Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a pair of Northern Watersnakes, the female of which I believe is gravid but I can find very little information on the internet. Is there anyone who has experience of breeding them in captivity who could give me any tips, time scales etc?

Breeding in watersnakes is much the same as in gartersnakes. Keep the female fed unless she refuses food on her own. Typically in late July or sometime in August, she will give birth to around 10 live babies. She may give birth to more than 10. The babies will be ready to survive on their own from birth and will eat small fish or tadpoles from their water bowl. If your watersnakes are from a site nearby, it may be best to release the babies you don't want to keep. To read more about Northern watersnakes you can copy and paste this link into your browser: http://www.michherp.org/nwaters.html

Thank you for the info.

My watersnakes are captive bred and as I live in the UK any offspring will be kept or sold.

for appreciating these fine snakes. Watersnakes don't have a big following in the US. Most snake folks consider them to be snappy, smelly fish-eaters with little to recommend them. I like their attitude--they don't take abuse from anybody.

Wild Nerodia will bite and then deliberately bring their cloaca around to smear musk into the bite wound. The musk stings the wound and contributes to the unpleasant consequences of bothering a wild watersnake. I live in Michigan and some of the watersnakes that live in the Great Lakes grow to great size, nearly five feet, and massive. A bite and musking from one of them can leave a lasting impression.

I have a few specimens of the inland form, much more modest at around three feet maximum size. Mine are still young at around two feet. They have learned to eat defrosted mice and now attack these when I present a meal with large forceps. The snakes are fearless and ignore the forceps to snatch the mouse. They will also eat a dead mouse simply laid on the floor of the cage.

My Northern Watersnakes don't bite or musk although they are not comfortable being handled. For me, watersnakes are old friends from childhood, when I used to search for them in ponds and marshes near my home. Many happy memories associated with watersnakes and now I can enjoy their remarkable psychology and other attributes as well. One of my favorite snake species.

It must be great to see them in the wild. They are great characters. My pair eat defrosted rat pups. The female is fine to handle but the male can be snappy and musks quite a bit. They are very inquisitive and love to settle in their branches to watch the world go by.

In the picture you can see how plump the female is, hanging dow I guess to move the babies down towards the vent. The male is peeping out below her
Image

Can't say how many babies but she looks quite full. Her spine is showing as she uses up her adipose fat in the final stages of her pregnancy. Soon you can be bitten and musked by a dozen or more water snakes instead of just one. It's nice to have options. Or not.

She's not eaten for a few weeks now so I guessed she hadn't long to go if she was gravid so it's really nice to have confirmation. I'll let you know the outcome and thank you for all the help.

I've found that a basking light is very helpful for Water Snakes and Garter Snakes to thermoregulate under while gravid.

Tim

Third Eye

Thanks. She does have a light in there so maybe that's another reason why she's spending time up in the branches although today she's spent most of it in her laying box.

I promised an update on her progress.

She seems to have been gravid for ever but it's looking as though babies may be very imminent unless she's extremely constipated. I noticed this morning that she looked less fat along most of her body so I picked her up to check and this is what I found

Sadly, she died before giving birth and I took the decision to cut her open to see if I could save her little ones. There were 5 babies in her including one already out of its sack all fully developed but dead.