Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I can only get to the net everyonce in a while and I mostly read on these boards but still....

1. I saw a KILLER INSTINCT show (The guy on there flat lines Steve Erwin.. I saw him purpously swim in croc infested pools, sit on crocs , purposly let himself be bit by jungle carp...whatever, all that) anyway, I saw a milk snake actually kill a rattle snake, It grabbed it's mouth shut and the strangled it, aside from the constriction part would an indigo do any different?

2. On the same show I saw a moniter grab and "trash" small rodents, one after another, any similarity to Indigo's?

3. I've read these are more intelligent snakes, what's so much different than any other large king or or corn snake?

4. Black bears, pigs, dogs, panthers, 'gators.....aside from the the threat of man how well do these snakes do in the wild?

5. Why are these snakes never talked about commercially? It nothing but King cobra and pythons? I mean this IS the largest
USA snake right?

6. May I see some feeding pics please?

Thank you for your times. I won't be able to respond for a good while so yea..

I'll take a stab at some of your questions. I answered next to your questions below. Rob Carmichael

>>I can only get to the net everyonce in a while and I mostly read on these boards but still....
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>>1. I saw a KILLER INSTINCT show (The guy on there flat lines Steve Erwin.. I saw him purpously swim in croc infested pools, sit on crocs , purposly let himself be bit by jungle carp...whatever, all that) anyway, I saw a milk snake actually kill a rattle snake, It grabbed it's mouth shut and the strangled it, aside from the constriction part would an indigo do any different? STEVE ISN'T SUCH A BAD GUY; JUST MISUNDERSTOOD. INDIGOS HAVE A MUCH DIFFERENT FEEDING/KILLING MECHANISM FROM MILKSNAKES. I HAVE SEEN A LARGE INDIGO GRAB A SMALL RAT AND LITERALLY SHAKE IT SENSELESS (LIKE A DOG SHAKING A BONE). I'VE SEEN INDIGOS GRAB PREY AND LITERALLY CRUSH THEM AGAINST AN OBJECT OR SIMPLY JUST CRUSH THEM WITH THEIR POWERFUL JAWS...PRETTY AMAZING CREATURES.
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>>2. On the same show I saw a moniter grab and "trash" small rodents, one after another, any similarity to Indigo's? YES, I THINK THIS WOULD BE A BETTER ANALOGY THAN THE MILKSNAKE
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>>3. I've read these are more intelligent snakes, what's so much different than any other large king or or corn snake? I DON'T KNOW IF YOU CAN USE THE TERM "INTELLIGENT" BECAUSE HOW DO WE BASE INTELLIGENCE? I WILL SAY THAT OF ALL OF THE SNAKES I WORK WITH, BOTH VENOMOUS AND HARMLESS, AND ASIDE FROM PERHAPS SOME OF MY COBRAS, INDIGOS DO EXHIBIT A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF INQUISITIVENESS THAT IS MUCH DIFFERENT FROM MOST OTHER SNAKES; ITS HARD TO DESCRIBE BUT IF I WERE TO PUT A NUMERICAL VALUE ON PERCEIVED INTELLIGENCE, INDIGOS WOULD BE RIGHT UP THERE WITH COBRAS.
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>>4. Black bears, pigs, dogs, panthers, 'gators.....aside from the the threat of man how well do these snakes do in the wild? WHEN GIVEN THE PROPER HABITAT AND THE PROPER AMOUNT OF HABITAT, DEVOID OF HUMAN OBSTACLES LIKE ROADS, THESE SNAKES DO VERY WELL. IN THEIR "WORLD" THEY ARE APEX PREDATORS TO SOME DEGREE WHEN THEY BECOME LARGE ADULTS. UNFORTUNATELY, WE HAVE REALLY MESSED UP THEIR RANGE AND AS SUCH, THEY NEED OUR HELP.
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>>5. Why are these snakes never talked about commercially? It nothing but King cobra and pythons? I mean this IS the largest
>>USA snake right? I DON'T THINK INDIGOS WILL EVER BE AT THE LEVEL OF CORN SNAKES AND VARIOUS MILKSNAKES AND SUCH DUE TO THEIR ENDANGERED SPECIES STATUS (COUPERI THAT IS). THEY DON'T LEND THEMSELVES TO BEING MASS PRODUCED AND AS WONDERFUL AS THEY ARE, THEY ARE NOT FOR EVERYONE. I PERSONALLY WOULD NOT LIKE TO SEE THEM MASS PRODUCED BECAUSE WE HAVE SUCH A LIMITED GENE POOL TO WORK WITH; EVENTUALLY, WE WILL SEE SOME GENETIC DEGREDATION TAKING PLACE IF WE DON'T GET NEW, UNRELATED BLOODLINES INTO OUR ESTABLISHED CAPTIVE POPULATIONS.
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>>6. May I see some feeding pics please? IF YOU EMAIL ME DIRECTLY, I BELIEVE I HAVE A COOL PIC OF ONE EATING AN EASTERN DIAMONDBACK RATTLESNAKE.
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>>Thank you for your times. I won't be able to respond for a good while so yea..
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Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL