Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello all. I'm new here to the water snake forum as I've just acquired a juvenile wild caught Northern Water Snake. I'm looking for the best husbandry for this animal. I've fed it 3 minnows so far in the first day I've had it. It's about 8'' and very active and inquisitive.

Any suggestions would be welcome.

Congratulations!

Here are some suggestions. I've been keeping my Nerodia on Cypress mulch. You can buy it at Lowes, Menards, garden center type stores. I like it because the snakes can burrow into it. Its in pieces large enough that the snakes aren't likely to accidently ingest it.
Keep the substrate dry. Water and garter snakes develop a skin rot that can quickly kill them if they are kept on a damp substrate. Get a good herp vitamin to ward off thiaminase poisoning, or get them on mice asap.

Joe

Thanks for the suggestions. Could you elaborate a little bit on the thiaminase poisoning issue? I assume this can develop from the fish diet? Are minnows not a good food source? I've been reading that it's not always easy to get them on pinkies. It's also considerably more expensive than minnows. But, no matter, if mice are healthier then I'll go that route. Is there a specific product to ward off thiaminase poisoning?

Thanks.

You can scroll to below posts for more info. Basically fresh fish have an amino acid (thiaminase) that destroys thiamin (AKA vitamin B) in snakes. The result is a neurological deterioration that will eventually kill the snake. They start to loose control of their movements, typically curling over backwards when they intended to crawl forward. Its a pretty ugly disorder I think.

Its not that a few fish will kill the snake, it can take months of a steady diet of fish and nothing else. In the wild this is probably very uncommon, but in captivity its not uncommon. You can buy a good multivitamin designed specifically for herps that will supply thiamin. Feeding a variety of prey items is another solution. As Pierson pointed out below, freezing the fish does NOT help, heating them up might though.

The other important considerations for keeping most herps apply: A temperature gradient created with an overhead light or other heating element, clean water, a hide box and climbing branches.

Good luck,
Joe