- Joined
- May 1, 2004
- Messages
- 2,290
I got in a few new Water Snakes this week, five Bandeds(Nerodia fasciata fasciata) and two BIG female Red-Bellies(Nerodia erythrogaster), which have been "entertaining" my male and giving him something besides eating to think about, lol.
Here is one of the female Red-Bellies, a really sweet girl who has a nice burgandy hue to her.
She also has what might possibly be the longest tongue I've ever seen on a snake...I don't know how it fits in her mouth!
The other female is even bigger, and has an odd greenish hue and a much-lighter belly, almost like a N. flavagaster, but she's not as calm and will take a bit more work before I can photograph her and hold her at the same time. She's the only adult Water Snake of any species that has actually bitten me, though in the two days I've had her, she's calmed down a lot and will actually sit on my lap if I don't move too fast.
Here is one of the male Bandeds, a melanistic specimen that is nearly jet-black, with no dorsal pattern visible in regular light.
Here is a little Hypo male:
A nice little normal male Banded:
The Bandeds are absolutely sweet; not one has tried to bite or musk or even head-flatten at me. You'd probably have to dress yourself in silver scales and cover yourself with fish grease to get one of these snakes to bite! They were all caught this week, so these aren't long-term captives that are used to people. That's just the typical Banded temperament.
By the way, the scratches/bites on my arm are from a big male CORN Snake that I caught yesterday at school. He is the bitey-est, nastiest snake I believe I've ever seen; I can't even count how many times he's nailed me since I caught him! He's also one of the biggest Corns I've ever seen and caused quite a stir when he showed up at the end of the sixth grade hall yesterday morning right as we were getting ready to begin that day's state-mandated standardized testing! Even the big female Red-Bellied Water Snake is a pussycat compared to this thing. He doesn't strike; he just hauls off and starts chewing and twisting his teeth into flesh and has to be pried off like a bad dog...so much for "most-docile species for beginners", lol.
EDIT: Added a few more pics, including the big odd-colored female Red-Belly. She really looks more like a Yellow-Belly, but we're not supposed to have those in SC; maybe she's a "Pastel" or something.
Notice how much lighter her belly color is than the other female's, more yellow, and how she's got a lot of green along her sides. Yes, she also has scarring around her left eye; that's not a retained eyecap but apparently an old injury, which might account for why she is so much more "jumpy" around people. She has really calmed down a LOT, though, and only did a minimal amount of head-flattening when I picked her up this evening, but no mouth-gaping or striking or musking at all.
And yeah, I know it's not a Water Snake, but I came across a couple of these little guys, and thought I'd post a couple of pics because they're so cute: Southern Ringnecks, Diadophis punctatus-
And here's the Corn I caught at school yesterday in a rare moment when he was NOT biting me, lol! I swear an Amazon Tree Boa has NOTHING on this thing!
pitbulllady
Here is one of the female Red-Bellies, a really sweet girl who has a nice burgandy hue to her.
She also has what might possibly be the longest tongue I've ever seen on a snake...I don't know how it fits in her mouth!
The other female is even bigger, and has an odd greenish hue and a much-lighter belly, almost like a N. flavagaster, but she's not as calm and will take a bit more work before I can photograph her and hold her at the same time. She's the only adult Water Snake of any species that has actually bitten me, though in the two days I've had her, she's calmed down a lot and will actually sit on my lap if I don't move too fast.
Here is one of the male Bandeds, a melanistic specimen that is nearly jet-black, with no dorsal pattern visible in regular light.
Here is a little Hypo male:
A nice little normal male Banded:
The Bandeds are absolutely sweet; not one has tried to bite or musk or even head-flatten at me. You'd probably have to dress yourself in silver scales and cover yourself with fish grease to get one of these snakes to bite! They were all caught this week, so these aren't long-term captives that are used to people. That's just the typical Banded temperament.
By the way, the scratches/bites on my arm are from a big male CORN Snake that I caught yesterday at school. He is the bitey-est, nastiest snake I believe I've ever seen; I can't even count how many times he's nailed me since I caught him! He's also one of the biggest Corns I've ever seen and caused quite a stir when he showed up at the end of the sixth grade hall yesterday morning right as we were getting ready to begin that day's state-mandated standardized testing! Even the big female Red-Bellied Water Snake is a pussycat compared to this thing. He doesn't strike; he just hauls off and starts chewing and twisting his teeth into flesh and has to be pried off like a bad dog...so much for "most-docile species for beginners", lol.
EDIT: Added a few more pics, including the big odd-colored female Red-Belly. She really looks more like a Yellow-Belly, but we're not supposed to have those in SC; maybe she's a "Pastel" or something.
Notice how much lighter her belly color is than the other female's, more yellow, and how she's got a lot of green along her sides. Yes, she also has scarring around her left eye; that's not a retained eyecap but apparently an old injury, which might account for why she is so much more "jumpy" around people. She has really calmed down a LOT, though, and only did a minimal amount of head-flattening when I picked her up this evening, but no mouth-gaping or striking or musking at all.
And yeah, I know it's not a Water Snake, but I came across a couple of these little guys, and thought I'd post a couple of pics because they're so cute: Southern Ringnecks, Diadophis punctatus-
And here's the Corn I caught at school yesterday in a rare moment when he was NOT biting me, lol! I swear an Amazon Tree Boa has NOTHING on this thing!
pitbulllady
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I'm thinking about doing my grad research on them!
