So You Want a False Water Cobra?
-Ashley Dezan
False Water Cobra
Hydrodynastes gigas
With a flaring hood, large, powerful body and an eagerness to indulge in food can make this colubrid an intimidating beast. These magnificent creatures can grow up to 8' and when it comes to food, eat anything they can fit in their mouth. Just watch out for your toes when you feed them! They have a brilliant dove grey background with ink black blotches that start from head down to the tail. The False Water Cobra, sometimes known as the Brazilian Smooth Snake is found in the countries of Brazil, Paraguay and the surrounding area.
Size alone in False Water Cobras may be intimidating but they are a rear-fanged species. The muscular strength they have can cut off circulation and the venom just makes the snake that much more "dangerous". The venom in False Water Cobras is poorly understood. I have seen some posts in online venom forums(Ex: Venomdoc) that they may be as potent as a Timber Rattlesnake (C. horridus) and some posts saying theyre only as "dangerous" as a wee little Garter Snake. I personally take caution when dealing with the genus Hydrodynastes as you may never know what your reaction will be. To my knowledge, no serious studies have yet to be done on Hydrodynastes. I've been chewed on my finger a few times from fresh hatchlings, and it's no more than a tingle. Though I can only imagine what an 8' individual would do. I would suggest to never attempt to get bit or even put yourself into that position. Best to be safe rather than sorry.
One mystery that comes with keeping these majestic animals is the environment. Some say they need it humid where as some say a bit dryer. They can thrive in either condition from my experience but in reality, which is better? If you think about it, South America has wet and dry seasons. Both humid and dry environments can be correct. I put mine through a drier period for a few months at around 50% humidity and eventually give them a heavy misting daily for a few months after. What this changes, well, I’m not sure yet. While on topic of environment and captivity, if one was to decide to take on the responsibility of keeping a False Water Cobra I would strongly suggest giving them the largest enclosure possible. Mine are kept in 4' PVCs but even that seems to small.
Food plays a huge role in a False Water Cobras life. Again, responsibility as well as respect for the species come into play even for feeding. I would consider this to be the most dangerous (not fatal) time of keeping Falsies. The split second a rat, mouse, fish, or anything really is noticed either a) close the enclosure as much as you can to feed or b) toss it in. Before I started doing that, I've been chased across the basement. Not only for the food, but my toes were viewed as food as well! That was an interesting encounter but no toes were harmed. After that, I feed them as quickly and as safely as possible. Avoid having the door wide open.
Handling False Water Cobras often require hooks. At the very least to pull them out of their enclosure. Make sure it is a sturdy hook as they can be heavy. I would not reccommend free handling this species even if they do have a calm dispostion as you never know what can happen. If you have the slightest scent of rodent, fish or anything that may be food, you have a high risk in getting bit.
Something I would like to mention has to do with breeding. Many keepers claim that False Water Cobras are ridiculously easy to breed. The thing is, most of these "breeders" have never produced any eggs. I have always wondered about that prior to keeping the species as I've always seen adults go up for sale on occasion but never, not once seen babies. Even sub-adults for that matter. What I have noticed is that male False Water Cobras will practically rape females to the point of stressing them out. I've even seen them attempt to breed an under-aged, immature female. Goes to show that they are easy to breed, yes, but easy to reproduce? Not really. It's a balancing act to get them to successfully breed and produce viable eggs.
If and when you get a viable clutch of eggs, put them in the incubator at around 82-86F. Ive had eggs incubate at 80-82 that produced all females, and the ones at 84-86 were always males. Strange coincidence? Not so sure. It's something I would like to find out. After about 60-70 days little brown, heavily patterned babies will emerge rearing their hoods at you. I never have problems getting them to take their first meal. Just after first shed I offer a thawed out mouse hopper and they tend to eat overnight.
In the past few years I’ve seen heavily banded, golden yellow False Water Cobras both in collections and online. After close inspection I’ve noticed they have different scale count, especially on the head and with the ocular scales around the eye. The head shape on the greys and yellows are different as well as the overall body pattern. The greys and yellows are to this date considered the same species but I personally think otherwise. Even when a yellow and a grey breed the babies look quite different. Hopefully one day I can get a DNA test done to confirm if they are indeed different or not. As of right now, only a few species exist; Hydrodynaste gigas, Hydrodynastes melanogigas and Hydrodynastes bicinctus.
The purpose of this article is not so much to scare people, but to see that not all colubrids are cute and “nice”. More of that respect is very much needed. Not many people know it but that Garter Snake in your backyard is rearfanged too!