Nerodia Sipedon - Water Snake

[infernalis]

Last night while feeding the garters I removed "Aqua" the water snake from his enclosure and attempted to feed him "garter style" from my hands.

He grabbed the first fish right off the tongs as soon as I waved it in his face.

I recall reading somewhere that Nerodia Sipedon was closely related to Garter snakes, however after searching again, cannot find this data to reference to now.

While Aqua was out, I took some pictures....

This one turned out freaky...
http://www.danceswithreptiles.com/aqua/alien.jpg

This striking belly pattern is attractive to me...

http://www.danceswithreptiles.com/aqua/aqua.jpg

Here is a nice shot of Aqua from above, He is about 22 inches long.

http://www.danceswithreptiles.com/aqua/hand.jpg

Many people fear water snakes, they have a tendency to behave in a very hostile fashion when disturbed, and will flatten out to appear larger than they really are, and will often strike out as if to say "Back off or get hurt!"

I personally know a guy who emptied the clip on his 9mm glocke into the creek at the sight of one of these:( thankfully he missed.

Aqua is rather unique, he has never once attempted to bite nor musk.:D

[Aundrea]

awww what a pretty snake :D I like the name. It fits :D

[Snake lover 3-25]

awww very nice!!!!!!:D love that belly!!:eek:

[Charlet_2007]

I've had a lot of banded water snakes up to 6 at a time they don't do to good in captivity.. You throw out a minnow trap with dead crawdads and fish meat and you'll have it filled with water snakes.. But you have to have stuff just right or they die... Very troublesome snake if you ask me.. But this one you have its very pritty..

People get these mixed up this cotton mouths or water moccasins which ever you call the snake.. Sad that they do.. Here's some pics of the one i had but later released it because it wasn't doing to good..

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q61/zoie18_2001/snakebite010.jpg

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q61/zoie18_2001/snakebite009.jpg

Belly:
http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q61/zoie18_2001/snakebite008.jpg

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q61/zoie18_2001/snakebite011.jpg

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q61/zoie18_2001/snakebite009.jpg

http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q61/zoie18_2001/alloncam006.jpg

[infernalis]

Aqua has been captive now for nearly 2 years, and is healthier now than when I found him.

He is a unique character:D

Eats well, sheds well and tolerates the occasional handling well.

[jitami]

Many people fear water snakes, they have a tendency to behave in a very hostile fashion when disturbed, and will flatten out to appear larger than they really are, and will often strike out as if to say "Back off or get hurt!"

You mean they don't just come up and bump you on the leg in the water repeatedly like a garter would? :D

Beautiful snakes! Those bellies are amazing! :)

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

Awe, so glad to see someone else actually keeps - and adores - a nothern water snake. Mine is silver and red... so stunning to see in person!

My little guy was "gifted" from a friend who did not want him anymore, he is captive bred... he is the tamest little snake you will ever meet. My other water snake is a hypo Florida banded and both of those guys take fish chunks and unscented mice right off my tongs. They also will eat from my hands "garter style"... I just love them! I open the cage and the both zoom up the open door out to the edge! I have never seen either of them try to bite or musk, and that's saying a lot for the hypo because he was WC.

I have caught many of these guys at lakes and once one that had a bottom jaw that was completely split (and healed) vertically in half.. the snake could open its mouth like the worms in the tremors movie!!! I have found many females but I won't keep one until I find the perfect girl... she has to be young, pretty colored, and well mannered:cool:

enough rambling heres a picture to add to the bunch, the little guy is my northern, the bigger one's the hypo :D Sorry its a crappy picture but its the only one I've got... they both have water deposits on them and it makes them look dusty and takes away from their color!
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll86/aSnakeLovinBabe/Snakes/Other/052.jpg

[anji1971]

Wow, I've never seen a Nerodia up close. I didn't realise how beautiful they are..........:cool:
Great pics, Wayne, Charlet and Shannon. I've got another wish-list item now.:D

[Zephyr]

I just recently bought a water snake (Saturday.) Sold to me as a broad-banded but I'm not entirely sure. He's got looks of red on his tummy; right now he's actually in with the garters and has already downed a salmon-scented pinky.

[GartersRock]

I have 5 Diamondback Water Snakes!! They are eating after only a few days! Super cool snakes!! Mine seem to be doing fine and I luv em!!

[infernalis]

Pictures Amanda we need pictures.

Please don't make me convulse any longer..........:rolleyes:

[GartersRock]

Rofl! Yeah, I just got my camera back and need to post pics of:
1.1 Redstripe ribbons
4.1 Diamondback Waters
0.3 Puget Sound
1.1 Flames
Etc... I know there are more that aren't photographed. *sigh*

[dashnu]

they look similar to eastern milks.

[Justinviper]

can you guys post a pic if your water snakes enclosure? I would like to see them. Do they need a paludarium set up? It would be a fun project for me if they do

[Stefan-A]

A paludarium setup would be very interesting, but I suspect that it would be far too moist, even for water snakes.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

I dont have a picture... but I keep mine in a cage that is about 3 feet wide by 1.5 feet deep, they have a BIG water bowl (bought a small rectangle kitty box) with a small in-tank filter in the water. They get their water far too messy for me to handle without the filter!!

[ScimitarX]

I've got a pair of banded water snakes. i love them. mine are about a year old, good feeders and shedders. they were a bit snappy as babies but are perfectly fine now. keep mine is a glass viv, so i can see them, as theyre active all the time

[infernalis]

I'll take some pictures later, Aqua is in a hex enclosure with "Repti bark" several flat rocks, and some stringy moss.

His "water bowl" is the bottom half of a Sarah lee cold cuts tub, with enough room to swim in it.

Aqua frequently messes the water up with poo, substrate and the moss, so it is very important that I change his water out every morning.

Water snakes (the name is misleading) do just fine in a set up that would work for a garter.

They are only semi-aquatic and will spend quite some time hiding and crawling about.

I think the name "water snake" came from the observations of them swimming and the fact they are almost always located near a body of water.

I did one time find a gravid female under a sheet of ply-wood in an open meadow far from the creek!

[GartersRock]

Yes. Mine are in a 30 gallon short and wides with water dishes large enough for them to get in. But as Wayne said. A garter appropriate setup is just fine.

[Justinviper]

I see. Thanks for the Info!

[Loren]

Very nice, I would love to have some nerodia someday, but they arent legal here. Considered potentialy destructive if released/escaped.

[infernalis]

Very nice, I would love to have some nerodia someday, but they arent legal here. Considered potentialy destructive if released/escaped.


Loren, Where is "here"???

[GartersRock]

Huh. Interesting. Destructive??

[dashnu]

I have heard of this type thing around here a lot. Something is causing a bell to go off in my head... Didn't something like this happen in Lake Erie, snakes where killing off all the fish..

Someone up here populated one of our small lakes with Northern Pike and it is wipping out the bass population.

[Loren]

Same idea as with the fish. Some water snakes got established in a few areas of California, one of which being in the range of the giant garter (t. gigas, if I remember right) and is/was competing with them for habitat and food. So, the Ca fish and game made it illegal to posess nerodia here.
I am not sure if those nerodia populations still exist or not at the present day.

[infernalis]

Thank you for the clarification.

Makes perfect sense:D

[Zephyr]

I have heard of this type thing around here a lot. Something is causing a bell to go off in my head... Didn't something like this happen in Lake Erie, snakes where killing off all the fish..
Huh, all I know is that the Lake Erie water snake is protected, but in the one cove they're found there's a whole bunch of them.

[dashnu]

right, you know what im thinking of are those damn clams!! It just poped into my head.

[GartersRock]

Ah ok. Makes sense! Actually reasonable!

[crzy_kevo]

man i was walking home and i stopped by the emty lot by the warter and looked over the edge at the rocks like i always do to see if there are any snakes and finally the first nerodia i had seen this year but it scotted deep in the rocks b4 i could get to it

im still pissed that it got away:mad:

but on the plus side i know they are still hanging out there since before today i hadn't seen one there since last year

[GartersRock]

You should have JUMPED!! Just kidding. Rofl!!

[crzy_kevo]

lol had i gone fae first i would have ended up with a broken neck i had to hop over the metal barrier onto the rocks i just wish that the fencing wasn't there to keep the rocks from moving otherwise i would have dug that sucker out

[infernalis]

Patience my friend, if it is meant to be, one will present itself just for you:D

[crzy_kevo]

lol ya like george and checkers i know lol

[GartersRock]

I know. lol!! Thats why I said just kidding. ;)

[anji1971]

Yeah, Kevin. Be safe.........
They probably won't allow you to keep snakes in your hospital room should you break your neck. :rolleyes:

[GartersRock]

Rofl!! I would MAKE them let me take them. lol! Just kidding again...

[infernalis]

Aqua Update......

Tonight my water snake ate 2 scented pinky mice:D

Even my Nerodia likes Rodent Pro.........

Damn, those mice are going fast:eek:

[Zephyr]

Hmm.
My most recent nerodia experience...
Was with some of my cousins from another state for a funeral.
We went to the lake near my other cousin's house.
Of course, my parents were bragging about my snakes and such, but no one really believed them.

Until I saw a 3 foot N. sipedons 10 feet off the shoreline and dove in after him. :)

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

LOL!


all my water snakes are taking unscented rodents now :D and of course their salmon!

I have 1.1 notherns, and 2.0 hypo FL bandeds!

[bsol]

If your watersnakes have any babies let me know... I'd like to have one again!

[Snake lover 3-25]

lol nice kyle:D

glad they're eating for you wayne:D

[infernalis]

Aqua has been a little flaky as of late. He demands live fish in his water bowl and with the shortage of Dace minnows I tried guppies, too small to even get his attention.

So I have been forced to feed him less often and offer (gasp) large rosies.

The creek has thawed out, so I am hoping to catch a few dace for him, I really wish I could breed those (Dace minnows) guess I need to study the life cycle of them and set up a proper tank.

Anyways here is some more recent pictures of Aqua....

http://www.dekayi.info/aqua_files/aqua.jpg

http://www.dekayi.info/aqua_files/aquaA.jpg

[crzy_kevo]

he is a good looking snake wayne hopefully you can net some of those minnows

[waterdragon]

i just found a baby banded water snake and he wont eat fish. after trial and error i found out he likes frogs. is there an easy way to get the little guy to eat pinkies? and i also have a corn snake i found and he eats lizards. is there an easy way to get him to eat pinkies too?

[Snake lover 3-25]

wyane can help you...... go to thamfrieds.com...... he'll be able to help switch it to pinkies....

[drache]

welcome to the forum, waterdragon
there are a few members here who have experience with water snakes, and I believe that Shannon (aSnakelovinbabe) for example would be a good person to help you out

[adamanteus]

wyane can help you...... go to thamfrieds.com...... he'll be able to help switch it to pinkies....

I think you'll get all the help you need right here on this forum..... we are after all a specialist natricine snake forum. No need to direct new members away from here.;)

[adamanteus]

The easiest way to get a snake to switch to frozen/thawed rodents is by scenting. Simply rinse the rodent in water to remove most of it's scent, then thoroughly rub it with a prey item that the snake readily accepts. This will transfer the scent onto the rodent.
Once the snake is accepting scented rodents it will gradually learn to take them with less and less scenting, then no scenting at all. It's easy.

[infernalis]

Aqua has been on a straight pink mouse diet now for just about 1 year.

http://www.thamfriends.com/photos/aquapink.jpg

[charles parenteau]

ONe of the most rare snake of Quebec ....illegal here!!!

[infernalis]

Very common on my property...

http://www.thamfriends.com/photos/creek1.jpg

http://www.mypetforums.com/photos/creake.jpg

http://www.reptard.info/flowers/creeeeek.jpg

http://www.thamfriends.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=32&pictureid=637

I found one in my driveway last summer 1/2 mile from the nearest water.

[guidofatherof5]

Love your property. When all my kids have flown the coop, sell me some of it and I'll start a radix colony.
I can be the "Crazy Snake Guy in the Woods" wait I guess you've already got that title.

[Brewster320]

That's one of the snakes that's both on my wish list to keep and to find in the wild. They are supposed to be common in MA and my city is perfect, its full of lakes and marshes. There's plenty of garters in these areas but no waters as far as I can tell.

[infernalis]

We practically live out there, so encounters are common.

Steve, If you ever find the time, just bring the troops with you, I will park the motor home back there for you.

[ConcinusMan]

From wiki: "It was once an endangered species but now benefits from the introduction of round goby (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Round_goby), an invasive species" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasive_species)

Sounds like it's not really an endangered species but may be in decline or rebounding from a major decline in some states. Takes time to remove protection laws after their actual emergence from danger of extinction.

One thing is obvious. They need specific habitat with an abundance of easy to catch prey and other specific conditions. Preservation of remaining habitat sustaining healthy populations is key.

Sure, make it illegal for a "herper" to study, collect, and facilitate captive breeding by classifying it as an endangered species. Meanwhile, do nothing to change the laws as to prevent further destruction to private lands sustaining the only few populations left. Typical.:rolleyes:

If it weren't for water quality laws and protections for fish and people, concinnus wouldn't stand a chance in the wild except for perhaps wildlife reservations. Thanks to laws aimed at other goals, concinnus can still be found in highly urban areas, within pockets of sustainable habitat.

If it were legal to use these watersheds and wetlands as sewers and landfills, given concinnus' limited range, they would be done for. While they were becoming extinct, it would be illegal to possess or collect, leaving no gene pool in captivity to save them from extinction. I don't know about other people's ethics but ethical does not necessarily mean legal.

If I saw a sinking ship with the only known population of a certain species of rat, I would be tempted to take a pair or two for breeding, rather than watch them all die.

[infernalis]

I protect those areas of habitat diligently, to me it's my all natural outdoor enclosure. The whole food chain is awesome to observe.

As long as this goes on.... the garter snakes and Nerodia will be bountiful.

http://www.thamfriends.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=17&pictureid=428

http://www.thamfriends.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=17&pictureid=431

http://www.thamfriends.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=17&pictureid=343

http://www.thamfriends.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=17&pictureid=452

[guidofatherof5]

Nice smörgåsbord. That'll make for some happy snakes.

[infernalis]

http://www.thamfriends.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=32&pictureid=601

http://www.thamfriends.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=17&pictureid=627

http://www.thamfriends.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=17&pictureid=628

http://www.danceswithreptiles.com/snakies/nerodia.jpg

[ConcinusMan]

Somebody has been double-dipping. That's just pure gluttony right there^^^

[infernalis]

She was a very nasty tempered snake.

[guidofatherof5]

She was a very nasty tempered snake.

Such a thing to say. Shame on you Wayne:D

[ConcinusMan]

maybe that's not the case. maybe she just didn't like YOU.:p

[infernalis]

I'm sure she didn't like me, I'm the arse that disturbed her hide. ;)

[ConcinusMan]

Look, I've had snakes that took some work to build trust. I let them "smell" me, they know my hand is present, and then I gently pick them up. So far, so good. Then I hand them over to a family member, and they know how to hold a snake. As soon as she sticks her tongue out, it's FREAK OUT time. Total escape/musk response and maybe even some nipping. To me, that snake was not nasty tempered at all. She was sweet. She just was very specific in whom she placed her trust.

That's why I said maybe she's not ill tempered but just doesn't like YOU. An ill tempered snake just doesn't like anyone or anything and is just plain mean.

I've had very docile kingsnakes, gopher snakes, and even rattlesnakes right out of the wild and they remained docile all the time, toward ME and perhaps the dog, but bite or get defensive toward anyone else. Then there are those that will bite at anything that moves, including ME. Now the latter, they are ILL TEMPERED!

[infernalis]

Considering that I took that picture in the wild, and that was a wild snake hiding out enjoying the day, ANY human that had flipped that same board over would have been "liked" just the same.

I doubt anyone who lifted up that board was going to reach down and begin handling that snake without an adverse reaction.

Now, my captive specimen on the other hand, anyone can handle him, he is far more relaxed than that big gal was.

[infernalis]

Looking up at me while I take pictures....

http://www.thamfriends.com/photos/aqua1.jpg

Aqua is such a cool snake...

http://www.thamfriends.com/photos/aqua2.jpg

http://www.thamfriends.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=17&pictureid=469

http://www.thamfriends.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=69&pictureid=1130

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

Haha... look at that cute little face... this is why I keep water snakes! They are my favorite snake :D

[infernalis]

He's a real character Shannon, that's for sure...

When I feed him he zips around with his pinkie hanging out of his mouth like someone is going to steal it from him.

[guidofatherof5]

Very nice looking snake, Wayne.

[Laura]

Awww bless it looking up to see what you're doing

[mustang]

awesome snake

[infernalis]

This big water snake showed up exactly when we had Chomper down at the creek.. and yes Chomp did see the snake, I did a video of it.

Yes I got wet.

http://www.reptard.info/tuday/snake1.jpg

She is completely submerged here...

http://www.reptard.info/tuday/snake2.jpg

http://www.reptard.info/tuday/snake3.jpg

http://www.reptard.info/tuday/snake4.jpg

http://www.reptard.info/tuday/snake5.jpg

http://www.reptard.info/tuday/snake6.jpg

[RedSidedSPR]

Cool! One of my favorite snakes. I've caught a few, all of them quite nasty.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b283/chucknkelly/nerodiaattackPNG2.png

[d_virginiana]

Nice shots :) I really love water snakes. There was one that I caught probably about 12 times over the course of this last summer. I think I made a post about her actually (she was the one who had a really severe mouth injury). Always wondered why they have a reputation for being so mean, since the ones around my house seem really friendly...

Can you post the video?

[RedSidedSPR]

The ones I catch have always been "mean". See above post.

[d_virginiana]

Huh... I even picked one up while it was eating once and it was very well-mannered (normally not something I would do, but a catfish spine had punctured the skin of its throat and had gotten stuck).
Aw, he was just trying to give you a kiss :rolleyes:

[RedSidedSPR]

Uh huh.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b283/chucknkelly/nerodiaattack8bite.jpg

[mb90078]

Nice big one.

I'm seriously considering getting a Northern Water next spring (*hint hint* to anyone breeding).

[infernalis]

hWCAoxNOmD4

[guidofatherof5]

Looks like that water snake was giving you the business.:D
Nice video and great photos.

[RedSidedSPR]

Awesome he's big!