Reproductive Biology of the Brown Water Snake, 
Nerodia taxispilota, in Central Georgia 
Robert E. Herrington 
Department of Biology, 
Georgia Southwestern College, 
Americus, Georgia 31709 
ABSTRACT . — The brown watersnake, Nerodia taxispilota, is a large, 
conspicuous, aquatic snake that occurs over much of the southeastern 
Coastal Plain of the United States. At sexual maturity, females are 
considerably larger in body length and mass than males. Males are 
sexually mature at 2% years of age and approximately 58 cm SVL. 
Females mature a year later at 85 to 90 cm SVL. Courtship occurs in 
late April and early May, and may involve more than one male per 
female. The young are born from late August to early September. 
Litter size varied from 14 to 45 and was positively correlated with the 
SVL of the female. 
The natural history of many North American snakes remains 
poorly known. Reasons for this include their relatively low population 
densities, their secretive behaviors, and the seasonality of their activity 
patterns. The brown water snake, Nerodia taxispilota (Holbrook), 
occurs in the southeastern United States from Virginia to southern 
Alabama (Conant 1975). The species is one of the largest members of 
the genus and occurs in relatively high densities along many of the river- 
swamps of central Georgia. These characteristics coupled with strong 
arboreal basking tendencies make it an ideal subject for life history 
studies. This report describes the growth and reproductive biology of N. 
taxispilota in central Georgia. 
MATERIALS AND METHODS 
The study was conducted in two parts. From July 1976 through 
July 1977, specimens (n = 59; 33 males, 26 females) were collected from 
the Oconee, Ogeechee, and Flint river drainages. Snakes were sexed, 
measured (snout-vent length = SVL, tail length = TL) to the nearest mm, 
and weighed to the nearest 0.1 g; their reproductive tracts were examined 
following dissection. Reproductive data recorded for males were the size 
and wet weight of the testes (± 10 mg). A testis and ductus deferens 
were fixed in a 10% formalin solution, embedded in paraffin, sectioned 
at 6 to 8 (Lm), and stained with Harris’s hematoxylin and eosin (Luna 
1968). Sections were examined microscopically (100-400X) for the 
presence of spermatozoa and stage of spermatogenesis. Female re- 
productive tracts were examined with a dissecting microscope; the 
number and length of ovarian follicles, embryos, or both were recorded. 
Brimleyana No. 15:103-1 10, January 1989 
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