Thanks again Merlin for ID-ing it for me.

Does anyone have any experience with these snakes? I have read about 15 websites and am getting varying information. Some say they grow to about 3' and others say 5'. They're either very aggressive always or somewhat aggressive but will tame with handling. All of them say the bite is very painful (I wear gloves).

I need help with food, I know they eat slow moving fish, frogs and can possibley eat worms and pinkies. This guy wouldn't touch a mouse but happily ate 2 gold fish. I gave him 3 aquatic frogs but he's left them alone. I know gold fish aren't good but what are slow moving fish? I'm hoping he'll take to dew worms, my garter loved them. I can get tons of little tree frogs around here but until spring.

Thanks for any help.

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Val
www.reptilerescuerichmond.org

I think any fish will be a 'slow moving fish' if you put it on land or in a tiny water dish. Look up what fish people feed to their turtles.

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Those who say it can't be done should get out of the way of those who are doing it.

~*~Lacey~*~

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I have never personally heard of anyone being able to tame nerodias!
They are foul tempered critters!
Try scenting the mouse with a goldfish.
Or you might try taking a peice of fine cotton thread(NO SYNTHETICS!) and tie the pinkie to the tail of a goldfish. As it swallows the goldfish the pinkie will follow and it may convince the snake that these are food as well!

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Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

I used to have a withc garter snake and we bought frozen smelts at the grocery store which I defrosted and put across the edge of the water dish. He ate them up readily. (I think that's about as slow-moving as you can get!)
I was 10 years old and knew nothing much about keeping snakes, but this one did very very well in my care for years.

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Andrea

You can feed them a variety of fish, but I'd also add frogs and other critters to the menu. But I'd definitely try scenting mice to "train" your snake to accept them. They're cheaper than many alternatives as well. A diet too rich in oily fish can cause seizures and death in snakes. Minnows, carp, goldfish, cod, etc are oily fish, but all fish have oil to some degree.

Fish oil contains an enzyme that breaks down thiamine (vitamin B12). A diet high in these fish eliminates too much thiamine from the snake's nervous system and eventually kills them, so a varied diet is important. To scent mice you can just rub a fish on the mouse. Try starting with pinkie mice, they have no fur. Eventually the snake will learn to accept mice as they are.

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"Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines." - John Benfield

Thanks everyone for your help. We had the snake out today, he strikes initially with his mouth closed, but once we've got him he's fine. Pretty flighty though. Everything I've read about these guys says the musk is nasty, he let loose but it wasn't too bad.

Stay tuned for another ID help thread.

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Val
www.reptilerescuerichmond.org