My Water Snakes

[pitbulllady]

Since I mentioned my Nerodia in my introductory thread, I figured I might as well go ahead and start a thread to show them off! Since I can only post six photos per post, I'll have to break this up into several posts, highlighting different snakes.

I guess I'll start out with my Nerodia fasciatas. I've got three, all girls, although one, the most-recently acquired(last week)might be a N. fasciata x N. erythrogaster intergrade.

The first girl is an adult N. fasciata pictiventris, wild-collected in Florida this past March. I bought her out of a tub of several Water Snakes at a reptile show in Columbia, SC, in March, for a whopping $10.00. She was destined, along with the others, to become food for captive King Cobras. This is pretty much what most herpers think of Water Snakes-that they aren't good for anything but feeders. She is a hypomelanistic, though I don't know if her gene is co-dominant or recessive; I guess I'll get a better idea once she drops her babies. She is gravid, apparently having got bred either right before she was collected, or by one of the males in the tub with her at the show. She is in what I believe is her "pre-birthing" shed now. I have never had a gentler, calmer snake. She has never struck, thrashed, musked or bit, not even after I had to remove a stuck eye cap or after being given a preventative dose of Flagyl. She is one of the snakes that I take to presentations for kids, since she's so gentle that even kids who are afraid of snakes quickly warm up to her and want to hold her.





Next is a female I've only had for a couple of weeks. The guy who caught her in Lexington County, SC, called me while still in the swamp on his cell phone and wanted to know if I wanted a "big, mean-*** Banded" that was "guaranteed to bite". Sure, why not?
I guess his idea of "mean" is very different from MINE, lol. This snake has not struck or bitten, not once. She was a little squirmy, and would flattened out the first couple of times I picked her up, but once she figured out I wasn't going to eat her, she has calmed right down. I'm not sure if she is gravid or not; she looks pretty chunky, but she doesn't have that "feel' that my definite-gravid girls have, so she could just be fat. She is a typical Southern Banded Water Snake from South Carolina, though I don't think she's ugly by any means.




pitbulllady

[pitbulllady]

Here's my third Banded, a sub-adult female(sold to me as a male, lol)from Charleston County, SC. I honestly don't know if she's a pure N. fasciata or an intergrade, due to her coloration. She is a sweetheart, like every Banded I've ever met, even freshly wild-caught. I'm perplexed why so many people think these are mean, nasty, untamable snakes.




This is my young male Brown Water Snake(N. taxispilota). This is the only species within in this genus which I've had some problems keeping, mainly due to them being picky eaters. Most will only eat either catfish or eels in the wild, or tadpoles, and often refuse to eat in captivity, period. This guy will eat live Shiners, and I'm working on weaning him onto Tilapia cuts. He is very calm and gentle about handling, like all of my Water Snakes are. He's about two and a half feet long now, and will probably be old enough to breed next spring.



Cookies 'n Cream Ice Cream, lol!

[Zephyr]

Beautiful snakes. All of them. :P
I've jumped on the bandwagon to calling water snakes "mean" and "nasty," but I'm thinking they're just great survivors. Anything that picks those guys up out of the water is in for a bitey surprise. :P

[pitbulllady]

This is my garbage disposal unit, my hypo Midland female(N. sipedon pleuralis), which is a southern form of the Northern Water Snake, if that's not too much of an oxymoron. She was wild-caught early in spring of '08 in York County, SC, by a friend of mine, and was already gravid. She wound up having 43 babies, two of which were still-born, none of which were hypos, so it's reasonable to assume that her form of hypomelanism is recessive. She is handleable, although she's more active than the others and does not sit still while being handled, but I have never seen a snake with an apetite like this one has! She will eat just about anything, including unscented frozen-thawed mice.


Here she is eating a frozen-thawed mouse, unscented, while in deep shed;


These are my two Red-Bellied Water Snakes(N. erythrogaster), also from Charleston County, SC. They're a large adult pair, with the huge female being very gravid. Neither have tried to bite me, and while the male was musky the first time I picked him up, he has stopped doing that now and will fall asleep on my lap while I'm watching tv.

Female



Male


I've got a big female Florida Green due to arrive tomorrow, my birthday present to me, lol, and I'll get pics of her once she settles in.

pitbulllady

[mustang]

wow beautifull BIG snakes

[Michelle.C]

Amazing collection! I love the variety!

I've probably handled a hundred or more WC Nerodia, only half or so were aggressive. That being said, 100% of them believe in musking. I'd rather take the bite over being musked.

[pitbulllady]

Amazing collection! I love the variety!

I've probably handled a hundred or more WC Nerodia, only half or so were aggressive. That being said, 100% of them believe in musking. I'd rather take the bite over being musked.

No arguement from me on that point! You're over a bite in a few minutes, but sometimes musk refuses to come out of clothes, or car upholstery, so the effects of that last a whole lot longer. None of my Bandeds have musked, though. The Midland used to be pretty bad about it, especially if I had to put her in a snake bag, but she's quit musking, too. The male Red-Belly musked once, as I was putting him in his cage for the first time, but hasn't done it since. The only time I've been bitten by a Nerodia that was NOT a feeding response(my Midland goes ballistic if she thinks she's being fed, but has lousy aim) was by a juvie Northern at a reptile show that I was holding. The snake was fine until the vendor's dog(a wolf, actually), walked up, and the snake freaked out. My Brown used to really spaz over a dog, too, but he's gotten used to my daddy's Pug, who lives in the house. I've picked many a Water Snake up out of the water, just scooped right under them, without them biting me. I guess the trick is don't grab from the top, since that's how a predator would attack, but lift from underneath, and don't grab ahold of the snake, but control its movements by moving your hands underneath its body. They will settle down amazingly fast, quicker than most Rat Snakes, or Corns or other non-venomous species that are often recommended as pets. One of the great things about these is that they are lazy; once comfortable, they will sit for hours if you let them on your lap while you surf the web or watch tv or read a book. It's like a cat, without the hair!

pitbulllady

[Snake lover 3-25]

omg beautiful snakes!!!!

[sirtalis01]

water snakes are growing on me....lol..they are beautiful..

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

Oh how I love your nerodia. I just got in a pair of light phase taxispilota today, as well as a pair of red phased cyclopion!

People beleive that water snakes are evil because of the horrid front they put on when you first capture them. Of course they are really mean when you catch them... that's how they protect themselves! Every water snake I have ever owned though has been a sweetheart. Once they realize we are not a threat, they are quite happy to chill out and smile at you