Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Are Eastern indigos allowed to be kept and bred in California? Im a transplant from Florida where they are a no no, but the laws out here are different and I have not been able to find anything that says yes or no. Thanks

No problem with couperi in California. Breed or keep all you want. Permits are only needed to cross California state lines.
Coming or going.

thanks for the information. Being that im originally from Fl this is awesome news. Second question..do you know of anyone in Cali that works with them? thanks again

Robert Harper. You should be able to contact him via this forum. He would also know other reputable Eastern breeders on the west coast.

>>Robert Harper. You should be able to contact him via this forum. He would also know other reputable Eastern breeders on the west coast.

Here is Robert's website:

http://userpent.net/Drymarchon.html

I got my boy from him and he is doing awesome!

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~Markus

The very existence of flamethrowers means that sometime, somewhere, someone said to themselves..."You know, I really want to set those people over there on fire...but I'm just not close enough to get the job done."

Both Robert Harper and Gale Foland and Vic Herrick are
in CA and have great couperi. Also eastern breeder
extraodinare Robert Bruce resides there also! There are
others with good reps but these guys couperi Ive had or have
experience with.

You have many options.

Seth

just make sure you know the origins of the ORIGINAL stock. there's quite a few breeders out there but eastern indigos are sorely inbred because of the lack of wild stock due to their legal status. unlike corns/ball pythons the genus drymarchon does not take inbreeding very well. look for split ventral scales anterior to the vent. i would personally stay away from individuals with multiple split scales. it's the first signs of inbreeding in most drymarchon species.

"...look for split ventral scales anterior to the vent. i would personally stay away from individuals with multiple split scales. it's the first signs of inbreeding in most drymarchon species."

I am gonna go home and check my boy for this...hoping I dont find he is an inbred mess!
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~Markus

The very existence of flamethrowers means that sometime, somewhere, someone said to themselves..."You know, I really want to set those people over there on fire...but I'm just not close enough to get the job done."

Awesome information! Thanks..question..and maybe a little off the topic..but split ventral scales..has this been seen in any of the other species of rare snake species that are produced in captivity? this is interesting

i can't answer your question specifically but i've also noticed this in lines of "leucistic" southern pines that have been line/inbred. i think it's a species or genus specific issue. oddly enough, i've been line breeding my jasper corns that were orginally collected back in the early 80's. i only keep a few (ever try selling normal corn babies?) and unfortunately have line/inbred them because i wanted to keep them locale specific. the scalation of the baby corns look absolutely normal but the babies are now less robust and come out smaller. i finally gave in and decided to outbreed them to some of abbott's older okeetee stock.

"i can't answer your question specifically but i've also noticed this in lines of "leucistic" southern pines that have been line/inbred. i think it's a species or genus specific issue. oddly enough, i've been line breeding my jasper corns that were orginally collected back in the early 80's. i only keep a few (ever try selling normal corn babies?) and unfortunately have line/inbred them because i wanted to keep them locale specific. the scalation of the baby corns look absolutely normal but the babies are now less robust and come out smaller. i finally gave in and decided to outbreed them to some of abbott's older okeetee stock."

I have an adult male Lucy Pine that I'll have to check for this now too. Here is a snap of my yearling E. Indigo's tail end. Looks like he has the split scales you were talking about yeah? (He has a kink below his vent)

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~Markus

The very existence of flamethrowers means that sometime, somewhere, someone said to themselves..."You know, I really want to set those people over there on fire...but I'm just not close enough to get the job done."