New Watersnake!

[Sophia'sSophia]

Meet Babu (Bah-boo), another Nerodia fasciata. Picked her up at repticon this weekend. I had been going to help a friend pick out his first cornsnake, and I did, but I just had to take this sweetie home too. I've reached my limit, for now. :)

I'm glad I did, too, this particular species has always been my favorite, so it felt a little odd not having one around.

[Pareeeee]

Very cool. What do you feed her?

[Sophia'sSophia]

Thanks! I feed all of my snakes salmon filet, always include skin. Sometimes I throw a bit of calcium or such on there. They love it.

[Pareeeee]

Woo, salmon! That's gotta be expensive! :)
Nice to see someone with a watersnake. They aren't as popular as other snakes in captivity. Well, here they aren't, anyway.

[sharthun]

Very cool snake!:)

[drumcrush]

Oh wow, really cool!

[Sophia'sSophia]

Thanks guys!

Woo, salmon! That's gotta be expensive! :)
Nice to see someone with a watersnake. They aren't as popular as other snakes in captivity. Well, here they aren't, anyway.

Oh nahhh. I get it half off for claiming it's for animal use, and they really only eat small amounts. Her first meal with me cost less than 20cents, for example. (Because, as a vegetarian, I go to the deli for them, so I only buy snake sized slices.)

It's a shame they're not more popular, what with their interesting diet and calm attitude. (Only wild ones are aggressive, Ive met/kept a lot of them in captivity, never was struck at.) I figure they're perfect for the folks out there who don't want to feed mice, but want something bigger than a thamnophis. Anyway, thanks! :)

[sharthun]

Have some pics of her enclosure? :)

[Sophia'sSophia]

It's pretty boring. I don't have the time/money for a display tank yet, so she's in a tub-style, minimalistic environment. Covers the basic needs though, the only thing unique about it is the over-sized water-dish.

[sharthun]

It's pretty boring. I don't have the time/money for a display tank yet, so she's in a tub-style, minimalistic environment. Covers the basic needs though, the only thing unique about it is the over-sized water-dish.

No problem, just curious about bedding and water dish. I assumed you need an over sized water dish for a water snake.

[Hurrok]

Wow cool! How big is Babu?

[LarryS]

Very nice snake!

A few years ago, I kept several Nerodia clarkii compressicauda for a friend. Had them for about a year until he got his life back together. I really enjoyed them. Had a hard time giving them back!
I think water snakes are a very underrated group.

Hoping you will have many years of enjoyment with yours!

[Sophia'sSophia]

Thanks :3 Rough measurement of 33 inches, she's eating so I don't want to disturb her for somethin more precise.

Sharthun: I use a small letterbox type plastic box. One of those heavy duty craft things. For substrate, I use papertowels and napkins. To keep things clean I usually feed fish eatters in their waterbowl, but since she's so voracious, I've been letting her snack off the cutting board lol.

Very cool, Larry, I've never had the opportunity to meet one of them. I agree, so under-rated. Thank you kindly!

[natsamjosh]

Awesome water snake! How often do you have to clean the cage? The reason I ask is that I have an eastern Indigo. While I consider Indigos the king of North American colubrids, they also are the king of making frequent and disgusting messes! I'm curious how they compare to water snakes.

Thanks,
Ed

[GarterGirl]

I love these guys! I can't wait for my little girl to get to the size that yours is, but she's just a little yearling.
I'm working on becoming a breeder for Nerodia F. out here, but I'm having some time trying to find males, particularly something other than WC.

(To be honest, I love Nerodia more than Thams- beefier, more exciting, with more confident attitudes. So sad that they have such a bad reputation.)

[Corey209]

Thanks! I feed all of my snakes salmon filet, always include skin. Sometimes I throw a bit of calcium or such on there. They love it.

Make sure the calcium has D3 and how much filet do you feed? I was feeding my FWC some Rock Cod filet and I didn't know how much to give.

[wrecker45]

Very nice it looks like the ones we have here on georgian bay. I had a wild one when i was a kid . It tamed down fairly quick. Seeing yours makes me want another one.

[Sophia'sSophia]

NatsamJosh: Eh Only been two weeks, haven't really worked out an adequate schedule yet. Mostly because the feedin's eratic for now.

Same here, GarterGirl, as much as I love my lapsnake ribbon, Nerodia's just come out on top in my opinion. Good luck with the breeding! Have you tried Gherp.com? They usually have them for a pretty low price.

Corey209, I'll check for that. It's made for reptiles, so I'd hope it's good... As for the amount of food, I just dice up the fish into sizes a little bit less wide than she is, and then give her as many as she wants, usually 3 seems to be the average. Maybe I'll get some pictures of her during the next feeding, so the size is shown.
Mannn where did you find your FWC? That's such a respectable snake, but they seem so rare.

wrecker45: yeah their "bad attitude" really doesn't stick, does it? ;)

[Corey209]

Corey209, I'll check for that. It's made for reptiles, so I'd hope it's good... As for the amount of food, I just dice up the fish into sizes a little bit less wide than she is, and then give her as many as she wants, usually 3 seems to be the average. Maybe I'll get some pictures of her during the next feeding, so the size is shown.
Mannn where did you find your FWC? That's such a respectable snake, but they seem so rare.


I live in Northern California, right next to the biggest producers of FWC's in the US. GBU Enterprises and the Serpentarium in Lodi both breed every season so if you want a baby check with them I think during Spring/Summer. I got my male hypo from a guy who is being deployed in a week so he gave me a deal at $150. I'm also going to pick up a red tegu with enclosure from him for $200.