean I've read some posts here, bashing it on the roof? "Body slamming" it on the ground? Pressing it on the ground? Picking it up and throwing it? Biting it so hard you can hear little bones snap?
and someone here said his/hers tore it in two? Are you serious?
I mean crap, you might as well say it does the death roll it's close enough already. Pics please.

>>Can we see some feeding pics and possibly some pics of what these snakes can do? I've been reading up on these snakes here and otherwise. I think this is one of the most interesting snakes ever. I mean a large powerful snake that doesn't constrict, but rather grabs and overpowers and thrashes it's prey with its'jaws. Before you judge,NO, I am not one of those
>>"uh, yea, I'm going to get the guys over with some beers and potato chips and I'm gonna throw in a live rat for Petey to eat, uh huh huh huh huh h.." guys.No. I don't do that. I try to be a little more respectful of the snake if you know what I mean. But back to the point I mean I've read some posts here, bashing it on the roof? "Body slamming" it on the ground? Pressing it on the ground? Picking it up and throwing it? Biting it so hard you can hear little bones snap?
>>and someone here said his/hers tore it in two? Are you serious?
>>I mean crap, you might as well say it does the death roll it's close enough already. Pics please.
>>
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We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children. Ralph Waldo Emerson

I hit the "post" button a little prematurely on that last message...sorry about that.

Anyway, to address your point. I haven't taken any photos of my snakes feeding. I don't know why I haven't...just haven't. I'm sure someone in here has, though.

An adult Indigo is an exceptionally powerful animal. Couple that with the fact that they have a certain zeal for eating, and you can get some pretty spectacular results sometimes. Years ago I fed one of my Easterns a road-killed Eastern Diamondback that I had picked up freshly killed and had frozen for a couple of weeks. The result was astonishing to me because I had never seen him react that way to food. He pinned it with a loop of his body against the side of his cage and pulled on it's head until he separated the head from the body, save for a tiny strip of neck skin. You also have to remember that due to the design and size of an adult Indigo's dentition and the way they use it, they can actually effectively slice with their teeth. I have several scars on my hands and arms to attest to that. An angry or hungry 8 or 9 foot Drymarchon is a formidable animal to say the least.
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We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children. Ralph Waldo Emerson

WOW. Thats a weird story..but interesting. I appreciate your answer.I hope you dont mind me asking you some questions.

1. If you somehow didn't read the signs(yeah right) and a E.Indigo/Dry bites you, what are the top three recommended tips to give? (Ex. dont pull away)

2. I know it's just safer/better to feed pre killed or Frozen/Thawed. But have you ever fed live? If you have by chance, do you remember the first time? And did the unfortunate prey item fight or atleast try?

3. I've read of feral pigs and the destruction they can cause before. Since you know first hand, do you think a full grown Indie/Dry bite make an atleast somewhat large pig rethink his dinner plans? What about a dog that got a little too friendly with his nose?

@ other forum members;
pics!!!

>>WOW. Thats a weird story..but interesting. I appreciate your answer.I hope you dont mind me asking you some questions.
>>
>>1. If you somehow didn't read the signs(yeah right) and a E.Indigo/Dry bites you, what are the top three recommended tips to give? (Ex. dont pull away)
>>
>>2. I know it's just safer/better to feed pre killed or Frozen/Thawed. But have you ever fed live? If you have by chance, do you remember the first time? And did the unfortunate prey item fight or atleast try?
>>
>>3. I've read of feral pigs and the destruction they can cause before. Since you know first hand, do you think a full grown Indie/Dry bite make an atleast somewhat large pig rethink his dinner plans? What about a dog that got a little too friendly with his nose?
>>
>>@ other forum members;
>>pics!!!

1. The main things is, in fact, don't pull away. Most of the time they bite and release, but sometimes they hang on and chew. It's excruciating, but you just have to let them turn loose on their own. I had a big male Eastern latched on to my thumb once, and I could actually feel his teeth grating the bone in my thumb. He held on for probably 10 seconds or so, but that was an awful long 10 seconds. It seems that a bite from a Drymarchon bleeds an inordinant amount, too.

2. I do not feed live prey animals to adult snakes. I usually start babies on live pinkies, but that's about it. Years ago I did feed live rats and mice. I don't remember them putting up much of a fight. I don't imagine they really knew what hit them.

3. An Indigo, even a big adult is no match for a feral pig. Feral pigs can and do eat Cottonmouths. A population of pigs can decimate a population of Indigos, especially if they are in a situation whee they can't easily escape, such as if they are forced to high ground by flood waters, and such. A big Indigo could make a dog go the other way, though. My dogs have the utmost respect for my snakes...in other words, they don't want anything to do with them. However, I suppose a hungry feral dog (or pack of them) could get the best of an Indigo.
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We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Like Old Herper I have no pictures of my Indigos at feeding time. Someone else would have to take the picture!

When you open the cage at feeding time and your indigo (even at 6 foot is well fed) smells food you will learn a quick respect for this reptile.

I have noticed my indigos at feeding time bite water bowels, the sides of the enclosures, any newspaper that has the smell of food. I have had them come out of the enclosures after food.

I could not even imagine feeding an 8 or 9 foot YT with some of their attitudes. My BT’s exhibits the same type of feeding response as my Easterns and will eat until they have tails hanging out of their months if you let them.

I have observed both the shaking and pinning of food items by my Easterns and Black Tails.

Yeah, my big Y/T females is, shall we say, a "challenge" at feeding time. She can launch a good 4 feet of her body out of the cage with startling speed and accuracy.

I've had them actually try to eat THEMSELVES, not to mention the water bowl, the cage door and ME.
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We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children. Ralph Waldo Emerson

....ohh man..THEMSELVES?? Well, you have to give credit to this whole type of snake for bieng one huge orange. I read that these snake are somewhat intelligent. I was thinking, if you took one as a newborn, and raised it the best you could, EXCEPT you did something different. Say if you were to alwase put food in an empty cut opened milk cartoon, even as a newborn, do you guys think it would start recondising it as the "basket" and would cut a lot on the huss and fuss factor? Just a slightly inventive idea. Shoot it down if you wish.

Found one!

http://www.indigosnakes.com/images/DS_DC_eats_king.jpg

That poor little kingsnake....should have been a cute fuzzy little beedy eyed mouse! ! J/K

Yeah, that picture made it's way into these forums one time...created quite a stir. The Kingsnake guys like to think that if a Kingsnake and Indigo of equal size met up, the Kingsnake would eat the Indigo, and us Indigo guys know the truth. Sort of a "My snake can beat up your snake" thing. Some of us keep Indigos AND Kingsnakes...in that case, there's no doubt in your mind what would happen, but the Kingsnake guys like to argue about it anyway. Not that it matters...facts is facts.
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We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Interesting peice of history. I agree with you on the "victor".

1- don't get bit
2- Band-aid "advanced healing" !

Thing is, it's easy to say don't pull away, but ...I've had lots of "close calls". The snake things I have food and lunges. I pull my hand back in a nick of time. The few times I have been bitten, it's the same situation, only it gets me AS I'm trying to get my hand out of the cage. End result: I'm pulling away HARD as I get bit, resulting in a deep laceration.

The times I have been bittin while holding Drys (mean old yellowtails) the bits were not a big deal at all, as I was not pulling away.

The times when I was bitten badly, at least twice I have considered going in to get stitches, but have found Band-aid advanced healing which is a "second skin" type bandage that stays on for as long as a week at time...does the job as good as stitches!

that's cool. Man not even one pic from you guys.. oh well, not a huge deal. I'm probably going to move on to another topic soon anyway.

If you scroll down to the bottom of this page you can see a couple of pix I posted of a Y/T bite. Posted 31 Aug.

Regards,
Jeff Nichols