Quirks of Eastern Indigos.....

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Posted by Fred Albury on January 25, 2003 at 18:56:39:

In Reply to: Eastern Indigo Blue for 2 weeks posted by GregH on January 25, 2003 at 07:24:16:

:I have a 7 month old Eastern male. What an experience and learning curve there is raising these guys from newbies.

:Anyway, my guy has bee blue for about 2 weeks now. He started this whole shedding process in the beginning of the month. This is when he started to refuse food. I tried to feed him the first week of the month, he was still active and looking normal, he refused the food. I tried again 4 days later (1/9/03) and he refused again. I picked him up and saw that underneath he was getting blue. Since that day he has been hidden in his moss and hasn't come out since. I spray his moss daily. I pick it up just so I can see what stage he is at and his eyes were reall blue about 2 weeks ago and today they still are blue. This seems like a heck of a long time to be blue. Now granted, I am used to my other colubrids, this is my first Eastern.

:Is this normal for Indigos? He is also staying on the cool side of the cage which is about 70 degrees and could be dropping to maybe 65 at night. Do you think his metabolism has slowed down? I noticed the last time he shed he took an unusual amount of time then also. (Granted, I am comparing this to my other snakes, not other Indigos) There may be nothing wrong or this may be normal, but I am still learning, and getting your comments and suggestions at least gives me a piece of mind.

:Thanks,

:Greg

:P.S. Anyone ever thought of starting a training course for new owners on simply how to keep their sanity through this new experience? lol.
:

I have had Eastern Indigos take as long as 3 weeks to shed once they have became BLUE. In my opinion three factors determine this:
a) Temperature-Temps that are to low seem to prolong or extend the shedding process. Ideal temps are daytime 74-75 to nightime drop of 65-70.

b)Moisture-A hide box with peat moss or green moss that has been misted heavily to the point where the moss actually feels MOIST facilitates a good clean shed with eye caps done also.

c)Mites-In my experience, when an Indigo has any mites, it delays and complicates the shedding process. The sheds come off in pieces instead of one clean whole piece. I have only had this happen once, with an adult eastern I bought from a reptile shop many, many years ago. But he was a basket case anyway.

Your temps sound correct, I wouldn't be to alarmed about the time period he has been blue. I have had them go 3 weeks, shed and then go into yet another shed cycle less than 2 weeks later. Because of their fast metabolisms and thei tremendous growth rate when fed heavily, they can do this without cause for alarm.
Best of luck with your Drymarchon.

Sincerely,

Fred Albury
AZTEC REPTILES

Follow Ups:

Re: Quirks of Eastern Indigos..... GregH 01/26/03 (0)