Bitten... and a question.

[Morph]

well i decided that dinky has had enough time to settle in and decided to try and handle her again... so i went to pick up the hide, put my finger in to pick it up.... what a mistake... must have looked just like food. so i got bitten.

she has been in her tank now for over 2 weeks without being disturbed in the slightest but she is still hiding and only coming out at dawn to eat.

Is there anything i can do to make her morecomfortable or could it be that she prefers hiding.

if its just her personality then im not concerned but im worried that maybe she doesnt feel safe.

any thoughts/suggestions?

[adamanteus]

Perhaps if it were a little cooler in her hide and warmer elsewhere, she might be tempted out to bask? As long as she's feeding I wouldn't be too worried though.

[CrazyHedgehog]

I have 27 garters.... all with different personalities..

My Oregon red spot is as bold as brass, comes out, stays out and tries to stare you out....

My Chequered on the other hand do a cartoon disapearing act if they think you have seen them venture out!

as James says, as long as its eating, all should be ok.

[garterman07]

rico is like that, he comes out and just stares you down. he comes out of his hide sits on his perch and will watch you. if you move across the room he follows you with his head, and he loves being handled, i have never had him musk not even when i caught him. but when i caught him though he bit me on the nose... but yeah if you snake is just chillin in its hide i wouldn't be worried. its just a shy one. if your heat lamp is going in the middle of the cage try and add it to the opposite side of the cage that the hide is not on and then wait to see if she comes out and basks there then she will get more mobile and hopefully feel safer venturing...good luck mate!!!

[KITKAT]

well i decided that dinky has had enough time to settle in and decided to try and handle her again... so i went to pick up the hide, put my finger in to pick it up.... what a mistake... must have looked just like food. so i got bitten.

she has been in her tank now for over 2 weeks without being disturbed in the slightest but she is still hiding and only coming out at dawn to eat.

Is there anything i can do to make her morecomfortable or could it be that she prefers hiding.

if its just her personality then im not concerned but im worried that maybe she doesnt feel safe.

any thoughts/suggestions?

Can't tell you how to get her to be more outgoing, but I can tell you how to get her not to bite fingers.

Wear latex surgeons gloves that you can get in the drug store. Latex is bitter. Once she bites the glove, she will learn not to bite. After you have handled her for a couple of months with the gloves on, and assuming she learned her lesson, you should be able to take them off.:rolleyes:

[Morph]

Thanks for the comments and advice.

I decided to do a 24 hour recording so that i could see if there was any particular time (if any) that she comes out and enjoys the open space... It solved my problem.

About 5 minutes after i turned the TV off to go to bed, she came out and started basking! I've come to the conclusion that she doesn't like the sound of the TV so i've moved her into the bedroom and she is now happy to bask even when i put my hand into the viv.

Problem solved and hopefully 1 happy snake :)

[drache]

that's so cool
oh, you tech savvy folks
you get to have all the fun
I've noticed that my snakes are sensitive to sound and vibration

[Morph]

that's so cool
oh, you tech savvy folks
you get to have all the fun
I've noticed that my snakes are sensitive to sound and vibration


i spent a lot of money on infra-red wireless cameras for my tiger salamander studies and after the study finished i realised i had £700 worth of wireless cameras with no use. handy for placing in the hides to make sure the garter is happy.

sound just hadnt occurred to me before now... i'm glad i found out :)

[adamanteus]

I've come to the conclusion that she doesn't like the sound of the TV so i've moved her into the bedroom and she is now happy to bask even when i put my hand into the viv.

Just coincidence:rolleyes: Snakes have no ears.

[Morph]

true but they can still feel the vibrations.

[Lulu Bennett]

mine never seam to be bothered with the tv they just come to the glass front and watch me. Or try climbing on the runners for the glass and lie there. occasionally i'll just look in the tank you see a head popping up and then creap back down again lol very, very sneaky sir!

[adamanteus]

I've never known of a snake bothered by the TV, maybe you've got the bass cranked way up!:D

[Lulu Bennett]

it may also be the light from the tv that bothers them. the constant change from light to dark can cause quite a shock.

[enigma200316]

I figured I'd ask a question here as well since has to do with the mouth!!!
Do all Garters have Red Toungs with black tips?

[drache]

apparently not albinos - theirs have pale tips
and there may be some with all black tongues

[Lulu Bennett]

yeah both my albino T. Marcianus have pinkish tongues with very pale tip.

[enigma200316]

well pink is a lighter shade of red when comes down to it....lol
I mean every one I've seen so far including mine has a red toung w/ black tip...........

[Stefan-A]

I figured I'd ask a question here as well since has to do with the mouth!!!
Do all Garters have Red Toungs with black tips?
No. The following species have an all black tongue.

Thamnophis chrysocephalus
Thamnophis exsul
Thamnophis fulvus
Thamnophis godmani
Thamnophis mendax
Thamnophis nigronuchalis
Thamnophis rufipunctatus
Thamnophis scalaris
Thamnophis scaliger
Thamnophis sumichrasti

[drache]

well pink is a lighter shade of red when comes down to it....lol

the tongue is a light red or pink, but the tips are pale yellow or ivory coloured

[enigma200316]

well I was just woundering, but I like the red color better!!!!

[zooplan]

Most of my terrariums are placed in the living room vis a
vis the TV. I can see my snakes often when they are watching TV togehter with my family.
First half of the body out of their hiding place and their head 8 or 10 inch raised up over the bedding.
I´ve never seen them all together but frequently one or two irrespective to their speci.

Until now I was not able to recognize if they prefer a special kind of program.

[drache]

my beardie used to love watching TV
now he likes looking into other enclosures

[GarterGirl]

I have realized something!
If you give them a lot of hiding places they feel safer
and they will come out more!

[zooplan]

Thats true especially for those specimen called to be very nervous.
A friend of mine had some kind of ivy or something similar in his encolsure.
He kept a few western ribbonsnakes (T. p. proximus). They were nervous as known until the plants has grown up and cover the buttom of the tank.
Then they become calm and snoopy, always laying between the leaves and raise their heads when anything was going on in the room.

[Morph]

mine have got 2 hides, 1 with a built in water dish and another plain hide. they both prefer the 1 under the basking lamp though. i guess these garters like it hot :)

this is the tank, i took the branches out for the sake of the photo

http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/8764/gartertankmt2.jpg

[Elliot]

Thats true especially for those specimen called to be very nervous.
A friend of mine had some kind of ivy or something similar in his encolsure.
He kept a few western ribbonsnakes (T. p. proximus). They were nervous as known until the plants has grown up and cover the buttom of the tank.
Then they become calm and snoopy, always laying between the leaves and raise their heads when anything was going on in the room.

Sounds exactly like my western ribbons.

[garterman07]

rico is like that he loves watching whats going on, he'll hide the rest of his body and only stick out his head then if you get close to his cage he raises up out of his hide, he also loves watching tv, along with the cats.

[zooplan]

..., he also loves watching tv, along with the cats.
that remembers me to a short story I like to tell:

Once I had a neighbour.
She did not like to have an own snake but raised some babies for me.
She fed them better than Iwas able to but was a little bit afraid about them to escape while handling them.
So my offspring was growing well in her custody but got shy and nervous as well.
Than she bought a cat.
And the special place of the cat was next to the snakes enclosure where it was warm all time because of the heat source.
It was allways trying to catch the snakes
And those save behind the glas began to fool the cat.
From that moment all offspring that raised by her were really calm and easy to handle.
But than my neighbour moved away because our government moved to Berlin.