My snake is a weirdo.......

[anji1971]

I've had my new garter Twister for 3 or 4 days now, and I am finding him a little odd!:D
Besides the fact that he likes to tear up his house on a regular basis, I am finding him to be quite a contradiction in behaviour. When handled, he is super calm, roaming around freely for as long as I want, and he never panics or tries to run. In fact, if I put my hand in the tank, he starts climbing right up onto me.
So can someone please tell me why he's terrified of worms???? It's hilarious -- you should see him run if one of those guys comes too close!!:p
And despite all the branches and the nice little hide I've given him, THIS is where he chooses to spend all his resting time. Does he not look foolish all crammed up in there?:D
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/april9allsnakes_017.jpg
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/april9allsnakes_011.jpg
http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/april9allsnakes_015.jpg

Oh well, I guess he'll use his hide when he gets too fat to fit in the screen top. Provided I can get him to eat something so he does fatten up!

[krystalirelan@southslope.]

our female chequred does the same thing. i tried another heat source and that brought her down.

[Loren]

Looks like a nice snake. I used to have snakes crawl on that ledge alot too, and thats part of why I started making my own lids. My lids rest on/in that lip, instead of over it, so there is no ledge. If a strong snake gets in that ledge area, they can lift the lid even if it has some weight on it, because it allows them to push with their whole body.
As Krystal said, try different things with the heat, and also the hides, and maybe you'll find a way to make it stay down.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

hahahaha hes terrified of worms???? My male wandering is also terrified of worms!!! he smells one and then he BOLTS like it burns him to be close to it!! what is up with that LOL

[drache]

perhaps he's up there because he knows it's the way out?
and yes, I too have garters who don't like worms - not quite scared of them, but definitely absolutely not interested in them as food
one of my parietalis even - she recoils
nice looking garter you got there

[zooplan]

Maybe he had bad experiences for example if he tried to eat aworm that was too big for him once?

[anji1971]

Thanks for the input, everyone!
I hadn't thought about the heat being an attraction for the top of the tank.........at this time he does not have a heat pad like the others. Maybe I'll borrow the one from my big tank--it's a little large for the 10G but it might still work.

At the moment, Twister doesn't seem interested in eating anything. I noticed that he likes to poke around in the water dish, and since he was found at a pond, I figured he was probably looking for fishies, so I gave him a fishy, and it's still there.
He's most likely still settling in, and here's something else I've wondered:
Since he'd just come out of brumation when I found him ( it was only our 2nd or 3rd warm day) could he be more interested in finding a girlfriend than eating??
I know Deejay's been going absolutely bonkers since I set up the new tank next to her; I think she can smell him. She spends most of her time at that end of her tank watching Twister and crawling up the glass. "Woohoo.......a MAN!!!":D
And Twister does seem kind of restless, although he seems to be finished demolishing his home now.
Should I maybe put a little more distance between the tanks??

[zooplan]

Can you offer him some tadpoles?
Ponds should be filled up with them!

[Lori P]

Anji, he's cute!! Desdemona the kingsnake does the same thing-- she lies on that ledge. Well, actually, she's getting too big now so she kind of hangs off it and sometimes falls.:rolleyes:

I wonder too if they do smell each other... tell Deejay to stop being such a hussy!!! :D

Good luck with him... I wonder if the tadpole idea of Udo's would work, if you can find any.

[anji1971]

I could probably find some tadpoles, but if he doesn't try to eat anything else, that would definitely become a problem. I've figured out how to winter over slugs and worms in the basement, but I have absolutely NO intention to breed frogs!!!!:eek:

[anji1971]

I wonder too if they do smell each other... tell Deejay to stop being such a hussy!!! :D


Just out of curiosity, I let Deejay crawl around on the screen top of Twister's tank, and there is definitely an attraction thing going on! This time HE was desperately trying to get up there to check her out.
Now I feel like a big meanie for tormenting them like that.......:rolleyes:

[anji1971]

The crazy little guy finally ate! He decided worms aren't so bad as long as they're very small.....:D
He's still a bit nervous about feeding, but at least I have confidence he'll come around.

[Lori P]

YES!!! Good job Twister!! Good job Anji!!!!

[Sid]

Wat to go Twister:D. Glad he's eating for you now, Anji

[adamanteus]

That's great news, Anji. Maybe once he's taken worms a couple more times, you could 'post' a trout strip in behind it. Then maybe you can wean him onto more easily available foods.

[Loren]

The crazy little guy finally ate! He decided worms aren't so bad as long as they're very small.....:D
He's still a bit nervous about feeding, but at least I have confidence he'll come around.

Well of coarse he's hesitant to eat worms. Have you ever tried to eat one? They're gross !! :D

[gregmonsta]

Lol .... an old pic .... Slither's favorite place is still the same though ... He just likes it there :) ....

http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/DSC03093.JPG

[adamanteus]

How's 'J' doing, Greg? It's been a while since we heard about him.

[anji1971]

Lol .... an old pic .... Slither's favorite place is still the same though ... He just likes it there :) ....

http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/DSC03093.JPG

Now that I've posted this thread, I see that many snakes seem to like hiding out up in that ledge! I had forgotten, but Deejay used to do that too, until she got too fat to stay in there!

[gregmonsta]

How's 'J' doing, Greg? It's been a while since we heard about him.

J's doing great mate :) .... loving his pinkies ... he's firmed up and added some length too .... but not as much as Slithers who has gained more than 2 inches since december :D .... on another note I found my old schoolbooks from when I did my handling study ... will formulate another post on that soon :)

[anji1971]

Twister is getting bolder every day. Now he's graduated to nightcrawlers chopped into 1-2 inch pieces. I'm really working on getting him to hand feed like the other two.:)

[bulrush]

hahahaha hes terrified of worms???? My male wandering is also terrified of worms!!! he smells one and then he BOLTS like it burns him to be close to it!! what is up with that LOL
Perhaps they are EVIL posessed worms! Muhahaha hahahaha.

[anji1971]

Perhaps they are EVIL worms! Muhahaha hahahaha.

Ha-ha! Maybe that was the initial problem! :)
Whatever it was, he is slowly but surely overcoming his fear..........I think the first couple of days he was just more stressed out than he appeared to be.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

Um, if I ever get ahold of any evil possessed worms, I too will probably bolt i the opposite direction.

[Stefan-A]

http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/up1.jpg

http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//500/medium/stunts1.jpg

[anji1971]

Cute pics, Stefan!
I guess Twister isn't as strange as I first suspected. It appears that many of them like scrunching themselves up in small spaces!

[Stefan-A]

It's pretty easy to understand how they can be such escape artists and how people can so easily underestimate them. :) If there had been a snake-sized hole in the mesh anywhere at all, the snake would have been able to escape with 100% certainty. How exactly it got up there in the second picture is still a bit of a mystery. The "ledge" it's on is less than 5 mm wide.

[anji1971]

You'd be surprised at how they get up there!
We actually watched Twister climb the tank, belly to the glass, then stand on the very tip of his tail and wedge his head in the gap on the ledge. Then he used his head and neck to hold on and slowly pull his body up, placing it neatly along the side as he went.
It was quite comical, as well as very interesting to see!;)

[GarterGirl]

You'd be surprised at how they get up there!
We actually watched Twister climb the tank, belly to the glass, then stand on the very tip of his tail and wedge his head in the gap on the ledge. Then he used his head and neck to hold on and slowly pull his body up, placing it neatly along the side as he went.
It was quite comical, as well as very interesting to see!;)

Wow, it must've been cool to watch!

And, pretty snake:D

[anji1971]

Wow, it must've been cool to watch!

And, pretty snake:D

Thank you, Mikhaila!
It was very cool to watch. I am always amazed by how powerful their little bodies are. I wish my muscles could work that well!

[Snake lover 3-25]

mine did that too... but now he's to fat... LOL:):):):):):)

[GarterGirl]

Thank you, Mikhaila!
It was very cool to watch. I am always amazed by how powerful their little bodies are. I wish my muscles could work that well!
Your welcome!
And yea, it would be so fun if we could do that. And it's amazing cause they don't even have legs!

[ssssnakeluvr]

here's one of my escape artists trying to find a way out.....

http://www.thamnophis.com/thamphotos/data//504/goofy.jpg