Sub-species temperament

[ssssnakeluvr]

it's a common defense trait.... I have them strike at me a lot... I pick them up anyway they calm down

[RedSidedSPR]

I picked up my adult (male red sided) when I first caught him, he bit me so many times!! He was relentless!!!! My hands where covered in teeth marks and blood. So i thought "he's a keeper" (my first snake btw) although he never struck again. And now hes a sweety (jumpy but...)

[Venti]

Of all the garter snakes I have caught, the red-sided garter snakes have been the tamest and least nippy. A few bites here and there, but after that dead calm.

Now the water snakes around here are a different story...

[RedSidedSPR]

Well, mine wasn't. It was a lot like the water snakes.

But yes, water snakes are pretty nasty here, too.

[BLUESIRTALIS]

I have people tell me all the time that similis have bad attitudes but mine haven't tried to bite once.

[RedSidedSPR]

well, supposedly they do. Like Infernalis. They are more likely to be nasty... doesn't mean they always are.

[ConcinusMan]

Yeah, every time I see a video or pics of similis being found in the wild, they cop a 'tude and start biting.

[d_virginiana]

Funny, the water snakes around here are really chill. The worst one's ever done when I caught it was nose-bump me, and when I let him go I realized I had grabbed him on an injury on his tail. The wild easterns I've found have never seemed to have much of an attitude either; really bold but not too aggressive. The only really mean ones I've found are rat snakes and the occasional really pissy racer.

[RedSidedSPR]

Ok, vise versa for me. Garters and waters are nasty, rat snakes arent. Racers are REALLY mean

[RedSidedSPR]

BTW he's not dry striking