Active snakes ?

[GarterGuy17]

Well before I gave jade food all she did was stay in her hide and never come out , but for some reason today ( the day before she gets more food ) she is very active. Jade just so happens to be going all over the tank climbing , going over her branch swimming and I cant keep up I look down for like a minute and she not at the same place anymore , Sometimes she gets comfortable in one spot but she is moving way more then before. I was wondering if this is a sign that she feels safe in her enclosure or maybe shes happy ? or just something else completely irrelevant ? By the way how did your snakes behave after a couple of days with you ?

[guidofatherof5]

Sounds very normal for a young snake in a new enclosure.
Just like a kid. Full of energy and out exploring.

[GarterGuy17]

You might be right , I honestly thought she was just trying to find a way out :/

[EasternGirl]

Well she definitely seems happy and comfortable. She is probably also exploring and checking out her new digs. I find that anytime I change my snakes' enclosures around, or put something new in them...they explore a lot and become very active. Garters are very curious. My easterns were very skiddish for a while...since they were wild...it took them a while to become comfortable. They go through phases of being very active and being very reclusive. Hermes is an albino...so he likes to come out and explore at night...he will become active late at night and I will find him slithering all over his cage.

[guidofatherof5]

You might be right , I honestly thought she was just trying to find a way out :/

Get used to that. They all look for ways out.
They just want to go for a walkabout.

[GarterGuy17]

Well I think after hours of exploring she is tired, Now she is in her cave / tunnel / basking spot just laying there. I just wanted to know if it was something bad :D

[guidofatherof5]

Eating, drinking, pooping, shedding, tongue flicking, active, reactive are all things to look for in a healthy snake.

[GarterGuy17]

Well she flicks her tongue a lot but the only thing I don't know of is poop haven't seen it don't really know what it looks like :T

[guidofatherof5]

Well she flicks her tongue a lot but the only thing I don't know of is poop haven't seen it don't really know what it looks like :T

Some substrates make that task a lot more difficult.

[EasternGirl]

Ahh...good question. First of all...interestingly, garters urinate a kind of solid looking powdery, milky white stuff called urates...so if you see that come out of her tail end...that is not poop. If you actually see her doing her business, you will see her lift up her tail and deposit either urates or brown/black stuff..which is poop...or it could look exactly like whatever she ate...we actually had a thread about it: here you go...poop pics:
Poop ID. (http://www.thamnophis.com/forum/husbandry/8076-poop-id.html)

[GarterGuy17]

I'm actually pretty tempted to click that link even though is extremely weird !

[EasternGirl]

It sounds weird but it's not actually...it's a real link...no joke...we were discussing different types of poop so that people were able to ID it...different things snakes eat and poop out...all part of being a garter owner. You have to be able to know if your snake is having normal bowel movements especially in the event of a suspected blockage. And you want to be able to tell urates from feces. So go ahead and look at it...and you can laugh too if you want...and be grossed out too if you want. Just wait until the first time you hear your snake poop.

[angrygamer]

Well before I gave jade food all she did was stay in her hide and never come out , but for some reason today ( the day before she gets more food ) she is very active. Jade just so happens to be going all over the tank climbing , going over her branch swimming and I cant keep up I look down for like a minute and she not at the same place anymore , Sometimes she gets comfortable in one spot but she is moving way more then before. I was wondering if this is a sign that she feels safe in her enclosure or maybe shes happy ? or just something else completely irrelevant ? By the way how did your snakes behave after a couple of days with you ?


You did a great job of preparation, you asked the right questions and got the right things!

[katach]

Sounds like a happy comfortable snake.
My snake was climbing into my hand by day 3. She is very calm and sweet. The rest took anywhere from a week to a month. One still won't climb into our hands and takes about 10min to calm down while being held.

[chris-uk]

All sounds normal to me. The longer you have her the more you'll learn about her particular habits. Also, don't worry if she's not so active tomorrow, even our most outgoing snake goes through cycles of very active, then you may not see her the next day at all, but she'll be out again soon.

[GarterGuy17]

Well every morning I always try to hold her for a while , and right now she is on my lap curled up as if it was a hide or something , im not even touching her actually she just hasnt moved I feel like a good snake owner :D

[d_virginiana]

That sounds normal. :) Three days is pretty good to already have her climbing on your hand and chilling out while you hold her, especially for a younger one! The babies always seem more skittish to me than even wild adults.

As for trying to find a way out... Like people have said, that never stops. It's a good sign though, I think it makes them feel as if they're exploring even though they don't really have anything new.

[EasternGirl]

I agree...my snakes are always trying to find a way out! That is why I was so concerned about the lid on your tank, John, and making sure it was escape-proof. My snakes will examine every inch of their enclosures...looking for any little place they can try to escape. And John, the fact that Jade will sit curled up in your lap...that is just awesome. My snakes still will not do that. Hermes is getting close...of course, I don't know if Cee Cee and Seeley will ever be that trusting...they are just very skiddish snakes...that is just their nature.

[angrygamer]

If there's a way out of somewhere, either a door or window...rest assured, a snake would take the window.

[tress29]

Vinnie (radix) is out prowling a lot! If I walk past the tank he usually darts away. I don't get a chance to hold them every day though. If I pick him up, he just wants to slither through my fingers. I don't know if he's ever be "calm" since males aren't usually as mellow about handling as females.

Zach (eastern) is the calmest of my three, he'll curl up in my fingers for a few seconds before he starts looking for an escape route!

[GarterGuy17]

I see what you guys are saying but a small correction this is the 5th day I have her picked her up on saturday , gave her food on sunday 4 days later ( today ) she gets more. Im about to feed wish me luck with the fish :(