Eastern indigo snake
Scientific name
Drymarchon couperi
Size and weight
1.1 to 2.4m long
0.6 to 4.5 kg
Diet
Small birds, mammals and reptiles, including other snakes, toads, frogs, eggs and fish
Conservation status
Least concern
Native habitat
Woodlands, grasslands and desert in south-eastern USA
Lifespan
17 to 26 years
Meet our Eastern indigo snake
Our beautiful indigo snake is called Queenie. She can usually be found sunning herself under her heat lamp or having a dip in her pool. She is quite nosey and will often slither over when the keepers are working in or around her enclosure to see what they are up. When the keepers are spraying her enclosure she pokes her head up to enjoy a nice shower!
About the Eastern indigo snake
Eastern indigo snakes are large, non-venomous snakes. Their scales may look black, but they shine with a beautiful dark purple sheen when they are illuminated, giving them their colourful name. Some also have a reddish-orange colour on their throat, cheeks, and chin.
Eastern indigo snakes lay a clutch of four to 14 eggs in the spring. After three months the snakelets hatch and are completely independent straight away.
They have no natural predators but are affected by human activity including road deaths, illegal collection for the pet trade, being killed in their burrows by rattlesnake hunters and habitat loss.
Did you know?
they eat North American rattlesnakes and are immune to their venom
they like to share gopher tortoise burrows but will also live in armadillo holes, hollow logs, and piles of dead leaves
they are the longest native snake in the USA which gave rise to its Latin name, which means ‘ruler of the forest’
they subdue their prey by pressing it against their burrow walls
