Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Question:

My 2011 male Eastern really doesn't care for mice. He used to eat them occasionally, but has taken to only eating chicks and always leaving the mouse. I have tried both hairless and normal mice. My feeding schedule has been 1 chick along with 1 mouse every 5-7 days, but now he leaves the mouse alone.

So, is this fine? He will also eat fish occasionally, but is there any negative to a largely chick-based diet?

My 2011 female devours anything I put in front of her, so I give her both chicks and mice.

Thanks for any help.

In my experience, males can be a little more picky. Almost like they get spoiled on their favorite food item and prefer that to all else. I bet if you waited 14 days to feed him, he would nail as many mice as you fed him.
All of my indigos go absolutely nuts for fish. Any kind of fish.

What type of fish is the best? Whole fish like sardines? I had been giving them catfish filets, but only the male would eat them and then only occasionally. I also tried minnows, whole and freshly dead, but neither the male or female ate them. They both love chicks, and the female will then move right onto a mouse or two, but the male will just eat the chick and leave the mouse.

I just give them fish every couple weeks or so, but they love it. It is not their staple diet; mostly I feed them mice, chicks and quail. But they love whiting, tilapia, haddock. Really any fish. Fresh may be best, but I just thaw out a few strips of whatever is in the freezer. It is just a minor part of their diet and I doubt if fish filets would be nutrionally adequate as a major diet component without the skeleton and internal organs. They have also eaten cornsnakes, kingsnakes, toads, chunks of road-killed rabbit. Any vertebrate I get my hands on is fair game. It is fun to experiment and they seem to thrive on a varied diet.

Do you ever worry about parasites? Do you ever test for them? I would think an expensive animal like a Indigo, it would be risky to offer food from road kill. I'm not saying good or bad, just curious....

I know in my area small Catfish are easily obtained, although might be a bit big for their mouths...

I think concern about parasites is over-stated. Been keeping various species of snakes for 35 years and it has never been a problem, at least not a problem that manifested itself to the point it caused difficulties. As I am sure you know, wild snakes eat all manner of things because they do not have the luxury of being selective. Not if they want survive and contribute to the gene pool. If I ever had a snake that appeared to have a parasite problem, I would not hesitate to take it to the vet, but it just has not happened.

I do not consider indigos expensive when you think about how few really nice ones are available. If you want expensive, check out some of the crazy paint jobs on ball pythons or western hognose. I guess expensive is a relative term. Paying $10,000 for an odd colored ball python seems expensive (and stupid) to me. $1,000 for a great eastern indigo, not so much.

Well that makes sense...I was curious from reading some other posts. I guess I've always thought of snakes being live feeders. I've been reading alot about snakes eating F/T rodents....where some will eat it and some wont. Also eating a variety of different foods has to be better than just eating one or two types of food for a given amount of time.

I completely agree about expensive snakes when you talk about BP's and Hog's, it's crazy! All for the different colors, ha!

It can't be cheap to keep an Indigo though. Food cost alone has to be right up there with like keeping a large Boa or Python if not more...Really I don't know...just guessing. How much do you think you spend on yours in a given month, per snake?

They are more expensive to keep than any python or boa I ever had, particularly in early summer when they are eating a lot of food. Their metabolic rate is almost mammal-like. But mine are young. Once they mature, they slow down a bit.
I have no idea how much they cost per month. Might scare me to find out!!

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.

Back in the day (80's) when I had my Boa's, I fed them chicks, they were older than a day though...and cost about dollar live. I would alternate between Rats and Chicks. They both did very well on them. At one point I started raising a Mom and Pop Rat factory, it worked out ok, but cleaning the mess from the Rats was a pain. I think I lasted about a year doing that, then just started buying Rats again, at about 1.50 to 2.00 bucks...they really liked the Chicks better but would go for the Rats also.

Now when you say cost for your Indigo, how old and how big is it?

How often do you feed it?

Now days, I see the frozen option is the way to go.....if you've ever messed with Rats it doesn't take long to understand that.....ha!

But all in all, I think people with Dogs and Cats probably spend more on food in a given month than snakes....now that's a racket!

Sorry if you've answered some of the questions before...I just started following the Indigo section.

My rapidly growing 2012 male just inhaled 4 adult mice. He will likely take another 4 later this week. Maybe a couple small quail and some fish also. So for mice alone, we are talking 8 X 0.60/each = $4.80/wk. Let's say 40 weeks X $4.80 = $192/yr. (Males cut back on food during late fall and winter and they do not eat in shed cycle, so I figured 40 weeks instead of 52 weeks). Sometimes I use small rats instead of mice, but cost is similar. Also, I feed the occassional road killed snake or small mamal. He is not fat in the least, but he is growing quickly. However, any way you cut it, these are expensive snakes to keep. Much more expensive than comparable sized boa or python. Probably comparable to cobras which also have fast metabolism.

Whoops. I meant 2011 male. Time flies.

My male has been a very picky eater since he reached about a year old. Right now he'll occasionally eat chicken thighs, but he will ALWAYS eat toads, which is good because they're free....when I can find them. My female pretty much eats whatever I feed her, and she is a horse of a snake.
The last male Indigo I had was voracious and ended up over 7' in a short time, but this male is spindly. Probably be a great breeder.
All the best-
Jim
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"He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he can never lose." (quote from Jim Elliott, "Shadow of the Almighty"

The description of your female and male match mine exactly. (Although I've never tried toads). These being my first Indigos, I expected the male to be larger and a more ferocious eater, but my female is an absolute beast when it comes to eating and the male is smaller, less robust, and definitely a pickier eater.