Blacktail Cribo questions

[Neal]

Alright, so I've seen the cribos before and they look awesome, so I've actually figured I'd do some researching way ahead of buying one. So here are some questions

Drymarchon apparently means cousin or something of that nature that I read, being related to the Indigos. While I know Indigos are extremely messy from what I've been told, is this the case for Drymarchon? How are their temperaments versus Indigos?

[Skiploder]

Alright, so I've seen the cribos before and they look awesome, so I've actually figured I'd do some researching way ahead of buying one. So here are some questions

Drymarchon apparently means cousin or something of that nature that I read, being related to the Indigos. While I know Indigos are extremely messy from what I've been told, is this the case for Drymarchon? How are their temperaments versus Indigos?

Drymarchon means "Forest Ruler". I'll give rep points to anyone who can tell me what cribo means.........

As far as temperment goes, it depends on the snake. I breed black tails (including unis - which are really a blacktail), erebennus, easterns and yellowtails. I have animals that are aggressive and I have some that are downright placid. Most calm down once in hand but there are exceptions to that rule.

They need a lot of room as adults and care must be taken to not overheat them (I keep my ambients in the low 70s). They eat a lot and they poop alot. I clean indigo and cribo enclosures multiple times a week. While not technically hard to keep, there are some husbandry quirks that they require.

Once or twice a year, I do a speaking gig on drymarchon. I probably still have the powerpoint on my computer somewhere. If I can find it, I'll email it to you.

[Neal]

Drymarchon means "Forest Ruler". I'll give rep points to anyone who can tell me what cribo means.........

As far as temperment goes, it depends on the snake. I breed black tails (including unis - which are really a blacktail), erebennus, easterns and yellowtails. I have animals that are aggressive and I have some that are downright placid. Most calm down once in hand but there are exceptions to that rule.

They need a lot of room as adults and care must be taken to not overheat them (I keep my ambients in the low 70s). They eat a lot and they poop alot. I clean indigo and cribo enclosures multiple times a week. While not technically hard to keep, there are some husbandry quirks that they require.

Once or twice a year, I do a speaking gig on drymarchon. I probably still have the powerpoint on my computer somewhere. If I can find it, I'll email it to you.

Do that please Skip. I'm interested in the species but I want to get everything as far as information goes. I'll send you a PM with my email.

[interloc]

I too am interested in this species. I'm on a list to get one from a breeder near me next year when he has eggs. They are such a cool snake and I really like their aggressive eating behaviour. Will be a nice change from balls lol

[Evenstar]

Count me into the Drymarchon fan club! I plan to get a pair of Eastern Indigos once I get my permit and I'd like a Blacktail and a pair of Mexican Redtails (Drymarchon melanurus rubidus) as well. Yeah, overkill I know. But after handling several and talking with a few breeders and reading Skip's powerpoint, I'm hooked...

Oh, and I do plan on getting my Mussuranas this fall too....

[Evenstar]

By the way, there really is no "other meaning" to the word "Cribo". A Cribo is a noun and is another name for "snake" specifically of the Drymarchon classification. Here is the copied and pasted info directly from Webster's Dictionary:



cri·bo
noun \ˈkrē(ˌ)bō\

Definition of CRIBO: a large harmless snake (Drymarchon corais corais) that is closely related to the No. American indigo snake and widely distributed in the West Indies and tropical America where it is of some importance as a destroyer of venomous snakes


Origin of CRIBO: origin unknown

This word doesn't usually appear in our free dictionary, but the definition from our premium Unabridged Dictionary is offered here on a limited basis. Note that some information is displayed differently in the Unabridged.


Skip, does this qualify for rep points??? LoL....

[Skiploder]

Clelia, pseudoboa, spilotes, and drys (and others) are all referred to as cribos. A cribo/creebo is nothing more than West Indian slang for "snake". The first "cribo" I ever bought was a mussurana

If you were to go to Grenada or most other Caribbean islands that have large colubrids and asked to see a cribo, God only knows what species they'd show you.

The term comes from Africa and made its way to the Americas with the slave trade.

So the term is not exclusive to drys.

[RoseyReps]

Cribo means snake. Slang term, hopped the pond from Africa with the slave trade.

Boom.

Well...you didn't specify that it had to be BEFORE you gave us the answer

[Neal]

See I've been doing some research and the black tail cribo that I want is the one that will retain it's black tail. I know that some of the tails turn tan with age or when they reach adult hood. I've read some stuff but no telling how true it is, so I won't say because I'm not certain.

Skip, I seen that you stated you have cribo babies that keep their black tails, what do you normally sell the babies for?

[Skiploder]

See I've been doing some research and the black tail cribo that I want is the one that will retain it's black tail. I know that some of the tails turn tan with age or when they reach adult hood. I've read some stuff but no telling how true it is, so I won't say because I'm not certain.

Skip, I seen that you stated you have cribo babies that keep their black tails, what do you normally sell the babies for?

Yes, throughout their range there is a variance in tail color. At some point, we started calling the pale tails unicolors and started charging more money for them. Because cribos breed like rats, in a few years these precious unicolors will be as cheap as any other cribo.

Then we will breed ones with two eye markings only to others with two eye markings and so on and so on.

Fortunately, Mother Nature isn't as crass.

I usually sell my female for $350 and my males for $275.