Reptile & Amphibian Forums

is there any evidence of eastern indigos ever cross breeding in the wild with black racers? Dave

I've never heard of it...but I recognize some pretty bizarre hybrids have been found in the wild(to say nothing of captive produced hybrids). Given Drymarchons well known ophiophagous habits, they probably would be pretty distracted by feeding response before pre-mating rituals would be completed. Drymarchon is relatively big and robust, Coluber is slender and svelte, just the perfect arrangement to get eaten...

I can't imagine a scenario where a breeding sized eastern indigo wouldn't gobble a racer down.

In all my years of keeping drymarchon, I cant honestly see them hybridizing with anything. They tend to like to eat other snakes, and movement attracts their attention, not a good thing if you are a prospective mate. Racers are very fast, thin, and frankly would probably get away from a large Couperi.

I dont envision it happening unless some keeper decides that he just cant live without making a new mutt form..THEN it might actually be successfull, after ten or twenty failed tries.

But why would anyone?

Fred Albury

np

Eastern Indigos and Southern Black Racers have two different breeding seasons. Therefore there would be no pheromone signature to illicit a breeding response or egg follicles in the female racer in the winter or spermataphores in the Indigo in the summer and visa versa.
The only response I have witnessed between indigos and racers is the racer running for it's life while the Indigo is in hot pursuit.
Phil

No evidence of Drymarchon with another genus in the wild and as has already been mentioned, a member of the Coluber clan would make a nice snack for D. couperi.
There are instances of wild integration among D. m melanurus and D. m unicolor, where the respective ranges overlap. It is also believed some integration among D. m ruidus and D. m erebennus may occur between the two ssp., at the Southern most part of their ranges, where such are known to overlap...

Best regards,

Jeff
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Jeff Snodgres
University of Arkansas
snodgresjeffreys@uams.edu
501.603.1947

Thanks for the replys.

BREEDING SEASONS!

Drymarchon are fall/winter breeders.

Coluber breeds in mid-late spring.

Any natural cross breeding would be the most unlikely.
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Anthony Chodan

www.gradeareptiles.com