Progression: Shadow the Eastern Indigo Snake
This has been a hard secret to keep, but it has been a long journey and many things could have gone wrong, so I waited until now to share this.
Tomorrow morning we hit the road, drive about an hour, and pick up my new baby, Shadow. I have one hatchling video from mid July, but it's not on YouTube and I have no permission to post it. Shadow was totally adorable in it with his feisty attitude and white baby speckles. I came up with the name Shadow from his dark color and the amazing total eclipse we saw last month. An eclipse is also a moon shadow. I didn't like Eclipse or Moonshadow for names so settled on Shadow and it has stuck. This has been in the works since June of 2016. Only my family and vet knew. The breeder and I struck up a casual conversation at a Chicago Herp meeting and he mentioned he had a pair of unrelated eastern indigos (microchipped and in the stud book) that he had raised and hoped to breed. I immediately got his contact information and we have been in touch off and on ever since. His adults bred last fall and his female laid 8 big beautiful eggs in April. About the same time in April he had his male at ReptileFest and I got to hold him. All the eggs hatched in mid-July. No, I hadn't planned to get another snake; but when this opportunity came up I couldn't pass it by. When I was in high school, before they were so endangered and protected, we had an eastern indigo in our sophomore biology lab and I helped care for that snake. That year I handled that snake a lot. I loved that snake. Because I went to an unusual school where juniors and seniors go to a different campus, I only had that year; but I have never forgotten that snake. To top it all, that snake was a black throat and my baby is a black throat. Because this is in state, no permit is needed. I've been studying, saving, hoping, praying, and working towards this for over 1.5 years and tomorrow is the day. The weather should be about perfect for it. It's always easier not to deal with insulation if I don't have to. I will update and post as soon as I can. As excited as I am over this "dream" snake, I got each of my snabies for just as special a reason and none will be pushed aside or favored over another. I'm both excited and a little scared. I'm always scared a little when adding a new family member. To me that's just a reflection of how much I care about making good decisions about how many snakes I can give excellent care to. Here is the picture of the "empty nest" that I readied over the weekend in consultation with the breeder. https://i.imgur.com/MOPBECdh.jpg |
Congratulations! They are beautiful snakes. Will be fun to watch him grow. He'll be a big guy.
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Thank you!
I just got home with him. I'm overwhelmed. Will post pictures as soon as soon as I catch my breath here. I say "he" but he hasn't been sexed yet, so we think he but we don't know. My breeder works with Chelonians except for this eastern indigo breeding project, so he did not sex the babies. . I have a great snake vet who can sex Shadow in due time. |
I understand being overwhelmed. I'm always anxious/stressed when I add another pet.
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Yeah, but it's a good stress. The kind that tells me I care. I have that too and have had it every time I add to the snake family. That goes away in a couple of days. However, kind of overwhelmed is actually the "in awe of" kind. In spite of dreaming of and working towards this snake, the reality of its beauty and being is overwhelming.
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Photo dump! Meet Shadow!
Hatched July 20. 48 g today. Sex unknown, presumed male for now. https://i.imgur.com/lDrBDIYh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/qgV9pgQh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/kyM9uUoh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/NiqtzZ5h.jpg https://i.imgur.com/yrsWBoyh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/Z3lsLVAh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/s9ds5gMh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/uw560wgh.jpg |
He is a nice sized chunk! Looks very thoughtful.
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Ty. I so appreciate your kind comments! Do you own one or another of the Drys?
He was one of the larger hatchlings in the clutch. I got to see all 8 of them and got my pick. That was amazing as well. I'm still totally pinching myself. I did want a baby with some attitude. He definitely has an intent gaze. It's amazing how such young snakes clearly display their personalities. A D. couperi with attitude all the way! We made it fine through the first night. After spending the day stretched between hides he's curled up under the cool hide this morning. These snakes are kept cooler than most. His warm hide is 79 and his cool hide is 71. |
Love your viv
Congratulations it's nice to get something you have been waiting for I am going look up about that snake not heard of them Enjoy you new baby Pat Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
Sorry just looked at the photo
He is beautiful really beautiful Pat Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
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