Lazy-*** Garters

[kimbosaur]

I have had my two garters for about 8 months now and they seem to rarely ever come out of hiding. They have one hide that they like and they will just stay in it for the entire day. They aren't exactly "shy" either. I hand feed at pretty much every feeding and if I wiggle my finger by the glass, they will sometimes come out. They don't even switch between cool and warm sides.

I have tried everything: Raising temps, lowering temps, increasing light, decreasing light, different substrates, removing hides, adding hides, switching hides, changing the layout, feeding more, feeding less, fasting for a week. The only thing that kind of gets them exploring is when I change the layout of their tank. They will explore for a while, find a hide they like and not come out. At one point they were staying only on the warm side so I put their dome light directly over, not realizing temps reached 120 degrees and they still didn't budge.

Any suggestions?

Edit: Here's a pic of the current layout. It's a 20 gallon.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-VwxcdSQaxm4/T65pUDpsUPI/AAAAAAAAAH8/pxQ3MBmmvQg/s576/IMG_0376.JPG

Their spot used to be at the top of the platform in a cardboard box. Since I've switched that hide for a coconut, they don't hang out there anymore. Instead, they're in that other box in the middle (it's mostly buried but you can see the flap). It reaches all the way to the back of the tank. I probably should also mention that if the boxes aren't in spots they like, they will switch to the cocount.

[Light of Dae]

Try getting one of those waterfall feature things in place of the water dish. The little water noise it will make SHOULD draw them out. Also try leaving a radio on quietly beside the tank all day, shut off at night. The Changing noise of radio songs to commercials sure keep mine guessing.

Stimulation draws them out. Like changing the layout. I find noise works great for... ALL of my reptilian pets, garter snakes, lizard, king snake, even my scorpion(Not a reptile I know) comes out when I turn on the radio.

Both my Garters come out when I'm pouring water in the dish, they LOVE the sound, I;m going to see if I can get a waterfall thingy next time one is on sale.

[Light of Dae]

Maybe try staving them a bit. lol When ever mine are hungry the cruise around looking for food, then they get 'rewarded' for being out n about. Just an Idea, it don't hurt them to miss a feeding or two. :) Then anytime you see them out, hand them a worm or something small, treat size!

[kimbosaur]

Hmm, radio huh? I'll have to try that. I have a stereo system in the room and when I listen to CD's they don't seem to notice at all. Maybe if I put it closer to the tank. I can try one of those cheap little submersible filters for a waterfall but I don't really like the idea of keeping one in all the time because I feel like there would be places for bacteria to build up.

As for the whole starving them thing, I've tried it already! They do seem more alert and will be more likely to come out when I wiggle my finger at them but other than that, not much difference.

[scott5017]

Glass tanks make most snakes nervous, try covering every side except the front, it will make a huge difference.

[guidofatherof5]

Do you hand/hemostat feed them? If not, you might consider it.
That way they will associate seeing you with food and will come a runnin'

[Didymus20X6]

My snakes are afraid of the hemostats. To them, they look like giant robot claws.

[guidofatherof5]

My snakes are afraid of the hemostats. To them, they look like giant robot claws.

I suppose they are afraid of lasers too. Probably think it's a disintegration beam.:D

[chris-uk]

I suppose they are afraid of lasers too. Probably think it's a disintegration beam.:D

Giving me ideas. I want to strap a frickin' laser beam to my snakes' heads and send them out to hold the world to ransom - for one million dollars. ;)

Kimberly - you've already found that changing up the layout stimulates them for a while, I try to switch things round every week. Just little changes peak their interest. The radix in the livingroom comes out and prowls the front of her tank a couple of times a day, she's been more active since I taped some dark paper to the outside of her tank covering the bottom 10cm or so.
Unfortunately we also have some garters which are reclusive - the Blacknecks are worst, and the Cuitzeos are quite shy (but Lacrimosa will happily spend all day and night in the open on her platform.

[EasternGirl]

Kimberly...remind me what kind of garters you have again? One is an albino right? Your snakes sound exactly like my checkered albino...and I think I remember you have a checkered albino too. Hermes...my checkered albino...rarely comes out...he only seems to come out when I move things around in his tank...just like you said. He and Possum, my snow radix, were never coming out...and they prefer cardboard boxes to coconuts too! They will stay in those darn cardboard boxes and never come out. Interestingly...I kept making things more secure for them...putting in more plants and hides, burying the hides down in the substrate for them, and covering the tank with a towel...thinking that making things more secure for them would make them feel more safe and come out more. But that seemed to actually make them hide more. So, I took some of the plants out...brought the hides up out of the substrate and made things more open and less cluttered in the enclosure...and put a regular lamp with a normal light bulb in it next to their tank...so that they would get some light. Before that I was always using red bulbs and keeping it dark for them because they are albino. Interestingly, they are now coming out more. They seem to come out more now that there is more open space in the enclosure...and they like to come out in the evening when I put the light on near the tank. Possum has been out every evening exploring when the light is on...and Hermes actually comes out a little too. Also consider they may be coming out at night when you aren't around. Mine never come out during the day...but I am up during the night. If I walk out to look at them at any given time during the night...they are out and active.

Chris...that is a good idea with the paper at the bottom of the tank. I may try that!

[ConcinusMan]

Try getting one of those waterfall feature things in place of the water dish.

Those are are only practical in very large enclosures and only if the feature is very small. They tend to raise the humidity too much, and increase mold / bacteria in the enclosure. Garters get in them and divert the flowing water onto the floor too.

They're OK for amphibians or rain forest insects, climbing lizards, etc. but they don't work out too well for garters in limited spaces.

If you're only using that yellowish basking light, try adding a full spectrum or white light florescent tube. I find it makes a big difference in their activity levels and appetite.

[Invisible Snake]

Any suggestions?


Hey are your garters wild caught? If they are, they probably arent used to human interaction and probably view you as a predator.

[kibakiba]

Kimberly is in Canada, so her snakes can't be wild caught, because as far as I know, she has checkered garter snakes.

[ConcinusMan]

good point

[kimbosaur]

Do you hand/hemostat feed them? If not, you might consider it.
That way they will associate seeing you with food and will come a runnin'

I hand feed at every feeding :D. They will sometimes come out if I wiggle my finger by the glass.



Kimberly - you've already found that changing up the layout stimulates them for a while, I try to switch things round every week. Just little changes peak their interest. The radix in the livingroom comes out and prowls the front of her tank a couple of times a day, she's been more active since I taped some dark paper to the outside of her tank covering the bottom 10cm or so.

I'm definitely going to try that. I do feel as though they are actually being lazy more than they're being shy though. I've caught them sleeping out in the open a few time (in the same spot for the entire day!).

Chris, it was actually your CuitzeoCam that made me realize just how lazy my snakes are. Before that I didn't really have anything to gauge their activity levels.


Kimberly...remind me what kind of garters you have again? One is an albino right?

They seem to come out more now that there is more open space in the enclosure...and they like to come out in the evening when I put the light on near the tank. Possum has been out every evening exploring when the light is on...and Hermes actually comes out a little too. Also consider they may be coming out at night when you aren't around. Mine never come out during the day...but I am up during the night. If I walk out to look at them at any given time during the night...they are out and active.


Yes, I have one albino checkered and one regular checkered. I do kind of suspect they might be coming out at night. In the evening, my albino tends to stick his head out of his hide for long periods of time. One night, I had to pull an all-nighter and he sat their with his head poking out for literally 6 hours.


If you're only using that yellowish basking light, try adding a full spectrum or white light florescent tube. I find it makes a big difference in their activity levels and appetite.

The yellowish light is actually an incandescent aquarium hood. I do switch it up with a 50 watt basking light that is much whiter. I also tried having both on one day and it didn't make a difference. I would have tried it for longer but I was afraid the tank might overheat.


Hey are your garters wild caught? If they are, they probably arent used to human interaction and probably view you as a predator.

Kimberly is in Canada, so her snakes can't be wild caught, because as far as I know, she has checkered garter snakes.

Good call Chantel. Both babies are captive-bred. ;)

[chris-uk]

Chris, it was actually your CuitzeoCam that made me realize just how lazy my snakes are. Before that I didn't really have anything to gauge their activity levels.


My first thought was... "my Cuitzeos? Active?"
Then I thought, what are they up to right now? Had a look and I've been watching Vlad doing the laps rather than watching the film we just put on.

[d_virginiana]

Talking about some snakes being more active at night got me thinking...
For awhile, I thought my snake that went blind over the past year had gotten less active, since he was almost always in his hide with just his head sticking out (it was kind of like a turtle; he just pulled his head back in when something walked past his tank). But then I had to spend the night in the snake room when we were painting mine, and he spent the entire night moving around. If I go in at like 3am, he's almost always out, trying to escape from his tank like usual... I think it's because he can't tell light/dark at night, so he doesn't get freaked out by the least shadow that goes past.
Not sure if your snakes have any vision issues, but thought I'd mention it since albinos seem more likely to.

That is a bangin' enclosure btw! They're definitely not being lazy because they don't have anything to explore/climb on!

[kimbosaur]

Thanks! I change it up at every cleaning and I think this is definitely one of the better layouts. Some of them just look like a mess.

Hmm, I do suspect that they might be more active at night but I don't know if it would have to do with vision. If anything the albino seems to be out more during the day than the normal.

Chris - I think I caught him doing laps once on the cam! He was weaving in and out of a paper towel roll I think. That's when I began thinking mine must be super lazy. I love my lazie fatties though. All they do is eat and sleep.

Richard - I tried doing a double light again today and caught a little head poking out. I think I will test it out for a couple of days and see how it goes.

[ConcinusMan]

I think it's because he can't tell light/dark at night, so he doesn't get freaked out by the least shadow that goes past.
Not sure if your snakes have any vision issues, but thought I'd mention it since albinos seem more likely to.

Absolutely. In my limited experience with albinos, even those that cannot see well, at least have limited vision enough to know if it's night or light out, and casting shadows on them really freaks them out. Those that can see well in daylight and don't get too freaked out, still seem to prefer twilight or to be active on a warm night.

[kimbosaur]

Update: I think it might be a temperature thing coupled with having lazy/"nocturnal" snakes. I taped up the sides at around the same time we had a huge jump in temps. We were at around 30 degrees without ac for a couple of days and I caught them out a few times during early evening hours. Even with the ac on, it was hotter than it has been. Now the weather is back down to the teens and they're back to laying around in their hide all day.

As for the albino discussion, I've noticed that my albino gets spooked by shadows more easily. At the same time, he's usually the first to notice me wiggling my finger at him and come out looking for food. Also, I think he does prefer evening as well BUT, he used to regularly bask like centimeters directly under the light. Who knows, maybe he cant decide how he feels about light. :rolleyes:

[kimbosaur]

Speaking of lazy snakes, I took my girl out to explore my bed. She just did a lap and then crawled up my shirt. She hasnt been back out since.

[Invisible Snake]

I took my girl out to explore my bed. She just did a lap and then crawled up my shirt.

That's one lucky snake! lol jk :D

[EasternGirl]

Kimberly...I would have to agree that out of all of my garters, my albinos are definitely the laziest and most reclusive. Possum and Hermes basically spend all of there time under one cardboard hide...curled up together. They occasionally come out...during the late evening...for a little slither around the tank...a drink...and sometimes they will stay out for a little while and just lay there. Hermes will come out and stare at me a lot when it is time for food...he likes to remind me it's time to be fed. Even after eating though...they just retreat back into the hide. I have tried temp changes, lighting changes, substrate changes, even rearranging things in the enclosure. But they are just the way they are...I guess! :)