Like other reptiles, indigo snakes are cold-blooded, which means that they rely on external temperatures to manage their own body temperature and metabolism. Best temperature for Eastern indigo snakes Don’t forget to replace your bulb every 12 months!Īll lamps should be on for about 12 hours/day, or synced with your local sunrise/sunset times. Position the lamp on the same side of the terrarium as the heat lamp, about 15-17” above the basking area if over mesh, and 18-20” above the basking area if not. The best UVB bulbs for indigos housed in a 6’ x 3’ x 3’ terrarium are:įor best results, house the UVB bulbs in a high-quality reflective fixture such as Arcadia or Vivarium Electronics. UVB lighting helps provide a clear day/night cycle, provides all of the vitamin D that your pet needs, strengthens the immune system, facilitates better digestion, and other benefits. Technically they can survive without it, but we still recommend providing appropriate UVB lighting for indigo snakes. Indigo snakes are also ophiophagus (snake-eating), so there is a strong risk of cannibalism. Of course, larger is always better, and furthermore it is required for particularly large individuals.Ĭohabitation (keeping multiple indigo snakes in one enclosure) is not recommended, as this is not a social species, and keeping them together causes unnecessary stress. For an average indigo, that’s 6’L x 3’W x 3’H. The minimum acceptable enclosure size for a pet indigo snake is based on its length. Indigo snakes are quite active and need enough room to stretch out fully, explore, and thermoregulate properly. Minimum terrarium size for Eastern indigo snakes With appropriate care, an Eastern indigo snake can live up to 27 years old. However, indigos have docile dispositions and can make great pets for those willing to keep up with their maintenance! A similar but more readily available species is the Texas indigo snake, Drymarchon melanurus erebennus. They are best known for their distinctive iridescent black color, completely with a black belly, although some individuals have cream or orange-red chins and throats.Įastern indigo snakes are not common pets due to the fact that they are a federally protected species which require special permits to keep. Although, they have adapted well to drier climates, usually their preferred habitat is wetland areas.Įastern indigo snakes have slender but robust bodies with smooth scales, an oval head, and a distinctive “eyebrow”-like ridge over each eye. We also work to protect indigo snakes and their rare longleaf pine habitat in the Southeast by fighting ill-advised projects that disturb their natural behaviors or threaten large swaths of their habitat.Ĭheck out our press releases to learn more about the Center's actions for eastern indigo snakes.Eastern indigo snakes ( Drymarchon couperi ) are a 5-7’ long, diurnal, terrestrial snake native to the southeastern United States. The Center is working to ensure the Service accounts for this newly described species split when it makes conservation decisions for these rare snakes. Since these species' populations are subsets of the pre-2016 “eastern indigo,” their populations are smaller - meaning each is even rarer than previously considered. In 2016 scientists discovered that what many people had been calling “the eastern indigo snake” is actually two physically and genetically distinct species: the eastern indigo snake ( Drymarchon couperi), found near the Atlantic Coast, and the Gulf Coast indigo snake ( Drymarchon kolpobasileus), found along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico and into South Florida. But it's estimated that they lose more than 5 percent of their habitat every year in Florida alone - so as human populations increase and development continues this species could be left without a home. Because a single eastern indigo snake can inhabit a territory as large as 805 acres, these snakes need a lot of natural habitat, unfragmented by development and roads. Today the main threats to eastern indigos are habitat destruction and degradation, as urban development creeps more and more into natural areas. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the eastern indigo snake as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 1978 due to dramatic population declines caused by habitat loss, overcollection for the pet trade, and mortalities caused by toxic chemicals commonly used to catch rattlesnakes.
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