Northern VA Mystery Snake

looks to me like a northern watersnake, except...purple. Althought their colour varies, i've never seen one so purple. good luck with the identification

Hognose snake.

Hi

I am sure that the snake in the picture is a hognosesnake. I have taken pic of loads of watersnakes and see them all the time around my home here never have i seen a water snake with that colour.

http://hometown.aol.com/bellydragger2/herpingpage.html

Go to that link and it will have a pic of a Northern watersnake.
Cheers
Scotty

hey. i am from va too. and that is definantly a hognose. a very beautiful example of a hognose too i must say. :)

definitly a hognose, look at the upturned rostral scale on its nose. also the mimic behavior you mentioned is not unusual for a hognose. often they will go as far as to roll over and play dead. pretty snake, never seen one with so much red in it, especially not in the wild. happy herping.

Are hognose snakes prone to bite when you pick them up?

uhhhhhh....my bad....

I've owned quite a few eastern hogs in the past , all wild caught, and none of them ever bit me. May I also add none of them were that attractive either!They WILL HOWEVER strike and hit you with their snout, but mine never actually opened their mouths and bit. They do have strong feeding bahavior and will bite while being fed if you're not careful. I had that happen once.
Matt

Thanks Matt.

unbeliveable would you be willing to sell that?

That pic's been tweaked in PhotoShop. Do you guys really think a hognose would have those colors? Gimme a break.

ive seen them with that color before retard

I have seen this color also!!
you need to learn a little more before you critisize

WOW! THAT IS BEAUTIFUL! Would you ever sell it??? I LOVE THE COLORS! If it isn't a hognose, it looks like something I wouldn't want to mess with, it has sort of a diamond-shaped head, you probably know that most snakes that have a diamond-shaped head has venom.

I agree it is a hognose I work with the museum in Raleigh and we have 1 this phase and another regular grey phase.

Eastern honoses are known to come in some awesome colors along with very drab colors. I agree dont make accusations when you dont know what your talking about. Hey did he give you a show or what?