Hello everyone,
I'm new here and new to garter snakes in general. I have previously owned 3 snakes (1 king, 2 corn) and I decided to buy a garter snake earlier today. *I think it's a western ribbon*. I have a couple of questions. If anyone can help me out it would be greatly appreciated.

1) How often do they strike, and how can I help to avoid it

2) How often should I feed him (right now I'm giving him feeder fish from the petstore, they told me 3 a day but that sounded kind of excessive.

3) What type of bedding should I use in his cage? Are aspen/ceder type shavings okay?

If there's anything that a garter-newbie like myself should be aware of that you can think of, please let me know!

Also, since I bought him a few hours ago, I only put 1 fish in his water bowl because I thought he may not feel up to eating tonight. What should I do if he doesn't eat the fish? Just let it stay in there until it dies and then take it out?

Whew! Sorry that was several questions thank you to anyone who responds!