Northern water snake
 

What can a Northern water snake be cross bread with?

Thank you,

Is there anyway i can sex them or do i need to take them to a vet?

You can probe. Just search on google.

Ok Can a northern water snake be bread with a garter or ribbon snake?

I doubt it. Possibly a garter or ribbon snake could interbreed and produce sterile offspring, but there are a number of factors that indicate that a northern water could not breed with garters or ribbons. The first is they are in entirely different genuses (sp?). Northern water snakes are nerodia and garters are thamnophis. Ribbons are also in the genus thamnophis, this is where my idea comes in that garters and ribbons may interbreed.
If a garter and ribbon did breed, I assume the result would be similar to that of a northern pike (esox lucius) and a muskellunge (esox masquinongy). THe combination is called a tiger muskellunge and is sterile.

Garters also emerge sooner than other snakes and breeding occurs immediately afterwards, so in the wild, a garter would be done breeding before water snakes started. If the garter and northern water were introduced to eachother, I believe that they would sense the difference in phermones produced by the opposite species and either ignore the other snake or eat it. THere are also numbous post zygotic barriers that could kill the embryo. The mothers immune system may kill they embryo or it may be aborted. I could go on and on about the reasons that they cannot breed, but i'll stop here.

Bottom line: Ribbons and garters may breed and produce sterile offspring. IT is extremely unlikely that a northern water and garter would breed.

Hope this helps, why were you asking?

Thabk you for your help. I just wanted to see what the snake would look like if i interbreeded them. But anyway thanks again!