New with a few questions

[EasternGirl]

That's an eastern garter...T.s.sirtalis...no doubt in my mind on this one. Looks like it could be Cee Cee's twin. And if you are in Philly, that is the species of garter that would be local to your area...you are 45 minutes north of me. Don't be offended if I ask you this, but are you afraid of handling him because you aren't used to snakes? It is a common fear. Garter snakes are not usually aggressive snakes. They usually don't bite...although they will sometimes. Easterns can be very skiddish...and wild caught snakes will be more skiddish than captive bred ones, but handling him and getting him used to you will help him to learn to trust you and become less skiddish. Cee Cee, my more fiesty eastern...at the most, false strikes at me....this is something garters often do. They will strike at you and look like they are going to bite you, but they don't actually open their mouths...they just bump you with their nose. You can begin by putting your hand in the tank and letting him just get used to your hand being in there. Then, let him come over to your hand and smell it...crawl on it if he will. Then you can try petting him. Do this all in little steps...a few days at a time...take it very slow. You will need to be able to handle him at some point...it's just a fact. If he does bite you at some point...it won't be that bad...my chihuahua bites worse than my snakes. Oh, and in the wild they do manage to get dirt off the food...but they don't have substrate to deal with either. Also, snakes die a lot in the wild from problems that we can avoid when we have them in captivity.

[PhillyDude]

That's an eastern garter...T.s.sirtalis...no doubt in my mind on this one. Looks like it could be Cee Cee's twin. And if you are in Philly, that is the species of garter that would be local to your area...you are 45 minutes north of me.

Actually, I caught him on the Eastern Shore in MD (Rock Hall) so definitely in your area.

Don't be offended if I ask you this, but are you afraid of handling him because you aren't used to snakes? It is a common fear. Garter snakes are not usually aggressive snakes. They usually don't bite...although they will sometimes. Easterns can be very skiddish...and wild caught snakes will be more skiddish than captive bred ones, but handling him and getting him used to you will help him to learn to trust you and become less skiddish. Cee Cee, my more fiesty eastern...at the most, false strikes at me....this is something garters often do. They will strike at you and look like they are going to bite you, but they don't actually open their mouths...they just bump you with their nose. You can begin by putting your hand in the tank and letting him just get used to your hand being in there. Then, let him come over to your hand and smell it...crawl on it if he will. Then you can try petting him. Do this all in little steps...a few days at a time...take it very slow. You will need to be able to handle him at some point...it's just a fact. If he does bite you at some point...it won't be that bad...my chihuahua bites worse than my snakes.

Yeah, that's definitely part of it... just not used to havng a snake around the house. When I stick my hand in the tank to change his water, he quickly retreats to his hiding spot. Even making eye contact when he is sticking his head out will cause him to pull it right back. As I said, we're still "new" to each other at this point. Time will tell...