Is this normal?

[doomkitty]

Ok, I have more questions.
Baby is very active around the enclosure and does not shy away when we walk past. I have not made an attempt to pick it (her?) up since the transfer to the new enclose. I Put fresh water in and since baby was not acting threatened by my hand I picked it up. At first I got the normal, glide over the fingers, and then a little faster (obviously attempting to get away). While I was trying to get baby back in the tank with minimal flailing it looked like it was drooling. As soon as it was back in the tank it all stopped and the drool drops all happened in a few second.
Is this normal flight behavior? What was the clear liquid? Was it about to regurgitate from stress?
I feel like an overly worried mother now....

[acovert]

Are you sure that it was coming from the mouth and that it hadn't come from down near the tail area and just happened to get wiped off on it's mouth? Did it smell?

[chris-uk]

I've read about garters regurgitating water they've just drunk when they've been startled. It doesn't seem to be a regular occurrence but if it only happens once in the circumstances you describe I wouldn't be overly concerned.
While you're acclimatising a new garter its a good idea to let them get used to your hands by just letting them slither over and around your hands in the viv. Then progress to full on holding once it is more confident you move on to full on holding.

[ConcinusMan]

Nothing to worry about. They'll do that if they just finished drinking and then you handle them right after.

[doomkitty]

The liquid did not smell like anything, I'm pretty sure it was water. I'm glad to know it is a semi-normal reaction, I was a little alarmed that I may have overly stressed baby out. Thank you.

[ConcinusMan]

Unlike mammals, the glottis (pipe through which they breathe) in snakes and terrapins is extended way out into the bottom of their mouth. It allows them to breathe even while swallowing. This also means that theres nothing to stop water from just spilling out of their stomach by way of gravity. This normally isn't a problem when laying flat but if the upper third of their body is lowest, gravity makes the water just run right out of their stomach. There's nothing to stop it. Here you can see the glottis. It opens and closes as they breathe through it. It leads to the lung. Everything above that is a direct line to the stomach with nothing in between to stop water from just flowing right out.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y172/rockyballboa/morphology-venomous-snake-head.jpg

[acovert]

I asked about the smell and the tail because Cuddles enjoys musking me and getting it all over, including his face. Sometimes, though not always, it's just a clear fluid, but usually there's white in it too.