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please help identify:

Northern Water

We get them all the time around here. They look just like the one pictured. No matter what I am certain it is a water snake.

dc
 
to anybody still interested, I emailed the guy who runs scsnakesandfrogs.com, and his opinion is that it is just as most of us expected, Northern water snake.

As an added bonus, it has already take to life in captivity, and is eating feeder goldfish with gusto!
 
zeewhiz said:
to anybody still interested, I emailed the guy who runs scsnakesandfrogs.com, and his opinion is that it is just as most of us expected, Northern water snake.

As an added bonus, it has already take to life in captivity, and is eating feeder goldfish with gusto!
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Cool! Good luck with the new pet!
 
Nanci said:
Belly shot: And they BITE!!!
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:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:

I was reading in a book the other day about keeping snakes as pets.. . ..
I got to a chapter on Venomous Snakes. . . .the guy that wrote the book said this in the opening paragraph:

If you are considering a posionous snake as a pet, here is some advise I always give out. First, purchase or capture a BLACK RACER, any type of water snake or any other very aggresive Non-Venomous snake. Keep it for 3 months. Clean it's cage on a regular basis, change the water dish, feed the snake ect. . .. Eveytime this snake bites you, write on a post it note and place it near the aquarium: "I could be dead right now" . . OR "If I didn't die from that, I just ran up a very expensive hospital bill, or forced my insurance company to pay thousands of dollars in medical care, and may have lost a limb because of that"
Then after three months decide if you want to proceed with your aquisition of a venomous reptile !!!
 
JoshnJJ said:
LMAO! That was hilarious!
What kind of book was it?
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It's actually really good advice. Hot snakes don't come with training wheels. Practice with a really aggressive, but actually harmless snake like a big coachwhip or a racer. Now...don't get bit. It's alot easier said than done.

You can survive 1,000 coachwhip bites with nothing more than a few stitches and bruises no matter how big it gets. 1 atrox bite can kill you...as a baby...
 
JoshnJJ said:
LMAO! That was hilarious!
What kind of book was it?
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Got if from the Library here in Columbia. . .took it back this past weekend. I don't recall the exact title of it right now, but it was about keeping and breeding snakes. The title was similar to that. Something like "The Care and Breeding of Snakes"
 
i have to 100% agree. it's definetly a northern water snake (nerodia sipedon).i catch these all the time.at first glance you may go toward juv. racer but the pattern is not in saddles or blotches or in spots all the way down the body.they are in bands that point at the bottom toward the belly by the head and turn into more of "broken" or "cubed" saddles longituadaly on the snake.and the belly pattern is a direct give-away of the common nerodia pattern.it's great you took so many different angles for an I.D.awaesome pics, cooler find!!
 
in reply to zeewhiz.nerodia and thamnophis do very well on golfish in captivity,but the life expectancy is short in captivity when only fed a strict diet of goldfish. goldfish are almost like worms.they take up room in the stomach and offer enough nutrients for growth but not enough for a long lived healthy life in captivity.you should offer a frog or tadpoles more often than the goldfish.it seems like a task but the snake will undoubtedly show it's appreciation by living much much longer as your pet.water snakes don't feed on fish a frequently as you or others might believe because we know how fast fish are, and if you have ever watched a snake catch fish they kind of just stick they're head in the water and lash it back and fourth until a random fish is snagged in it's mandibles.LOL.but all in all they will make great pets because of they're voracious appetites.watch the bites because they have an anti-coalguant in their saliva which cause more bleeding than a normal snake bite. to avaoid the full-grown bites, make sure to handle the crazy little dude enough.that being said.....good luck.you should post future pics when it grows a bit more.
 
lyfeoverdeath said:
in reply to zeewhiz.nerodia and thamnophis do very well on golfish in captivity,but the life expectancy is short in captivity when only fed a strict diet of goldfish. goldfish are almost like worms.they take up room in the stomach and offer enough nutrients for growth but not enough for a long lived healthy life in captivity.you should offer a frog or tadpoles more often than the goldfish.it seems like a task but the snake will undoubtedly show it's appreciation by living much much longer as your pet.water snakes don't feed on fish a frequently as you or others might believe because we know how fast fish are, and if you have ever watched a snake catch fish they kind of just stick they're head in the water and lash it back and fourth until a random fish is snagged in it's mandibles.LOL.but all in all they will make great pets because of they're voracious appetites.watch the bites because they have an anti-coalguant in their saliva which cause more bleeding than a normal snake bite. to avaoid the full-grown bites, make sure to handle the crazy little dude enough.that being said.....good luck.you should post future pics when it grows a bit more.
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thanks for the info.... it's not my snake, but I'll relay the frog/tadpole info to my friend who caught/owns it. Tadpoles arent hard to get ahold of, you can usually find them in the same tanks as feeder fish in pet stores.
 
hey man, no problem. i just believe any healthy snake is a good snake (even if it is a ferociuosley dispositioned little biter). :)
 
Don't feed it goldfish. Goldfish, fathead minnows, and catfish all contain a chemical...can't remember exactly, but I think it is thiaminase, or something like that. It's deadly to snakes. Feed it Danio minnows, guppies, platties, mollies or swordtails. Feed it ALOT and feed it everyday. You could also try frozen strips of trout. A garter snake expert recommended it to me as a GREAT substitute for live fish.

I keep a Western Aquatic Garter(Sierra Garter), and it eats 3-4 Danios or guppies every day, and 1 or 2 Pacific tree frogs a week. T. couchii are often mistaken for Nerodia because they spend so much time in and around the water, but they are, in fact, Thamnophis and true garter snakes...and they thrive on a strict diet of fish and amphibians...
 
i believe you are thinking of thiaminese which dissolves vitamin B1 and does not let the snake absorb the vitamin itself therefor killing it slowly.the snake becomes lethargic and eventually developes mental health problems(which inhibit the normal instincts of the brain to perform it's once involuntary functions,such as normal respiration and a rhythmic healthy heartbeat) prior to death. also they[goldfish] contain copper sulfates ,which is a metallic trace element that is biologically used as an anti-fungal by goldfish to prevent bacterial systemic infection from the squalid conditions they commonly live in ,and which is also a reason why they are such a filthy choice as a prey item. all in all, this is also a detrimental chemical when ingested by any snake.
 
Yup. That's the stuff.

But...if you know about it, why did you recommend goldfish as a feeder?
 
zeewhiz said:
...... As an added bonus, it has already take to life in captivity, and is eating feeder goldfish with gusto!......
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i don't believe it was as much a recommendation, as much as it was a precautionary statement over the assumption that people who usually use feeder goldfish for their snakes usually use feeder goldfish as the main staple of the snake's diet. ;)


lyfeoverdeath said:
in reply to zeewhiz.nerodia and thamnophis do very well on golfish in captivity,but the life expectancy is short in captivity when only fed a strict diet of goldfish. goldfish are almost like worms.they take up room in the stomach and offer enough nutrients for growth but not enough for a long lived healthy life in captivity.....
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only trying to help.not recommend.
 
lyfeoverdeath said:
i don't believe it was as much a recommendation, as much as it was a precautionary statement over the assumption that people who usually use feeder goldfish for their snakes usually use feeder goldfish as the main staple of the snake's diet. ;)


only trying to help.not recommend.
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Yea...but you acknowledge goldfish as a feeder, without acknowledging the risks and dangers. I appreciate you were trying to help, but a little cautionary statement and a recommendation of other, SAFE feeder fish would have helped this individual a lot more.

There is nothing in your previous posts to indicate that ther goldfish are the CAUSE of a shortened life expectancy, and there is no mention of safer alternatives that will allow the animal to thrive and live to a normal or even above average life expectancy in the wild.

I'm really not picking on you, but it seems if you were trying to be helpful, you could have recommended feeders that would not be detrimental, rather than allow the OP to continue feeding goldfish with no knowledge or warning of the danger.

I do appreciate that you are trying to help, and I'm really not trying to be a jerk...but something like that, which can prove fatal to the snake, should be mentioned initially, not after prodding, IMO...
 
lyfeoverdeath said:
.....you should offer a frog or tadpoles more often than the goldfish.it seems like a task but the snake will undoubtedly show it's appreciation by living much much longer as your pet......
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i don't tell people what to do.giving advice is different from giving direct orders to others.and I DID offer an alternative, only with assuming i wouldn't be making the entire decision of the snake's diet for that owner which isn't even the person i was messaging.i wrote my reply to that person with keeping more than one thing in mind.1)they don't have to listen to me. 2)that they probably won't be able to aquire amphibian prey everytime it's time to feed.3)and that person is not the true owner. goldfish have a longterm negative effect on health of snakes.but with occasional to rare feedings, of goldfish the snake is gonna be fine. my recommendation was for the person to cut down on goldfish because excessive,frequent or predominant feedings, results in the problems i later mentioned.


i did mention that goldfish weren't nutritious.there is a difference between forcing your opinion on others and also assuming that they will exercise their power as the owner of their snake,and undoubtedly do as they wish.my advice is simply a supplimentary device to the owner's opinion.i never assume that someone will totally listen or even partially listen to my advice or my recommendations.so, that is why i write things the way i do. i respect a person's freedoms and i also remember it's not my pet at all times.

:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:


lyfeoverdeath said:
......goldfish are almost like worms.they take up room in the stomach and offer enough nutrients for growth but not enough for a long lived healthy life in captivity......the snake will undoubtedly show it's appreciation by living much much longer as your pet.......
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good lord....the scymatics.

Honestly, i do think it's silly to tell someone how to give advice when you kan give them your own.i mean.......that's what forums are for.RIGHT? nahhhhh, i'de probably be wrong. LMAo_Other wise at this rate it would be a one on one chat room.....RIGHT? nahhhhhh, i couldn't be. :laugh::laugh:
 
lyfeoverdeath said:
next time i offer my advice, i'll just say, "shut the hell up and do as i say!!!" :laugh::laugh::laugh:
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Dude, come one. I'm not being like that, and I'm not being "bossy". The simple fact is...if someone tells me they are feeding their cornsnake crickets, I'm not going to say, "Good! It's eating! Crickets aren't the most nutritous." I'm going to say, "Don't feed it crickets, it's gonna die. Feed it mice." You never made mention of the actual, life-threatening risks associated with feeding goldfish. If someone asks what temperature their corn should be at, I'm not going to say "They do very well in hot climates" and try to justify it by saying "No one is gonna listen to me anyhow". If the OP wasn't curious and interested in REAL and PROPER information, they would not have asked.

This is what you said in the first line of your reply:
in reply to zeewhiz.nerodia and thamnophis do very well on golfish in captivity...
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They DON'T do "very well" on a diet of goldfish, it KILLS them. That's bad advice. It's worse than bad, it's potentially fatal. And you KNOW it is potentially fatal. Yet you still said it.

Yes...this is a public forum with many participants. Yes, I caught your error and corrected it. No, the OP isn't the owner of the snake. But you gave bad advice...proudly. And now you are trying to defend it.

You can justify it any way you'd like to make yourself feel better, but the bottom line is...you gave horrible advice, and there simply is no justification for KNOWINGLY offering advice that can be fatal. And I did now, and ALWAYS will call ANYone one giving out fatal advice. You CAN'T justify the willing and knowledgable offering of fatal advice to a person asking for help. Period.

No matter how many out of context quotes you make of your own posts, you cannot deny that you said they do very well on goldfish. Sorry, but it just ain't gonna fly. You either didn't know about thiaminase before reading my post(which is actually fine, and a simple error...no harm no foul), OR you knowingly offered horrible advice...which is bad form at best, and really just a bad thing to do in general. Either way...as far as I'm concerned, it's over. Just don't come back with another string of rambling justifications, trying to make me look bad for pointing it out. There isn't much else you can say. You made an error. So be it. I caught it. Big deal. It's over. Accept responsibility for what you wrote, move on, and try to offer more accurate advice in the future. It's only a big deal if you continue MAKING it a big deal.

Try to remember that I didn't do anything wrong in this thread. I corrected bad advice. End of story. Don't justify it. If it was an error...so be it. But don't justify it...
 
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