The banded water snake (Natrix fasciata) is a nonvenomous colubrid found in Eastern North America.
This small snake is typically 18 to 38 inches long. The maximum reported total length is 72 inches. They are usually brown, olive or brownish-green with dark brown
This species ranges from southern Canada to northern Mexico and lives in habitats including ponds, lakes, rivers, marshes, creeks, ditches, streams and swamps.
These snakes, found from Florida to Texas and east to Alabama, are robust, arboreal, and common throughout their wide distribution.
They are a peaceful, calm-water dweller, living on moist, muddy substrates in open areas and near small streams and lakes.
Their diet consists of frogs, fish, amphibians, and other water-dwelling animals. In addition, they have been known to eat birds.
This species prefers forested and prairie areas with abundant vegetation and fast-flowing waters. It is listed as a threatened species in Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida.
Like many other species of snakes, the banded water snake feeds on almost anything. Its diet mainly consists of small mammals such as mice, rats, frogs, and salamanders.
Generally, this species is known to be oviparous, with females producing a clutch of 10–20 (average 13) eggs which they deposit in a subterranean site or surface water body.
Generally, this species is known to be oviparous, with females producing a clutch of 10–20 (average 13) eggs which they deposit in a subterranean site or surface water body.