I've always wondered how my radixes would react to seeing themselves in a mirror. I finally found time to check it out. I used a small(4X4 inch) mirror. I went to one of my large female radix groups first. When I opened the enclosure they first acted like they were going to come out and see me. I placed the mirror about 6 inches away from them. Their attention immediately turned towards the mirror. They no longer were focused on me. I could see their pupils constricting as they studied the image. The pupil reaction reminded me of how they focus on food before a strike. After approximately 4 minutes most of them moved inside their hide. They didn't come out to see me and I feel they weren't comfortable with the mirror still out there.
I then moved to a group of babies. They paid little to no interest in the mirror. One baby did go up and treated like it was regular glass.
I think garter who live in glass enclosure are used to seeing some kind of reflection/image in the glass but a mirror of a complete reflection. My adults weren't able to process it and did the safe thing, HIDE.
I love to watch them in their enclosures. In my opinion they are doing a lot of thinking and analyzing. To what degree that thinking and analyzing is I don't know. I do believe they have more intelligence then they are given credit for. I feel the more stimuli they get the more they process and remember. I'll never be able to write a paper or do any scientific studies on all this but I sure am going to have fun and discover many things about these wonderful snakes. Along the way I hope to make some great radix friends as I go.