Hi there... I'm PhillyDude, from Philly, dude.

Caught an 18" garter down on the Eastern Shore of MD two weeks ago, my first snake. Brought it home and set it up in a new 10gal tank. Used a mix of pine chips and fir bark from the pet store as a base material, added an undertank heat mat (half the tank) and a lid with a red 15w T-10 heat lamp in an old aquarium hood (temp on the "warm" side of the tank is 79-80), plus a big piece of wood (also from the pet shop) which had a nice little "cave" for him to hide in. He seemed pretty happy, and spent a fair amount of time out in the tank during the first week, exploring his environment while I watched him.

I let him get settled for four days, then put three feeder guppies in his water bowl and a night crawler cut into four pieces into the tank. Within fifteen minutes, he had polished off the worm and one of the guppies. Went away for the weekend and when I got back he had taken another of the guppies. I had collected several flat rocks while I was in MD to build him another "cave," so on Monday I moved him out of the tank and into a plastic carry box so I could set up the new structure. This seemed to agitate him (I put the box in the tank and let him crawl in... I have not handled the snake at all and don't intend to), and after I reset the tank (moving the log to the "cool" side of the tank) and returned him to the environment, he immediately went under the rock structure and has pretty much camped out there (out of sight) since then.

I did offer him another worm on Monday after all the disruption, and he ate that within a few hours (I did not see him do it) and on Tuesday he took the last guppy at some point while I was not home, so he is eating. Last night I refilled the water bowl with three more guppies and put in another worm. He did come out while I was watching (took him about fifteen minutes to build up the courage) and took one piece of the nightcrawler, but then went back to his rock cave. I miss the snake that was more "visible" and active, and I'm hoping that part of his personality returns...

1) Is it OK to keep the fish available all the time, so he can feed whenever he is hungry?
2) Is it normal that he spends so much of his time in "hiding?" Did I traumatize him somehow? Or does he just like the rock that much (it is over the heat mat and under the lamp, so I bet it's nice and warm in there)?
3) Any feedback on all of this (tank layout and design, food and feeding schedule, etc)?

Looking forward to learning from you all!