Color Photograph: U.S. Forest Service

Mexican Distribution not Shown

Diamondback Water Snake (Nerodia rhombifer)

Identification: Snake 30 to 63 inches in length. A heavy bodied snake. Overall coloration olive-brown, brown, or gray-brown. Back with a network pattern consisting of dark. narrow blotches connected with alternating dark bars on the sides of the body. Belly yellow spotted with black. Scales keeled and anal plate divided.

Geographical Variation: A single population occurs in the United States. Other subspecies have been described from Mexico.

Range (see map on left): The Diamondback Water Snake is found in a central band in the southern and central United States roughly centered around the Mississippi River. The species extends from southern Iowa and Illinois southward to Mississippi, Louisiana, and the eastern half of Texas. It also occurs in eastern and southern Kansas and most of Oklahoma.

Habitat: This species, like most of its kin in the genus, is found along the margins of lakes, ponds, swamps, rivers, marshes, and canals.

Food: Fish and frogs.

Behavior: The Diamondback Water Snake is highly aggressive and can deliver and painful (but non-poisonous bite). It is most active during the daytime and is often seen basking on logs or vegetation near the water line.

Reproduction:  This species bears its young live. A female has 14 to 62 young appearing from August to October.

Diamondback Water Snake (Nerodia rhombifera)

Similar Species:

Northern Water Snake (Nerodia sipedon)

Brown Water Snake (Nerodia taxispilota)