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I, I am Andrea from Italy, I have a brace of corais couperi of 160 cm..si are couples 30 December to you for 16 hours and then enough, the female refuses the male from then... what must think? Salutes Andrea

By now the female may be well along with a clutch of eggs. Does she look gravid? Has she stopped eating?

By now the femaler may be well along with a clutch of eggs. Is she swollen at mid-body to tail? Has she stopped eating?

it has been stopped to eat... but, it will resume before placing? Hard how much the gestation?

Its great to hear from folks from other parts of the world who are keeping eastern indigo snakes; they surely are great animals. I agree with what Steve said. You are probably noticing, assuming the female is gravid, that she is looking somewhat swollen in her lower half and many gravid indigos stop feeding. If your's is still feeding, I would recommend only feeding SMALL prey like large adult mice or small rats. Make sure you have an egg laying chamber like a plastic storage box with a hole cut in the lid and filled with a few inches of slightly dampened spaghnum moss. Keep us posted.

Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center
Lake Forest, Illinois

>>I, I am Andrea from Italy, I have a brace of corais couperi of 160 cm..si are couples 30 December to you for 16 hours and then enough, the female refuses the male from then... what must think? Salutes Andrea
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Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL

Ciao.

ciao2

...another one

Its hard to tell in that picture if the indigo is gravid or not. Somtimes, robust indigos hide their big eggs pretty well. For now, I would just continue to offer prey every couple of weeks until the snake starts feeding again. And, as I mentioned, offer smaller prey like adult mice. If she lays, her appetite will come back very quickly. Make sure she has a suitable egg laying chamber in her cage now so that she can acclimate to it. Keep us posted. Rob

>>Ciao.
>>
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Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL

First, congratulations on getting them to breed. You made a good choice in snakes, I know Italians know how to appreciate beauty!

One comment, once my adult females are heavy with eggs, the lower 1/3 of the body becomes noticabley swollen as compared to the upper 1/3.

If you look at the snake from the side when they are heavy with eggs, the ventral area will look somewhat rounded, especially in comparison with the male. The lower 1/3 of the snake also becomes somewhat "rigid", almost as if it does not want to bend. These things may not become apparent until a few weeks before the snake is going to lay however.

There is a site you can visit for more information about breeding, egg deposition, incubation, and raising hatchlings at:

www.indigosnakes.com
Check out the articles and information section.
Also, there is another Itailian (goes by the Nazza) who posts occasionally here. You may want to look him up and compare notes or even arrange to swap bloodlines some day.

Good luck!

Ciao!
Dean Alessandrini

I keep the INDIGO STATUS in Italy under control, Andrea is an old friend!
My female seems gravid and I think is in pre-lay shedding.
She stop feeding some weeks ago and spent a lot of time in the egg-laying box, the incubator in on 25.9 C
I'll post some pics of her in the next days
Regards
nazzza