Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I caught a Diamondback watersnake on Thanksgiving, while we were emptying out one of the ponds.
The descriptions I have of these snakes says that they are quick to bite and are often mistaken for cottonmouths, but this little guy is a rebel or something.
My first reaction when I saw him was to try to look at his markings. He's pretty small, around 6 or 7 inches in length.
I managed to grab his tail and pull him from the weeds we had just thrown out of the pond, and my mom tried to look at his eyes to see what shape the pupils were.
We determined he wasn't dangerous, and for the time being placed him in an old cooler. Later I went to get him, and he didn't struggle, just curled up in my hand.
Everything I read says that Diamondbacks are ferocious water snakes that are quick to bite. He only offered to bite once, but he struck with his mouth closed.
we bought him rosies as dinner, and he ate 7. He's fairly tame, and seems to like the setup we made for him, though he seldom comes out of the water area.
Has anyone had any experience with these snakes, and if so, what are some tips for keeping them?
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Cali
"Beauty is in the eye, but if the eye is ugly, it can see no beauty."
"Hand over the coffee and no one gets hurt."
-Garfield..
When life hands you lemons, throw them back and say "MAKE YOUR OWN @#$*^$ LEMONADE!!"
thexelahfiles@yahoo.com

i have a baby about 12 inches long and hes doing realy good and would not keep part of the cage water id just put a water bowl mines realy tame they do good in captivity id feed him once every week by

As a rule of thumb, nerodia are "aggressive" with regard to self preservation however, if they don't feel overly threatened they don't have to bite. NOT biting may be a fear response as well!
Notwithstanding, since he's taken food readily ... this is terrific!
I would encourage him to leave the water with a snug hiding place which is warm and secure. Babies need lots of gentle heat to digest their meals (they have no body mass to conserve warmth).
The balance of the terrarium from the water dish should be DRY with ambient humidity at a good 50% or better. We would consider this steamy but not dank/damp.
Offer food frequently say, every three days. Prior to each meal might be a good time to handle him gently for a minute or so. He's tiny and harmless so disregard any nippy behavior. This will train both him and you to be relaxed with each other especially as he grows and his excitement about being fed makes him completely nuts! He will learn, he wants to eat fish, not fingers.
Oh, progress reports are appreciated (it's the law I think).
Michael

Well we set up a ten gallon for now, with part of pond liner to make him a "pond" half and a soil half.
He's probably used to this because he lived in my granny's big pond, which used pond liner. It's just plain black.
We also set it up so that he could hide in a little house shaped toy and a peice of bark. We have him a nice basking area set up, also, with Reptile heat lamps and all. He seems to prefer staying in the water area, though. That's originally where he was living, in the weedy area of the pond, where the "fairy wand" grass had taken over.
I don't know if I can get mom to listen to me about changing the setup, but she might. It's about a 50% humidity right now. He's enjoying himself. If you think it would be best I'll talk to her.
I will keep you updated on any new occurrences or additions to my reptiles, though I don't think mom's letting me get many more. I have an Eastern Box turtle (Dot Matrix) and a Buttermilk racer (Lobo) and the little Diamondback (Sneaky {mom calls him Pond..})

We many be adopting a baby beardie from our rehabilitator friends at the Turtle Ranch. I want a beardie too..so this might just work out.
Many thanks,
-----
Cali
"Beauty is in the eye, but if the eye is ugly, it can see no beauty."
"Hand over the coffee and no one gets hurt."
-Garfield..
When life hands you lemons, throw them back and say "MAKE YOUR OWN @#$*^$ LEMONADE!!"
thexelahfiles@yahoo.com

Changing the set-up may not be necessary, depending on how fastidious you are with regard to cleaning. I use liner in all my ponds (water garden hobby) but ridgid plastic and stainless steel "bowls" for my snakes. This allows me to lift them out of the tank to clean them regularly.
As for his (Sneaky) remaining in the water ... keep a very close eye on him. If so much as one little white spot shows up anywhere on his skin, remove the liner and offer only a dish for drinking and feeding and do not allow him to soak!
My experience is that, nerodia use water as a security blanket or pacifier in the case of a baby. If there is nowhere for him to hide in the water zone, this might discourage him and cause him to seek shelter elsewhere.
Be happy and enjoy!

This is one of my nerodia, she's a bit older now since the pic was taken. I have got to take up-dated photos!
Michael

beautiful shot!
I'll try to get mom to use her wonderful camera to take a shot of Sneaky..
He got out this morning. I'll be fixing that today.

Thanks for the info, it's a great help..
Cali
-----
Cali
"Beauty is in the eye, but if the eye is ugly, it can see no beauty."
"Hand over the coffee and no one gets hurt."
-Garfield..
When life hands you lemons, throw them back and say "MAKE YOUR OWN @#$*^$ LEMONADE!!"
thexelahfiles@yahoo.com

He got out!!?
Sorry about that ... I was going to add "secure" to the list yesterday but assumed it was a shortcoming only of my own experience.
Again, this is an old photo of my Red Belly's cage. The ability to handle your snake now will come back as a real blessing when they're bigger. The terrarium (I'm in) has a four point lock system, home made, but very secure. It allows me to sleep at night knowing (especially) nothing can get in!
Michael

WOW..beautiful cage. And red belly
Well the escaping problem is fixed. He's a little sneaker though!! I tell yah...
heh
Cali
-----
Cali
"Beauty is in the eye, but if the eye is ugly, it can see no beauty."
"Hand over the coffee and no one gets hurt."
-Garfield..
When life hands you lemons, throw them back and say "MAKE YOUR OWN @#$*^$ LEMONADE!!"
thexelahfiles@yahoo.com

They can be pretty aggressive. With it being late in the year, it might have been a little cold. I don't worry about thier bite too much (they do make you bleed a lot though). The musk on the other hand is NASTY! You can't wash that stuff off!

I've kept wild caught snakes for a short period (a few days) and usually they would eat no matter what. Fish are preferred, but will also eat frogs, tadpoles and baby turtles.

Just one word of caution. N. rhombifer can get big! I've seen some females that were close to 5 feet long. Be thinking about where you're going to get food for it when it is large.