Courtney Russo studies the lustrous black-colored snake loosely coiled in a glass enclosure at a new reptile-conservation facility in northeast Lake County. The rare 5-pound reptile soon will require more food and nutrients, like any expectant mother.

"We'll probably start to see changes come April. She'll start eating more," said Russo, a herpetology technician. "She'll need some kind of calcium supplement. And she'll start gaining weight like any good pregnant mama."

The nonvenomous snake is playing an important role in saving her species, the endangered Eastern indigo snake. Once commonly found throughout Florida and the Southeast but quietly disappearing for years because of development, the Eastern indigo is considered important to the region's ecosystem as it feasts on rattlesnakes and other venomous serpents.