Nearctica - Natural History - Snakes of North America - Southern Water Snake (Nerodia fasciata)

Southern Water Snake

(Nerodia fasciata)

"Banded Water Snake"

"Broad-banded Water Snake"

Color Photographs: U.S. Geological Survey

"Florida Water Snake"

Color Photograph: U.S. Geological Survey

Nerodia clarkii

The Salt Marsh Water Snake lacks the vertical stripes of the Southern Water Snake. The Salt Marsh Snake occurs in salt water habitats such as salt marshes in contrast to the fresh water habitats of the Southern Water Snake.

Nerodia cyclopion

The Mississippi Green Water Snake lacks diagonal bands on the body.

Nerodia floridana

The Florida Water Snake lacks diagonal bands on the body.

Agkistrodon piscivorus

The Cottonmouth has a triangular head and a distinctive open mouth threat display.

Nerodia rhombifera

The Diamondback Water Snake has a pattern or dark blotches on the back.

Southern Water Snake (Nerodia fasciata)

Identification: Snake 24 to 60 inches in length. Body stout and heavy with black, brown, or red crossbands. Crossbands may darken and become obscured as the snake ages. Background color may be gray, yellow, tan, or reddish. Belly light with squarish spots. Scales keeled and anal plate divided. There are 21-25 dorsal scale rows at midbody. A dark stripe extends from the eye to the angle of the jaw. Juveniles have much clearer crossbands (usually black) on a pale background.

Geographical Variation:

Banded Water Snake (N. f. fasciata): Body with red, brown, or black crossbands; bands darkening as the individual ages; belly with square spots. Range: Coastal Atlantic Plain from North Carolina to the Florida Panhandle and west to southwestern Alabama.

Broad-banded Water Snake (N. f. confluens): Body with 11 to 17 dark crossbands mixed with irregularly shaped yellow patches and bands; belly with large, square blotches. Range: Western Alabama to eastern Texas, northward in the Mississippi drainage to southern Illinois.

Florida Water Snake (N. f. pictiventris): Body dark, but with obscure flesh-colored bands on the sides; belly with worm-like red or black markings. Range: Peninsular Florida.

Range (see map below left): Along the Atlantic Coast southward throughout Florida and westward to eastern Texas. The species extends northward along the Mississippi River to southern Illinois.

Habitat: The Southern Water Snake occurs in a large variety of fresh water habitats included cypress swamps, lakes, ponds, and rivers.

Food: Frogs and their tadpoles, and fish.

Behavior: The Southern Water Snake is nocturnal. Like most water snakes of the genus Nerodia it is aggressive if threatened and can deliver a painful (but not poisonous) bite.

Reproduction: This species bears its young live. The female bears 2 to 57 young from June to August.

Southern Water Snake (Nerodia fasciata)

Similar Species:

Salt Marsh Snake (Nerodia clarkii)

Mississippi Green Water Snake (Nerodia cyclopion)

Florida Green Water Snake (Nerodia floridana)

Cottonmouth (Agkistrodon piscivorus)

Diamondback Water Snake (Nerodia rhombifera)

Similar Species