Diamondback Water Snake
Diamondback Water Snake ~ Nerodia rhombifer
Genus: Nerodia
Species: rhombifer
Adult body length: 38 – 68 inches
Body length at birth: 9 – 15 inches
Breeding period: June to August
Young per year: 20 to 60 young per year
Typical foods: mice, fish, frogs, lizards, birds, and other mammals
Habitat: Near permenent sourse of water
Can be found: from Mississippi River Valley from Indiana and from Iowa south to the Gulf of Mexico, two thirds of Texas
Short description: broad headed, triangular headed, stout, keeled scales, vertical pupils
General description:
The Diamondback Water Snake is a water snake,
which means it lives near water . It has a grayish
brown, or yellow brown body color, with dark brown
bands on its back (In the shape of a half diamond).
It is a non-venomous snake, but is confused with the
Water Moccasin many times. Like most water snakes,
when threatened, it will bite viciously at its predator.
September 10 2007 08:27 pm
Ann Rabb on 08 Aug 2008 at 9:59 pm #
Found one in our hall 8-8-08–Struck at me twice. Screamed at my husband–He came running with a broom and it tryed to crawl under our beedroom door–I ran an got a shovel and My Husband killed it!! The snake was 3 ft. long and very strong. We live on Lake Mathis and have seen many Diamondback snakes in the water but never in our home!!! Boy, it did scare me!! Thanks for letting me VENT!!! Ann
Sarah Johnson on 28 May 2009 at 7:01 am #
I think I found one of these at my parents’ house in New Lenox, IL. I was coming back after taking our labrador/great dane for a walk and it was on the steps to the back door. It was at least 2.5 ft long, maybe 3 ft; I couldn’t see the whole thing because it was partly under the dog ramp. (The dog is old has back problems, needs help getting up steps.) The snake “backed up” completely under the ramp when it noticed us–didn’t turn around, just recoiled, so even though I could see only a foot and a half of it, a large amount of it must have been under the ramp still. I thought it was a cottonmouth or something venomous at first because the first thing I saw was its girth and the diamond pattern. I was afraid to walk past it, but I had no other way into the house. I came back outside with a camera and snapped some pics of it, then I researched it on the internet.
After I identified it, I went back outside to go “Steve Irwin” on it and get some better pictures, but it was gone by then. Probably for the best! I wish I had gotten better pictures of it, though. I must be about 90% sure it was a diamondback water snake, but that other 10% isn’t sure. We have ponds, creeks, and rivers all around our street, so it’s not a stretch to think they’d wander through our yards occasionally.