Finally, the truth of the SEX!

Adrya · #1 (**permalink**) 03-27-2006, 03:00 AM

My watersnake was finally big enough for me to sex with the smallest probe I had tonight.... so HE is now a SHE.

So now I need to rename her from Giles to something else.... I mean I gave her that name cause I had to call her SOMETHING at the time... and at the time she looked like a male. lol

When I first got her in summer 2004, she was a tiny little 8 inch long thing... now she's an awesome 30 inches and a little curious, inquisitive, fiesty ravenous little bugger that could stuff herself senseless with food everyday if she could!

This was her then... (crappy pic, I know, only had a couple pics of her when she was little.. and I didn't have my new cam)

And her now (aquarium hood is a bit dusty from construction of my cages..)

VoodooChile · #2 (**permalink**) 03-27-2006, 03:05 AM

NIIICE.. What kind of watersnake is she? how are those as pets? What do you keep her in?? Just curious cause I dont know anyone else that has them as a pet...

Adrya · #3 (**permalink**) 03-27-2006, 03:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by amercnwmn

NIIICE.. What kind of watersnake is she? how are those as pets? What do you keep her in?? Just curious cause I dont know anyone else that has them as a pet...

She's a Northern Watersnake... they're kinda like garters as they like to musk on you, especially as babies but she's slowly growing out of the habit of doing that now... plus I've found a way that I can pick her up without her freaking out too much and musking me. But she has quite the unique personality, though.. and she's active for most of the day, but also active at night.

When I first got her I was a little worried because all she would want to eat were fish and little baby toads... but I got her to eat f/t pinkies by scenting them with the fish... and now she's taking rat fuzzies without me having to scent them with fish. She just snatches those things SO fast right off the tongs. lol.. Occasionally I give her live fish so she can fish for them herself, and it's neat to watch her do it. She's only eaten out of the water a few times but most of the time she eats her prey underwater.. which makes me wonder if she excretes the water out of her nose while she swallows like I see my turtles do... or if she urinates a lot. lol She spends most of her time in the water... which I think watersnakes are one of the few snakes you don't have to worry about getting scale rot or anything like that as long as the water is clean.

She isn't a snappy biter like most watersnakes I come across in the wild... I've only been bitten by her once or twice but that was when she was a little tiny thing. I would say she's more of a display snake but still a joy to hold even if she messes on your hands.. lol

For right now I'm keeping her in a 90qt sterilite container which gives her plenty of room.. I have a warm basking rock site at one end and a cool basking site at the other end.. and all the rest of her tank is filled with water and there's some plants and stuff.. and she has a filter for her tank. I eventually want to get her a 55 gallon aquarium that hopefully she won't outgrow.

VoodooChile · #4 (**permalink**) 03-27-2006, 03:27 AM

Too bad you arent closer I have tanks out the WAAZZZOOoo lol
I have a 55 on my back porch now that just needs a new end pane of glass and resealed on the new end..

Right now it is just adding to the "Sanford & Son" decor I have..lol

A water snake would be neat! I looked at ropefish back when I had my African Cichlid tanks...LOL Then I found out they could escape and would lay on the carpet for hours...look like they were dead, and you could pitch them back in the tank and they would start swimming..I passed..LOL

JuliusSqueezer · #5 (**permalink**) 03-27-2006, 03:45 AM

Adrya...watersnake...racer....you are a glutton for punishment like me taking on the nippy attitude monsters that everyone else hates lol

Adrya · #6 (**permalink**) 03-27-2006, 03:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JuliusSqueezer

Adrya...watersnake...racer....you are a glutton for punishment like me taking on the nippy attitude monsters that everyone else hates lol

LOL, thanks

But I just love the fiesty attitudes that nobody else likes!

But I must say though, one of my racers that I was feeding Friday night, took the food, got excited and arched up and flopped out of the top of her cage before I could stop her.. lol then she ended up dropping her food cause I was trying to get her, then she decided to head upwards and climbed up the shelf that more cages were sitting on.. Tried getting her with the rubber-tipped feeding tongs and I probably pulled my hand away as fast as she struck.. then she was wrapping herself around cords and ugh.. it was a nightmare for like 10 minutes. lol Then once I got her back in the cage she curled up and got in the strike position and struck at anything that moved near her.. lol So I closed her tank up for a couple of minutes then offered her the food again and then she took and ate it without getting out. lol

I just LOVE her attitude.

But I haven't been bitten by either of those two racers yet!

Advertisement