northern water snake

[SandBoa]

i caught a northern water snake juvenile today and im wondering what it will eat?
crayfish, minnows, frogs? i need answers ASAP.

s/he is in a ten gallon aquarium with about three gallons of water and a basking rock. ;P

 

[pategirl]

Should eat fish...the ones I catch here usually eat minnows.

 

[SandBoa]

thankyou

thankyou...ive got one in its aquarium right now..so when its hungry it can eat. im going out to catch more minnows tommorow for s/he.

 

[Brian S]

I kept one years ago and I fed it frogs and minnows. I put a large water dish in with it and put goldfish, minnows etc. in the the dish. I had it for about 3 years before I turned it loose.

 

[SandBoa]

ok

ok cool. im keeping mine in a an almost all aquarium habitat. it seems to want to swim more than being on land...yet i do have some rocks which emerge from the water and alow it to fully emerge its body.

 

[SandBoa]

who here has caught a rattlesnake...im trying to find a massasauga. i know how to handle snakes (so dont call me foolish) :?

 

[Brian S]

I've caught Pygmy Rattlers before. Used to see several around here but I haven't seen one in years. I have also caught copperheads and I caught a Cottonmouth one time.

 

[pitbulllady]

I feed my Water Snakes minnows and sometimes toads. I've had some that I could get to eat catfish chunks from the supermarket(catfish are farmed around here like cattle, so their meat is available at every supermarket in the meat dept.).

As for the question about catching rattlesnakes, I've caught plenty of Canebrakes, but there's a HUGE difference between a Canebrake and a Massasagua. The person in MI might want to check with state laws-I know that Massasaguas are protected in many parts of their range. I don't know about MI, though.

pitbulllady

 

[SandBoa]

ok

k thanks thats kool by the way

 

[skinheaddave]

You may want to check out this site to start with. Massasauga rattlers are definitely protected in MI. It is actually really interesting to compare the legal status of your populations to those of our own. We have many of the same species, but our populations represent the northernmost edge of the range for most. As a result, there are some noteable differences as to the legal status of some reptiles/amphibians.

Cheers,
Dave

 

[Wade]

You do not want to keep your watersnake in the set up you described. Yes, they swim and hunt in the water, but they spend significant amounts of time on land also. If you don't allow your snake the opprotunity to dry out, it will likley get severe skin infections and what is known as "skin blister disease". I've kept many different species of water snake, including the northern water, and I keep them in dry cages with a large water bowl. Although I think it's possible to keep them in a semi-aqatic set up if set up properly with a large DRY land area (complete with hiding areas), I don't think it's posible in a ten gallon. For that type of set up, you'd need something along the lines of a 40 gallon breeder or larger, with a glued-in divider seperating the land and water areas.

Wade

 

[SandBoa]

lol

the watersnake is loose in my house...well im gonna have some "fun" finding it...thankyou for the information.

 

[orcrist]

Up here in NY I haven't seen any massassauga, bit we do get timber rattlers. Are those the same as canebrakes?

 

[Raan_Jodus]

I found it quite interesting to learn a few weeks ago that is is actually illegal to keep any native snakes in Ontario. I was a bit put off by that, but i figured there were lots of ppl that did it anyway.

 

[Malkavian]

Up here in NY I haven't seen any massassauga, bit we do get timber rattlers. Are those the same as canebrakes?

Canebrake and timbers are either color morphs of the same species or two subspecies, I've read both but I'm not sure which is the accepted view at this point.

This pic is a pretty textbook canebrake (caught in rutherford county, north carolina and photographed by myself)

This is a timber

There tends to be a LOT of variation in color based on locality (google images search illustrates this)

 

[The Misanthrope]

I cought a northern water snake as well. They're pretty cool. I just buy fish from the pet store for her. She goes nuts. I have her in a 10 gallon w/ rat bedding. She loves to burrow under it. I just have a hide for her and a very large water dish, about 2/3 the length of the tank, the substrate is about 2/3 to the top of the cage and I use a top that locks. With a larger water dish you'll find that they'll just go out and swim back and forth or just chillout in the water. Mine has become very 'tame' I feed it fish right out of my hand and handle it often. Very cool snakes.

 

[LPacker79]

I've seen several Massagua here, unfortunately all but one have been roadkill. The one I saw live was quite beautiful. I was leading one of our broodmares down the driveway to the front pasture and it was in the driveway. Not a happy snake, and it didn't make the horse any happier! I just backed her up and we made a nice wide berth around it. One of those times I really really wished I had a camera.....

 

[Wade]

Canebrake and timbers are either color morphs of the same species or two subspecies, I've read both but I'm not sure which is the accepted view at this point.

Depends on who you talk to. I think the herpetological community at large does NOT regard the canebrake as a valid subspecies, but many individual herpetoligists still do. The game departments of both Virginia and North Carolina consider them to be a valid subspecies. The canebrake is protected in Virginia, while the timber is not.

Wade

 

[WhyTeDraGon]

Ive had a couple Western Diamondbacks, very cool species. But I must say, any rattler is dangerous, and not something to mess with if you are unexperienced. Not saying you are.
Hoping that you do know what your doing, actually. Would hate to find out you had to make a trip to the hospital.

~Crystal

 

[SandBoa]

ill be more experienced within those 3 and a half years. so dont worry, i wont be making any hospital trips.


*4 years later* a 20 year old herp collecter has died do to the bite from one of his pasific rattlesnakes, sources show that he was over confident with his experience *just kidding*