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Atlas / Library / Colubridae / False Water Cobra
Colubridae

False Water Cobra

Hydrodynastes gigas

Part of this is not on the page we cite. We opened it on 10 Aug 2026 and some of the degrees above are not stated there. The values above may still be right, but we cannot show you where they came from, and nobody here has checked them against a second source. Anything about a sick animal goes to a qualified exotic vet, not to a page. reptile.guide

Photograph: Bernard DUPONT · CC BY-SA

Photographed by an observer on iNaturalist and published under a Creative Commons licence; the photographer and the licence are named under the image. It is not an animal of ours, and no animal was handled by us to produce it.

14:00
Day

Drag the sun. The sheet states a night temperature, so the rail follows it.

National law is not global, and we hold no national wildlife law for any country, Thailand included. Check your own authority before buying or selling.

Check your setup against this sheet I keep one 123 plants usable with this species
Back to the globe My keep

https://keepr.pet/husbandry/en/hydrodynastes-gigas

‹ All husbandry guides
warm end29–31 °C
cool end24 °C
Humidity50–60 %

The numbers

Thermal gradient

152025303540 °C
24°Cool side
29–31°Warm side
22°Night

Day: a real gradient, 29–31°C warm against 24°C cool, so the animal chooses. Night: 22°C.

Why

Same scale on every sheet here, so two species compare by eye.

The sheet stateswarm 29-31 °C / cool 24 °C / night 22 °C

Humidity

50–60%Target RH

The sheet statesAmbient humidity of around 50-60%

UVB

Requiredrequired

The sheet statesFor lighting, you'll need some form of UVB. This may be an overall vivarium lighting setup or a basking lamp.

Enclosure
Juveniles can live in a 10–15-gallon vivarium; adult: At a minimum, it should be as long as the snake and at least half as wide (e.g., 6 by 3 by 2 ft)
Diet
Fish, Birds, Frogs, Rodents; around once per week

Identity

Origin

Enclosure and conditions

Temperature
warm 29–31 °C / cool 24 °C / night 22 °C
Humidity
~50–60%

What your climate adds

This sheet states a range to hold. Your local climate decides how much work holding it is. Pick the nearest city: nothing is sent anywhere, the choice stays in this browser.

Common questions

Is it venomous?

Mildly, yes. It is rear-fanged and a chewing bite can cause swelling and discomfort. This is not a snake to be casual with.

How big does it get?

1.8 to 2.4 metres and heavy-bodied. Females get considerably larger than males.

Is it tame?

It is bold and extremely food-driven, so most bites are feeding mistakes rather than aggression. Always use a hook.

Is it a beginner snake?

No. Between the venom and the size it is an intermediate to advanced animal.

What it needs

A heat sourcebecause temp — warm 29-31 °C / cool 24 °C / night 22 °C
A thermostat to regulate itbecause temp — warm 29-31 °C / cool 24 °C / night 22 °C
A thermometerbecause temp — warm 29-31 °C / cool 24 °C / night 22 °C
A way to check the night figurebecause temp — warm 29-31 °C / cool 24 °C / night 22 °C
A hygrometerbecause humidity — Ambient humidity of around 50-60%
UVB, stated as requiredbecause uvb — For lighting, you'll need some form of UVB. This may be an overall vivarium lighting setup or a basking lamp.
Not stated: The size of the enclosurethis sheet describes the enclosure without a figure: « Juveniles can live in a 10–15-gallon vivarium; adult: At a minimum, it should be »

Every line above is deduced from a value this sheet states, and names which one. Nothing here is a general recommendation. What the sheet does not state is listed too, rather than left out: a kit that looks complete is worse than one that names its gap.

Sources

reptile.guide — lu le 2026-08-04reptilesupply.com — lu le 2026-08-04gbif.org — lu le 2026-08-08

Others in this group

Corn SnakePantherophis guttatusWestern Hognose SnakeHeterodon nasicusCalifornia KingsnakeLampropeltis californiaeEastern Hognose SnakeHeterodon platirhinosMexican Black KingsnakeLampropeltis getula nigritaSpeckled KingsnakeLampropeltis holbrookiEastern KingsnakeLampropeltis getulaGrey-banded KingsnakeLampropeltis alterna

What this sheet states

77%
TemperatureHumidityEnclosure sizeActivityOriginDietSourcesUVB

This sheet states 5 of 7 of the fields this product runs on. What is missing turns something off: day/night engine and awake count on the globe, the diet section. We show the gap rather than fill it with a plausible number.

UVB is measured but does not count: it is absent from 421 of 678 sheets, and on most of them that is not a gap, since a nocturnal snake's sheet has no reason to state a UV index. Counting it would call the library incomplete without cause.