Water Snakes in
Captivity: A Basic Care Sheet
(Genus Nerodia)
Though not often
regarded as the best snakes to keep in captivity, water snakes can actually be
wonderful captives. They are easy to maintain (though messier than many other
snakes because of their diet), and usually inexpensive when purchased from a
dealer. I have found that, though they have a reputation for being
nasty-tempered, most calm down with some handling after a time and become quite
docile. I have kept nine or ten water snakes in my time, and can only remember
one that did not tame down.
One of my very
first long-time captive snakes was a Northern water snake, Nerodia sipedon sipedon.
I kept this snake in a thirty gallon breeder tank as an adult. She grew to be
around three feet in length, which is about the average for most Nerodia species.
A few can reach larger sizes; one being the Diamondback water snake (Nerodia rhombifera rhombifera)—the
record length is somewhere around six feet. Other species of Nerodia I have
had experience keeping are the Broad-Banded water snake (N. fasciata confluens),
the Southern Banded water snake (N. fasciata fasciata), the
Enclosure
I have found
that water snakes fare the best in a large enclosure. While other colubrid snakes, such as corn and king snakes, can live out
their lives in 15-20 gallon aquariums, water snakes thrive better with a little
larger enclosure. As I mentioned, I kept one (sometimes two) water snakes in a
30-gallon breeder aquarium. I found later that it is much easier to house water
snakes in separate enclosures due to feeding. I will go into this more in-depth
later.
The enclosure
should never be too wet. Many people believe that the ideal home for a water
snake is an aquarium filled with water. This is not true. Water snakes need a
dry area to go to, because they will spend just as much (if more) time out of,
than in, the water. In addition, an extremely wet environment can lead to skin
problems; the most common being water blisters. If a water snake happens to get
water blisters, put it in a very dry enclosure with only a very
small water dish for a week or so or until it sheds. Usually the condition, if
caught in time, will dissipate once the snake has shed.
I have found
that water snakes do quite well with a regular cage setup, such as that of a
corn snake, with a large water tub in one corner. I kept a large plastic
Rubbermaid tub in one side of my snakes’ enclosure, and at feeding time I
would put the snakes’ fish into the tub, letting the snake swim about and
catch its food. I always used newspaper as a substrate; this is the easiest to
clean up and by far the cheapest to come by. There will be a lot of cleaning involved with a water snake, because of its diet,
so keep this in mind when choosing a substrate. Other substrates I have tried
that are fairly simple to deal with are the cage carpet that is specially made
for reptile cages and Astroturf (keeping several pieces of these on hand to
rotate is very helpful).Water snakes have watery, runny stools and they
defecate often, especially after a good feed. Substrates such as gravel and
aspen work as well, but have their drawbacks. Gravel can get expensive and
cumbersome to clean up.
As always,
water snakes need a hiding place. A plastic hidebox
or some similar item works well. Personally, I used a large, flat rock propped
up by smaller rocks so that the snake could hide underneath or bask on top. I
had a basking light on my water snakes, because they enjoy basking in the sun
in the wild. The rock absorbed heat from the light and my snakes would often
spend hours basking. A regular 60-watt light bulb will suffice in this case—snakes
are not like turtles and do not require UVB radiation for development. The
light in this case is for warmth only, nothing fancy is needed here. The light,
of course, is not required; however
an under-tank heat source is. As you may or may not know, heat rocks can be
very dangerous and are not recommended. Stick to heat pads, but check them
often, as they too can overheat.
Make sure the
lid (or door) on your cage is very secure. As with all snakes, a water snake will make its escape from the enclosure
if given the opportunity.
Feeding
My water snakes
always did quite well on a diet of mostly feeder goldfish or minnows. Babies
take smaller food, such as guppies. These food items can be obtained
inexpensively from bait and pet stores.
Some keepers of
fish-eating snakes obtain frozen fish for their snakes. This
is all right some of the time, but please note that any snake fed
exclusively frozen fish may develop thiamine deficiency, and this can
ultimately lead to death. It is better to stick to live fish, and one can even
supplement fish with rodents. This is very good for the snake.
I would feed my
water snakes a pinky mouse (or rat) every now and then in addition to the
normal fish diet. Rubbing the mouse on a fish would give it a fish-scent, and
the snake would normally gobble the mouse right down. This is a nice
nutritional supplement, giving the snake some extra nutrients it probably
wouldn’t get from a sole diet of fish. Please note, however that all
water snakes do not take to rodent feeding. I had a few that stubbornly refused
anything but fish. The one I had the most success feeding rodents to was my Diamondback.
He got to where he would take mice even without
fish-scenting them. I had a Florida Garter Snake that was the same way—so
it works on other Natricine snakes as well.
As with any
snake, separate all snakes when feeding. Never dump fish into a water container
in a cage with two or more water snakes in it—the results will be
disastrous! The snakes can injure each other, and will (I speak from experience
here—we all make dumb mistakes. I once had to pull one snake out of
another’s mouth. Had I not been there the larger snake most likely would
have swallowed the smaller snake in the feeding frenzy).
Obtaining a Water Snake
Water snakes
aren’t something you normally run across in pet shops. If you do, and you
want to buy one, make sure the snake looks healthy. If it has any skin lesions,
acts listless, doesn’t flick its tongue or act alert, steer clear. If it
looks thin (its backbone protrudes, for instance), don’t buy it.
Furthermore, a big red flag is how the store is keeping the snakes—I
worked at a pet shop once where they had a green water snake for sale. It was
near death because they were housing it in a 15-gallon aquarium with about two
inches of water in the bottom. Period. This is a
recipe for death. As mentioned before, these snakes need a dry spot to go to
like any other reptile.
My water snakes
were obtained in several different ways. The aforementioned Northern Water
Snake I had was wild-caught by me. The Banded was acquired from a pet store
(where I was in charge of the reptiles, so it was well cared for). The
Diamondback came from a reptile show where captive-bred and wild caught animals
were allowed. In all these cases, the animals were wild caught. There are very,
very few breeders that breed water snakes, so chances of finding a captive-born
one are slim to none.
I would say
that reptile shows would be the best place to acquire a water snake. Normally
the people at these shows are very knowledgeable and know where the animals
came from. They care for the animals very well, in most cases, too.
Online dealers
are another source. One reputable dealer that I know of is Glades Herp. They normally have some species of water snake on
hand.
From what I
have seen, the price of a water snake ranges anywhere from $2.00 apiece to
around $15.00. More abundant species, such as the Northerns,
tend to be very inexpensive.
Catching your
own water snake is an option too—just be aware
that they can be very ill-tempered, normally biting and musking
when captured. Also, be sure to be aware of your local laws concerning the
capture and keeping of wild reptiles. There are a few species of water snakes
in
Conclusion
The above
information is based mostly on my experience with these snakes. All in all I
have found the water snake to be a very hardy and interesting specimen to keep.
As of this writing, I do not keep any water snakes, as I have decided to focus
more on my rat and king snakes. Most of my water snakes either went back to the
wild where they came from or were donated to zoos or wildlife exhibits (in the
case of long-term captives).
Please take
into account that the best way to provide for your charge is to read all you
can about the animal. Learn everything you can. This care sheet is a basic
overview; there are many other points of view out there to consider. The
following is a list of other places you can read about the fascinating Nerodia species.
Further
Mara, W.P. Water Snakes of
Perlowin,
David. Garter Snakes
and Water Snakes. Advanced Vivarium
Systems, 1997.
Rossi, John V., Snakes of the
© 2003 by Amy
Hankins.