Well, at least from strictly a price perspective, chicks are great! They cost only 25 cents each, while jumbo mice cost nearly $1.

For an idea of feeding costs of an Indigo, if I feed my female 2-3 items a week (1 chick, 1-2 mice), the total cost ranges from $1.25 to $2.25 per week, which comes out to $65 to about $120 per year.

Now let's look at a Colombian. I feed mine every 3 weeks, 1 med/large rat. The cost is about $2.25 for these. Total annual cost is around $40.

For fun, a GTP (I keep two). I feed these about every 2 weeks one large mice. Total annual cost is around $32.

How about a basic corn snake? (I have one of these, too) I feed him about every 10 days one large mouse. Total annual cost around $40.

So keeping Indigos are about 3-4x that of many other snakes. Totally worth it IMO.