Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all, I am interested in building a habitat for one or two WC Northern Water Snakes (Nerodia sipedon). I would love a paludarium/vivarium with a pond or stream water feature. My plan is to use a 75g aquarium (48"x18"x20" with a partition to create roughly 2/3 land 1/3 water with some live plants. This will be my first attempt at anything like this and Im seeking advice and answers to a few questions.

What materials would you recommend to create the partition? I have considered using that black landscaping edging stuff available at Home Depot, then coating the water side with Great Stuff, black silicone and then Co-Co Bedding or something similar to create a natural look. Will Co-Co Bedding rot quickly in the water? What else should I use? Sand? Vinyl Concrete? I have also considered using landscaping edging and covering it with cork bark. Is cork bark flexible enough to follow bends in the landscape edging? I want to avoid just having a straight partition that runs perpendicular to the front glass in favor of a more natural looking contour.

I would appreciate any suggestions or advice from anyone who has housed snakes in a similar setup. I have not been able to find much information on this type of setup for snakes (1/3 water) and I wondering if there are reasons for that I havent considered. I would also love any photos of setups like the one I've described for inspiration.

Thanks in advance.

I was going to do the same thing with my 75 gal, but for mentella's instead.
This was my plan.....
From ther hardware store, buy a piece of plexiglass. Rather than just using the plexi to make a flat straight partition to hold the land back from the water, I planned on using a small torch to heat it up and make some bends in it, then if I wanted to I could also cut the 2 ends at an angle (through lots of trial and error) to have the piece lean back also, rather than just be vertical.
That was my plan. I never executed it though. Let us know what you end up doing.
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Tom

"The more people I meet, the more I like my snakes"

I meant MANTELLA's, not mentella's.
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Tom

"The more people I meet, the more I like my snakes"