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My 10 year perfect record is officially over. Aside from the occasional, but rare, bite from one of the hatchlings I produce, I never got nailed by one of my big indigos; until yesterday. It was a typical cage cleaning and feeding day but I was multi-tasking and doing too much at the same time due to a hectic schedule. When it was all said and done, I left my biggest male's cage doors wide open (he was eating a larger than average meal and I didn't want to disturb him (not a good combination when you suffer from short term brain booches). It didn't occur to me until about an hour later that I left them wide open. With a sense of panic I rushed into the snake room, saw the wide open door and thought for sure the snake had escaped. Without even thinking I quickly reached in to lift up the large hide area just in case but not expecting to see anything.....but "see" I did in the form of a sudden feeding strike that landed directly on my thumb with a thunderous thud. I've been tagged by 20' pythons, bit by decent sized crocs and chomped on by large monitors and those were nothing compared to getting tagged by an 8' indigo. The pressure was absolutely amazing and impressive and thankfully, after a couple of quick jaw chews, he realized he made a mistake and let go. My thumb looked like it went through a food processor and even 15 hours later, when I take off the gauze/bandage that is holding everything together, it still bleeds profusely...I may put a stitch or two on to be safe. Indigos are truly one of the most voracious and well designed snake predators on earth; no animal that this snake can overpower has a chance. If you've never been bitten by a large indigo....DON'T!

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

That has THUMB SCARS from Eastern Bites. My LAST bite that was inflicted upon me occurred three years ago. My then oldest and largest male Eastern"Cadillac" was being fed(Youd' think we'd know better than to tool around their cages when food is even IN the air, wouldnt you?) At any rate..he was being fed, and I smugly thought that he was occupied with a medium rat, which takes time to swallow. So I turned my attention to the defrosting box of rats in the living room. . . . .

I was wrong. He had finished up the rat and had came...

Out of the cage and onto the floor....

Across the snakeroom and into the living room....

Where I was squatted......totally unsuspecting.....picking up
frozen rats and removing them ouside to defrost.

He saw me...

I saw him...

He rushed over and bit the first thing that moved

MY RIGHT HAND...

More precisely, my thumb

Bled like a stuck pig

Like two razor blades in a vice grip

Damn that hurts I said to myself.

And I wrapped the cut up in a towel and continued trying to feed the other snakes.

Typical

Fred

That wasnt when I distracted you by talking while you were trying to feed the Indies? I remember that bite pretty well.

ZPD,

NOPE it wasnt that time. That was about the third time I had been bitten by them. The time when I spoke to you and wasnt focused on Cadillac was when he bit me the SECOND time. Come to think of it that guy has bit me three times in his long life. UNGRATEFULL brute!

What blurs the lines of distinction is that I went back to either cleaning or feeding the other snakes with my hand bandaged up in both instances.

Hurt like a mother though. . . . .

Time for sleep

Fred

If that is a "grazing" then the other time must have been like the surgery channel!

Was a Bloody mess indeed! Needless to say I didnt donate blood for awhile after that incident! MUCH worse than the one you saw....Cadillac actually CHEWED on my hand.

Fun fun

Fred Albury

was by my founding male uni, a feeding bite. but he realized his mistake and never chomped down. still i was left w/ 2 or 3 rather deep cuts in the web of my thumb. i was pretty surprised how quickly he did it. i had no chance! i've been countlessly bitten [usually by bullsnakes] but this was different and the resdult much worse.....however i was CHOMPED on repeatly by a newly arrived and angry 4' wc yt and that was the worst snake savagery i have ever experienced barr none. he was really, really hurting me and the pressure he was exerting was unfreakin'-believeable!!!!! he practically laid me open. i still have him today despite, he was too good looking to let go though he's a much reformed character now and is 'almost' a perfect gentleman. knock on wood....... :>/

I dont keep Indigos nor Cribs but admire them. My last issue of Reptile magazine had care article on them and funny enough I was asking curious how a bite from one of them would be like.
These posts were interesting.

...welcome to the club, Rob!! I got it many many years ago (when I was much younger and more stupid) by a large 6-7' male while I was trying to "impress" a friend on how this gentle snake would climb up my arm if I presented my open palm to him. The only problem was that I presented it to the snake via the hidebox opening and apparently the snake inside thought it was feeding time. I still have a one inch scar on my index finger from that. I remember how it bled. I should have gotten a couple stitches but I didn't. I don't think it helped getting my friend over his fear of snakes either

Scott

Glad to know I'm not the only one. I don't know if I will have permanent scarring but I will surely remember the pressure....I definitely have an even higher level of respect for these animals than I did before.

>>...welcome to the club, Rob!! I got it many many years ago (when I was much younger and more stupid) by a large 6-7' male while I was trying to "impress" a friend on how this gentle snake would climb up my arm if I presented my open palm to him. The only problem was that I presented it to the snake via the hidebox opening and apparently the snake inside thought it was feeding time. I still have a one inch scar on my index finger from that. I remember how it bled. I should have gotten a couple stitches but I didn't. I don't think it helped getting my friend over his fear of snakes either
>>
>>Scott
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Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL

I dont mean any disrespect to the Indigo or yourself Rob but there is a big difference between human skin and an animal with a tougher hide that lives out in the wild. I mean look at our skin it has the same strength as a ft pinkie lol. An Indigo biting into the hide of a thickly haired animal or even another snake is going to fare much better for sure. What Im saying is just because you sustained a nast injury doesnt mean that type of damage can be done to everything out there.

Keith
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Wouldn't be so certain Keith,

I have witnessed a rubidus nearly tear a rat in half with a single hit, talk about a mess to clean up afterwards. Also, I have witnessed a wild couperi ambush an EDB and almost completely decapitate the thing with a single hit and thrash!
I do agree with you though, we are certainly not apt for survival in the wild.
It's a good thing we have wit!!

Best regards,

Jeff

I'm not sure what you are getting at but I was just sharing an experience. Of course our skin is much more apt to be torn apart by an indigo versus a thickly and course haired rodent. But I have personally witnessed similar encounters with indigos and what they could do to an eastern diamondback rattlesnake....it was absolutely gruesome. Like I said, not sure what your original comment was getting at but I guess I don't disagree with you either.

>>I dont mean any disrespect to the Indigo or yourself Rob but there is a big difference between human skin and an animal with a tougher hide that lives out in the wild. I mean look at our skin it has the same strength as a ft pinkie lol. An Indigo biting into the hide of a thickly haired animal or even another snake is going to fare much better for sure. What Im saying is just because you sustained a nast injury doesnt mean that type of damage can be done to everything out there.
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>>Keith
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Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL

Have seen in person what an Eastern Indigo can do to a Western Diamondback of similar size. Like a Pit Bull playing with a Rag Doll. And throw in a can opener instead of dull canine teeth.

Sincerely,

Fred Albury

No contest. Can you hear the bones crunching, the flesh tearing as a Texas rips the neck of a cotton rat off? Monster movie stuff for sure! Top predator in its niche? Definitely!
Todd

I think he may be implying that had the indigo tried to bite an eastern kingsnake, the eastern would have turned around and killed it...

I don't think an eastern king would stand a chance against a similarly sized indigo; the chain would be dead w/in seconds (and I have a 6' chain that is one of the most voracious snakes on earth but he wouldn't stand a chance against an indigo of lesser size)...it would really depend on where the indigo grabbed the king; pure speculation I know.

>>I think he may be implying that had the indigo tried to bite an eastern kingsnake, the eastern would have turned around and killed it...
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Rob Carmichael, Curator
The Wildlife Discovery Center at Elawa Farm
Lake Forest, IL