thamnophis123

A couple things Logan - First, congrats on your taste in snakes, Nerodia are some of the best you can keep, and that brown is a beauty!

Regarding Underground - The often misidentify the water snakes on their web site, interchanging the photos and descriptions. And since they sent you the wrong species, it makes me wonder if they even know the species they are dealing with, or if they just hope their customers don't :-)

You are the 3rd person who has reported snakes bought from Underground suddenly dying with no outward sign of disease or trauma. If it happens again it would be worth it to have a necropsy done - ask your exotic animal vet if they have the resources to do it. (Don't make the mistake of freezing the snake like I did. Refrigerate only and get to vet or diagnostic lab ASAP)

Regarding captive bred vs wild caught - Places like Underground often pay "collectors" - sometimes also referred to as "winos" - for wild caught animals. If the snakes are pregnant they are tossed into cattle tanks and kept crowded together until their babies are born. So hundreds or even thousands of babies are "captive born" in a very disease rich environment.

I described this scenario to the manager at Underground and he didn't deny or correct it. So you can see where CB might actually be worse than wild caught when it comes to large scale dealers.

The skin lesions or pustules showing on your brown water snake do look like those on my greens. But visual comparison is only part of the diagnostic process. Unfortunately the fungus species in question (O.o.) doesn't culture well, so your local vet won't be able to diagnose SFD accurately for you. (Its too slow growing and overwhelmed by bacteria when cultured. Even treated with antibiotics other types of fungi sometimes outgrow the SFD fungus) So they will probably have to talk to Dr Allender's lab at the U of Illinois. They can instruct on how to collect the samples, process and ship. Analysis there is done by a specific genetic test (qPCR) developed by Dr. Allender.

A note on husbandry ... You've obviously spent time putting together a great home for your taxispilota, which is great to see. Unfortunately plastic tubs just aren't good enclosures for snakes, especially active Colubrids like Nerodia. There is a whole host of problems with them, but lack of ventilation is going to be a big one for this snake.

Snake skin blisters or SFD isn't caused by keeping a snake in damp conditions. Its caused by a pathogen that seems to thrive in warm, moist conditions. The water feature you have is very cool, but is probably producing too much humidity - I think I see condensation? This might exacerbate whatever pathogen is producing the skin pustules. For water snakes I think an aquarium with a screen top might be best, though there are other good options. I buy 40 gallon breeder tanks at PetCo when they have their $1.00 per gallon sales.

Of course that brown will need something bigger eventually, but a 40 breeder would be OK for a couple years I bet.

I would encourage you to call Underground and describe what happened to the animals you bought from them, then let us know how they respond. I asked to speak with the manager which was not a problem.