Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Does anyone know of a good trap to set for any water snakes? I am trying to catch me about 6 or more adults to breed this summer. Or at least get some gravid females. I am going to attempt catching those that I posted a pic of below and some yellow bellied waters.
Justin

There are several methods you can use to "trap" watersnakes. You can place boards and tin along creeks and check for snakes as they hide underneath (make sure you OK this with the land owner). You can also use drift fencing and funnel traps (check daily). By far and away the best method I have found is hand capture of basking individuals. This is best accomplished while swimming or from a canoe. Which ever method you choose, good luck and report back on what you catch.

-Pierson
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Pierson Hill

Herpetology and Herpetoculture

when you say funnel traps do you mean minnow baskets? Thats what I have caught some in before, and used but did not think ahead and I caught a big yellow bellied and it got stuck and died. I did not know yellow bellies got that big it only got about 3 1/2" in and was much wider than the hole in the backet. I measured it and it was an amazing 5' 6". Believe it or not. I was astounded. I wish so badly I would have captured it alive.I'l probably do the board and tin thing. Thats what I have been doing. I never have luck at finding nonvenmous snakes.. Just usual;ly copper heads. I'll post pics if I get any.
Justin

Minnow baskets work well for aquatic drift fencing but you have to be extremely vigilant about checking them as the snakes can overheat or more often drown in them. For land use, a similar funnel trap can be constructed out of aluminum screen stapled in a cylinder shape with inverted screen cones stapled in each end. Make sure these are secured in place and located in shady areas of the drift fence. Atrificial cover (boards, tin) sounds like your best bet as you don't have to worry about animals being trapped - they come and go as they please.
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Pierson Hill

Herpetology and Herpetoculture

I'm just asking, not judging: What, prey tell, do you plan to do with the 180 or so baby watersnakes that 6 adult females will produce?

Joe

1) Sell as many as I can, 2) Keep about 15-25(according how I like the babies) and sell A few as Juveniles and adults, and 3) let the rest go in a place I can catch them over and over. CAtching snakes never gets old with me.
Justin

"Nor do I judge you" friend. But (there's always a but) ... many of us might collect a young pair, rear them to breeding age unless they're adults already and then breed them. In this case the off-spring are "free" ie. captive/bred/born (THESE ARE MUCH MORE VALUABLE ACTUALLY). You do this a few times (mix-matched adults) and you have your 180 babies with most likely, fewer parasites! Otherwise you have 180 less in the wild multiplied by the number of lost breeding opportunities. It is however, YOUR natural resource, it just may not be there for anyones children.

Michael (like the angel, but not one)

Thats what I was afriad of...

Let me speak freely, you can take or leave whatever I have to say.

This is really a moronic idea. Watersnakes are worth nearly nothing in the pet trade. The effort you'll put into catching, housing, heating and feeding will insure you'll never get out of them what you have in them. Even if you're an unemployed wino, you can make more money checking the change slots of pop machines than you will selling water snakes.

Check the Classified ads here at Kingsnake.com. There's a guy named Cris Amico in New York selling wild caught brown and green snakes. Everyone around the world reading these ads knows immediately that Chris is a hopelessly unemployed looser who has to resort to selling wild caugh herps to make a living. You don't want to be looked on this way, do you?

I'm all for keeping wild caught herps as pets if they aren't available in the trade as captive born. But to go out and collect a bunch of gravid adults with the idea of selling their babies is really stupid. Don't do it.

Joe

Well I'm only 15, I have no job. I 'm mainly going to breed for the kicks of it. Im not looking for a profit in breeding water snakes at all. I'm just going to be able to sell a few if any, I know. I know of a lot of places I can let the babies go. I'll keep a few as "pets" also (about 10 at the most). Oh and I'm not going to try to catch just gravid females. I'm going to try to get a few males too, for next year. So I don't have to caatch more for the same reason. I go to a herp show just about every month. I can take some there and maybe sell a few for a few bucks. These of cource are not the only snakes I'm tryin to do this with. I'm going to try a local king snake and a few rat snakes too.
Justin

Oh and what are the likely hoods of one of them turning out to be an albino or some sort of other morph? I might get more than 6 females. I have plenty of room and minnows to feed them.
Justin

You really should listen to these guys. There is a lot of experience respresented by the posters who have responded to you. It sounds to me that you are getting in over your head.
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Tim

The amount of babies 6 females can produce is more than you want to deal with, even if you could sell them all (which you can't). Feeding and housing that many baby Nerodia would be extremely arduous.

If you are serious about trapping some gravid females, I suggest you do like I am currently doing with two female erythrogaster. Several weeks ago, I hand collected two pregnant females. I collected two only because I want to have unrelated pairs of babies. I will keep the nicest 1.2 or 2.3 and let all the others go, along with their mothers, at the EXACT point of capture. The impact this will have on the population is negligible, especially with snakes as fecund as Nerodia. Removing 6 gravid females and their babies from the wild is a bit hard on the population and it could possibly have serious consequences if that population happens to be under pressure. Just something you should consider.
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Pierson Hill

Herpetology and Herpetoculture

I aggree with all that is said. But They will be killed on sight where I collect from anyways. I think thats a bit worse than catching them. I will still let alot of the babys go in the place where there moms came from though.I try to catch them at very public places to rid the snake killers of there victims( How I look at it)Lets say I have 180 babys. over 160 will be let go after there first few meals, just to give them a little of a head start. I'll kepp the rest and if anyone else wants any on this forum just e-mail me when I post pics of the babys You pay shipping and you get it. no snake price. I'm just doing this because I love the thrill of the babys being born, I will not hurt the population any becaus I will let so many back in the wild. and probably a few odf the adults too. Main place I will be cathching them is at my grandpas, and at this lake 2 hours from me, where we used to camp alot. I remember waters every where there. and just about 6 individuals should not hurt the population all that much. I night time I'v enver seen anything like it, about every 2-5 feet you will see one or 2. The thing is to get my parents to take me camping there.
Justin

If you release most of the babies as well as the adult females, the population will most likely not feel the impact. On removing them from areas where people kill them, my experience is that the people who would kill them don't see them 90% of the time. I've seen Brown Watersnakes basking six feet from docks full of fishermen, all whom would kill the snake in a heartbeat if they saw it. The best thing you can do to save the snakes is educate people. I tell fishermen that watersnakes only eat the sick fish and so prevent spread of disease.

In any case, I'd love to see some pics of wild Yellowbellies. We don't see those much on the forum.
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Pierson Hill

Herpetology and Herpetoculture

They say at 15 you know everything, or think you do. So I won't expect this advice to actually be followed, but I'll waste my time anyway

Catch a female watersnake by hand. See what it's llike to raise a handful of babies before you go too far down this road. If you haven't kept herps before you might be underestimating not only the work involved, but the problems. If your cages aren't kept clean Nerodia especially will develop blisters that will kill them in short order.

What will you keep all those snakes in? Escape proof cages of what sort? And what will you do when they start developing thiamin deficiencies, as they certainly will with a diet of bait minnows?

What will you do in the fall when you don't have as much time to clean all those cages a couple times per week? And how will you pay for the babies food this winter?

I'm not trying to discourage you, just suggesting ways that you might have a better chance of success. No one "traps" water snakes, they catch them by hand - learn to do this and you'll have less chance of accidently killing the snakes with a poorly designed trap, or one that is not checked often enough.

Learn what its like to raise a small group of snakes before you try to raise hundreds. If you try to do too much right off you might end up discouraged and frustrated. Right now your imagining all the up side while your blissfully unaware of the numerous down sides!

Good luck,

Joe
http://www.HerpNet.net

I have had alot of experience, I raised 20 garters last year that my female had. It was relatively simple. I not only just feed them bait minnows. I feed them some small bream, worms, guppies, and the occasional frog, that I have frozen, and thawed out. I keep the snakes in shoe box things. with a large water bowl, and I clean it daily. What exalty do you mean by what will I do when I don't have time to clean them a couple times a week in the fall? school? I am not going to keep all that many. I will keep just a few of the babys. The prettiest ones. I will let most of the adults back in the wild. Oh and just incase you got the wrong idea, I am only going to get 6 in all. I will try to get 3 midlands and 3 yellow bellies(2 females one male of each) . I will let one of the females of both go, and plenty kepp about 5 of each species.
Justin

Well, like I said, 15 year olds are temporary geniuses. Its a shame we have to grow older and realize with each passing year how little we actually do know. At 45 I'm just starting to realize that I've known almost nothing up to this point. But when I'm 55 I hope to look back and see that I had just begun to plum the depths of my ignorance at 45.

Go for it kid. Mere words are of no use to you now.

Joe

Well, I don't think I don't understand your point for one minute. I know I donn't know anything. It's like I'm just plain stupid, but I just don't see the harm of taaking a few snakes from the wild, and let there babys go, and most of the adults. Especially where the snakes are being killed too. I myself have also seen snakes almost right infront of fiisherman, and they did not see them till i went over there and grabbed it up, and they say ur gonna get bit by that mocasin. I then explain that it i not a venomous snake and means no harm to you then they interupt with there dumb snake stories, there was amocassin that just came right up in da boat wid me, and was trying to bite me, and and I beat over the head with a paddle over and over, and it just swam off, They were saying it was about 8 feet long and as big around as my leg. That is just an example of the peoples stories around here and there stubborness. They almost always say I'm gonna kill whatever snake I see. It doesn't matter what I say to them. That is how my uncles and grandpas are. I don't know how you people get otheres educated about them enough to where at least they won't swerve to hit a black racer or another snake on the other side of the road. It might be just where I live the people are just more stubborn and don't listen to others here.I know you would preobably throw this right back at me. But oh well. If you need the proof of me letting the babys go I will take some pics of them bing released and post it here. I take very good care of my herps. I did not know of tha sickness they get from eating bait fish, but I do vary their diet. Oh one other thing, For some reason it will let me sign on as Justin Stricklin and sometimes it won't that is why my posts are a little crewed up. what and Justin Stricklin are both me I had to make what becaus eof this.
Justin

Oh and another thing I will keep the adults in my snake racks that I'm biuilding right now. The babys and adults this winter will not really be a problem with the food as I'm going to brumate them.I brumated some snakes this past winter for the first time and did not lose even one. What exaclty is thiamine difficiancies( spelling bad). What is a symptom?
Justin

Run a search on this forum for "thiaminase" and you'll get everything you need to know.
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Pierson Hill

Herpetology and Herpetoculture