Posted by Tom Lott on September 11, 2000 at 19:23:36:
In Reply to: Re: Do TX Indigos keep Rattlers out of Santa Ana NWR? posted by DougT on September 10, 2000 at 21:37:07:
Doug,
I can't really say about the age thing on large Texas Indigos. All of mine were wild caught, but only one of the big ones looked really "old," with wrinkled scales, scars, etc.
The larger wild caught snakes were mostly problematic captives: heavily laden with parasites and prone to go into decline even while eating like pigs. The young ones were great, however, and one of my all time favorite snakes to raise.
I stopped catching and keeping them in 1977 when Texas first put them on the "no-no" list; I still enjoy seeing them in the wild, though, as they are magnificent creatures.
Tom Lott