False Water Cobra — Fact Sheet

Hydrodynastes gigas · False Water Cobra

Full care guide and sources

📋 At a glance

🏠 Enclosure

Plan at least 240 x 90 x 90 cm for an adult, and larger is better. The enclosure must combine usable land, a clean water section, dry basking choices, tight hides, visual barriers, heavy locks, and service access that keeps the keeper out of the strike path.

🪨 Substrate and furnishings

Escape risk is high. Check sliding tracks, vents, cable ports, lid corners, drains, filter lines, and water-section access. A large escaped rear-fanged snake creates a safety and legal problem even if it is calm.

Hooding, flattening, hissing, pushing, frantic swimming, or nose rubbing usually means the animal is stressed, exposed, overheated, under-covered, hungry from routine cues, or trying to escape. Fix the cause rather than treating it as entertainment.

💡 Lighting

Provide bright visible light on a 10-12 hour schedule. Low-output UVB is recommended as a choice, not a forced exposure. Place it over part of the dry basking area and keep shaded retreats available.

🌡️ Temperature

• Basking spot: 31-33 °C
• Daytime air: 25-29 °C
• Cool zone: 23-25 °C
• Night: 21-24 °C

💧 Humidity and water

Aim for 55-75% humidity with temporary shed support around 75-85%. Ventilation matters because warm damp air and dirty water can cause skin and respiratory problems.

The water area should allow soaking and swimming but should not replace dry hides. Use filtration, frequent water changes, and easy access for cleaning. If fish are used as enrichment prey, avoid thiaminase-heavy feeder fish as routine food and control parasite and water-quality risk.

Retained shed is usually a hydration, water quality, or enclosure-security problem. Correct the setup before relying on repeated forced soaking.

🪳 Feeding

Use a clear distinction between maintenance and feeding. Open the enclosure slowly for cleaning, use tools, and avoid letting every door opening predict food. Feed with long tongs and close the enclosure before the snake begins searching outside the feeding area.

After a missed meal, check temperature, water quality, cover, shed stage, and disturbance before offering repeatedly.

☠️ Safety

This species is venomous. Venom exposure can cause pain, swelling or other systemic effects, and severity varies with species, locality, bite site and the amount delivered. A small wound or apparently dry bite is not proof of safety; every bite or sting requires urgent medical assessment.

If an incident occurs, move away, call emergency services or a poison centre, keep the patient still, remove rings and other constricting items, and follow dispatcher instructions. Do not use a tourniquet, cut or suck the wound, apply ice or electricity, give alcohol or medicines as a home treatment, or attempt to catch the animal. Antivenom choice and dosing are hospital decisions; verify the relevant product and local availability in advance. Sources: WHO snakebite guidance and appropriate species-specific toxinology or medical references listed below.

🩺 Health — warning signs

Common issues include obesity, nose rub, escape injury, dirty-water skin problems, dysecdysis, mites, respiratory infection, mouth inflammation, regurgitation, and bite incidents caused by poor routines.

Quarantine new arrivals for at least 90 days. Fecal testing is strongly recommended, especially for imports or animals raised on fish or amphibians. Keep water bowls, tubs, hooks, tongs, and cleaning gear separate during quarantine.