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False Water Cobra
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There was some confusion as to the correct naming of the genus and species of the False Water Cobra or also known as the Brazilian Smooth Snake. Hydrodynastes gigas is the correct and accepted scientific name.I have been calling them Hydrodynastes gigas. According to John M. Mehrtens, Living Snakes of the World, 1987, there are three similar snakes. There is the Brazilian Smooth Snake, "False Water Cobra", Cyclagras gigas which occurs in Eastern Bolivia, Paraguay, southern Brazil and northern Argentina. The other two are Hydrodynastes bicinctus and Hydrodynastes schultzi found from French Guiana, west to Colombia, and in much of Amazonian Brazil. The author, Ludwig Trutnau, Non-venomous Snakes, 1986 (English) describes only one species of Hydrodynastes that being Hydrodynastes gigas. Several other authors use the name Hydrodynastes bicinctus. From further studies, it may show that they are all of the same genus.
Hydrodynastes is a rear-fanged snake. I have found very little information on the toxicity of its venom. Supposedly the venom prevents blood clotting. I have never been bitten by my pair or their offspring. Use caution when offering food to these very aggressive feeders.
The False Water Cobra is a large robust snake similar in stature to the Cribo and Indigo snakes. In fact, they reach about the same size, six to seven feet in length, and have similar feeding habits. Hatchling False Water Cobras in captivity preferably start feeding on feeder goldfish and soon take to pinkie mice and rats. Adults eat about everything - fish, frogs, toads, rodents and birds and their eggs. We generally feed ours rodents and chicks. They will strangle they prey and eat it while it is dazed and partially alive. They will also accept prekilled rodents.
These snakes require a large roomy terrarium and water tub for soaking and bathing. They will spend much of their day in the water depending on their shedding cycle or temperature. They seem to do well with a temperature in the mid 80's and a slight cooling at night. In the wilds, they occur in tropical lowland forests and thick thorny woodlands usually not far from water.
My breeding pair of which I incubated and raised from hatchlings are fairly docile snakes. They will occasionally "hood" like a cobra but display their body more horizontally rather than vertically like the cobra. Their scales are smooth anteriorly and in the middle section of the body and become slightly keeled toward the end.
Coloration in the two sexes differ. Males are yellowish with black or dark brown irregular transverse stripes and blotches. Females are light brown with indistinct, dark transverse blotches. Both sexes have similar marking on their heads.
These snakes are prolific breeders. They generally produce at least two clutches of eggs a year in captivity and average about 14-24 eggs per clutch depending on size and age of the female. A 36 egg clutch is not uncommon. My male had to have one hemipenis surgically removed because it could not be retracted back into the base of the tail. He still breeds just fine. The eggs hatch in about 60 days at an incubation temperature of 83*F. Hatchlings are large measuring about 15 inches in length. The babies are identical to the adults but have a more vivid pattern and richer colors. I do not provide any degree of formal hibernation intentionally. They do, however, have a lower nighttime temperature during the winter months which seems to be adequate for their cycling.
The False Water Cobra is an excellent display snake and being diurnal it is usually active during the day. They do not require a tall terrarium since they spend most of there time on the ground or in the water. They have been one of the more interesting and attractive displays at the Great Valley Serpentarium.
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