Jesse's garter snakes

[RedSidedSPR]

Photoshoot... Smoke wouldn't hold still, Red was most uncooperative, but the concinnus was the most cooperative any snake has been. Put my hand over him so he'd curl up and "pose" and he sat there, not moving for a minute. But thanks to my stupid camera, only 2 came out good. But i LIKE 'em.

[ConcinusMan]

Nice! great photos. Here's a tip: take a plastic lid or other object that you can place them under where it will be dark. Leave them there for a little while until they cool down, and settle down. With your camera positioned and ready, and already focused on that spot, pickup the lid and start shooting fast before they realize what's going on and bolt.

And you're not alone. Even with a good camera, you'll only get a few "keepers". I do have to shoot a lot of photos to get the great ones. That's perfectly normal.

[RedSidedSPR]

Thanks! I keep trying that.. but they don't ever calm down enough under a container. I might not be leaving them long enough though...

The white underneath always comes out yellow, too...

[ConcinusMan]

I might not be leaving them long enough though...

My thoughts exactly. When I do these kinds of shots, I do it in the morning before they warm up. Their body temperatures are 65-70 at that time.(I turn off heat at night in most cases and the tanks and snakes drop to room temp as the night progresses) makes them much calmer and more cooperative.

If that doesn't work for you, it wont hurt to cool them even further to around 60. Just do it at night or in the morning when they should normally be a bit cool anyway. Don't cool them down from 85 to 60 suddenly.

[RedSidedSPR]

The house (heck the yard) doesn't ever get that cool in the summer here...

The longest i've kept them under is around 5 minutes.. he calmed down, when i lifted it up, he stretched out being pushed against the sides.

[ConcinusMan]

Well, my house is 65-72 year 'round. Heated in winter, air conditioning in summer when necessary.

[RedSidedSPR]

It would cost a fortune to cool it that much. Actually, the AC can't handle it. It has a hard enough time keeping it at 75

I'll try to do it when they're cooler though... thanks for the tip(s)

[ConcinusMan]

Well, when it's only 85 outside, and the house is well insulated, it doesn't cost too much for me. And two highly energy efficient air conditioners (strategically located) running putting out a total of 35,000 BTU is more than enough. If both were running on max, the house actually gets cold. The key is to have enough BTU's so that they don't have to run constantly. That will save money over say, only 8,000 btu running constantly to keep up even though higher BTU's draw more power when they are on.

[RedSidedSPR]

The room with my snakes is the coolest. We just renting a crappy house, not great insulation.. it's just not possible this time.

[ConcinusMan]

Well I'm afraid it's hopeless then. All your snakes are going to die.