![]() This can be as simple as keeping your snake in a room with a window. They do however, need to be exposed to a proper day/night cycle. The Eastern Indigo Snake doesn’t need any special kind of lighting such as UVB. Just ensure the temperature of the room itself doesn’t get too cold. It generally isn’t difficult to create a thermal gradient in a large enclosure. The cool end of your snake’s enclosure should be around 70-75F. Excessive amounts of heat without the ability to cool down can be fatal to these snakes so a cool spot is very important. You should provide your snake with a hot spot of around 85F. Like all snakes, you need to provide your Eastern Indigo Snake with a thermal gradient inside their enclosure so they can regulate their body temperature. They tend to do well with a damp hide box as opposed to keeping the humidity in their entire enclosure high. This is an active, intelligent snake that will utilise whatever you give them in their enclosure. An adult will do well in an enclosure measuring 6ft x 3ft x 2ft.Ĭages should be heavily furnished with branches, hides, a water bowl and so on. ![]() Keep in mind that this is an active species that grows to a good length so you will need to provide them with the appropriate amount of space. ![]() Once they reach around 6 months old, you can move them into an enclosure measuring around 2ft x 1ft x 1ft. This type of enclosure, fitted with a number of hiding spaces will help the snake to feel secure.Īs the snake grows you will need to increase the size of the enclosure. Ltshears, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons Eastern Indigo Snake HousingĪ hatchling Eastern Indigo Snake will do well in a plastic tub with ventilation holes. Simply offer them whatever alternative food source your local reptile store supplies. You can offer them chicks, quail, rabbits and even feeder snakes. These snakes will generally eat just about anything. However, as these snakes eat a varied diet in the wild, you should try to offer them other food occasionally. The bulk of your snakes’ diet should consist of frozen-thawed rats. Ensure each meal is smaller than the girth of the snake, at the snake’s largest point. Their jaws don’t open as large as other species so meal sizes shouldn’t be too large. As they are an active species, you can feed them a meal every week, even as adults. In captivity, the Eastern Indigo Snake can be fed a diet consisting primarily of rodents. They have extremely powerful jaws that are designed to crush their prey. These snakes do not constrict their prey. In the wild, they will eat rodents, small mammals, birds, lizards and even other snakes. The Eastern Indigo Snake is an aggressive feeder that will eat just about anything it can overpower. They also like to live around the sandy banks of rivers and streams. They like to live in pine flatwoods, hardwood forests, moist hammocks, and areas that surround cypress swamps. It shares much of its range with the Rough Green Snake and the Pine Snake. They can be found throughout the state of Florida and up into Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi. The Eastern Indigo Snake is native to the South-Eastern United States. There are a number of invasive species such as the Burmese Python which are much larger in length. It is the largest species of snake native to the United States in terms of length, growing to lengths of up to 8 feet. This is similar to how a Brazilian Rainbow Boa reflects light. The dorsal and lateral scales of the snake are uniform while the ventral scales reflect a purple tint in bright light. Some of them have a reddish-orange or tan color on their throat, cheeks, and chin. The Eastern Indigo Snake is a smooth-scaled snake that us black in color. However, in 1842, the snake was upgraded to full species status under the name Drymarchon couperi. The Eastern Indigo snake was once considered a sub-species of Yellowtail Cribo and given the name Drymarchon corais couperi. This genus is a grouping of Indigo Snakes and contains species such as the Texas Indigo Snake and the Blacktail Cribo. The genera that this species belongs to is called Drymarchon. This is the largest family of snakes in the world with roughly 250 different recognised genera. The Eastern Indigo Snake belongs to the colubrid family of snakes. ![]() Image Credit: GTM NERR (Kevin Enge) Taxonomy
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |