Water Snake..?

Question

Me and my friend just found a water snake and we're keeping it in water.. Don't worry we're not harming it and planning on letting it go later We're just having fun right now.. So we're keeping it outside in a bucket filled with water and the water has sticks in it and we were just wondering what to feed it and how to care for it? PLEASE help thanks so much :]

Answer 1

The best thing for you to do is to let that poor creature go. That snake is a wild animal and deserves to be free just like us. Keeping it in a bucket with sticks is not its natural environment and it is probably stressed out enough from you picking it up and putting it in a bucket and hauling it away. Like another answerer here, the snake will probably not feed because it is too nervous from being homesick. Please put it back for the welfare of the snake, plus the only way you can really take care of it is to not feed it with prey from the store. If you must keep it for the sole reason of watching it, move it into another enclosure something much bigger and roomier than a bucket with sticks. You can watch it for a few hours but i highly recommend you let it go after that :(

Answer 2

If you are planning on letting it go soon, there's really no need to feed it. Even if you decided to keep him, he would probably reject food for several days or more likely, weeks. If you really want to try it, go down to the local pond and collect some minnows and put them in the bucket. Whether he eats or not, get some good pics. Also, the bucket should only be a couple inches deep at most.

What you are doing is basically called field herping (depending on how long you keep a specimen - not overnight). Field herping is observing and/or catching wild reptiles and amphibians and studying their behavior, taking notes, taking pictures, sketching, studying their tracks, and so on. When I go field herping, I only handle a specimen long enough to do all of the above (15 - 30 minutes). I don't keep reptiles anymore (aside from the few I rescued), but I go field herping every chance I get.

Answer 3

Well if ur just keeping it like for a couple of days it wont need to eat

Answer 4

Putting it back where you found it would be the best thing for it.

Answer 5

the best thing to do is to let it go now...dont torture it by keeping it in a bucket...putting a water snake in a bucket is something that is way too small for it to live in.

Answer 6

Please release it. A bucket of water with sticks is a horrible set up. They need to be able to get out of the water on dry land. They don't stay in the water 24/7. They need to be able to bask and dry off or they will develop skin problems. Also, water snakes are normally very aggressive and have musk glands which cause them to be a smelly snake. And they only eat fish and frogs. Let it go before it dies. And I'd like to know where "fish" gets his info, saying 97% of water snakes are venomous. This is very incorrect.