Stats

Lifespan: 8-12 yrs
Size: Medium
Diet: Carnivore
Activity: Cathemeral
Social: Solitary
Biome: Freshwater wetland
Range: North America
Movement: Swimming
Breeding: Live birth
Defense: Camouflage
Status: Uncommon

About

The Diamondback Watersnake is a heavy-bodied nonvenomous snake found along rivers, lakes, and swamps of the central United States and northern Mexico, marked by a dark chain-like diamond pattern down its olive-brown back. It is often mistaken for a venomous cottonmouth and, when threatened, will flatten its body and strike readily, though its bite is harmless aside from an anticoagulant in its saliva that makes wounds bleed more than expected.

Life cycle

1.
hatchling
A miniature snake emerges from the egg or from its mother (live-bearers), already venomous or strong-coiled in some species.
2.
juvenile
A juvenile sheds its skin, grows quickly, and hunts smaller prey than the adults.
3.
adult
Fully grown at adult length and pattern.

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Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Family: Colubridae
Genus: Nerodia
Species: Nerodia rhombifer