General characterization of subspecies attitudes

[Stefan-A]

T. elegans vagrans. 40-50 specimens. One individual tried to strike and that was under duress. None have ever so much as put on a threat display, including the one that tried to bite. The females I've handled have been anything but skittish, they've curled up instead of scampering. The males have varied from skittish to almost indifferent. Only 1 has musked me, the same individual that tried to strike.

T. sirtalis parietalis. 2 specimens, male and female, almost polar opposites. The female was somewhat skittish, lunged at me 3 times, under duress. The male appeared indifferent to handling. Neither put on a threat display. Neither musked.

T. sirtalis tetrataenia. 1 specimen, female. Frequent threat displays, frequent musking. 1 strike in 5 years, under duress, on the second day after it was acquired.

[ProXimuS]

I've got a male Gulf Coast Ribbon(Thamnophis proximus orarius), and he's a little skittish. He'll hide if there are any huge sudden movements or anything. A little freaky when you first pick him up but calms down pretty readily. I've only had him for about 5 months, but he has never ever tried to bite or musk me. Even when I first caught him(he's wild caught).

[SilasBannook]

Great feedback. Thanks all.

[Steveo]

I can't really characterize any of mine because they're only a few months old. They're all flighty and still occasionally musk (especially the pickeringii).

Of the T. e. vagrans and T. radix I've found in the wild, the radix always fled and did not strike when captured. vagrans females act very defensively but do not strike unless cornered (one that I brought home for a few months was fairly docile for a big gravid gal but would tire of being held after 4 or 5 minutes and try to flee); males are flighly and musk, some have struck while I took pictures but it was always when I caught them out in the open without cover nearby.

[norcalj]

Out of all of the garters that I've ever kept, Bluestripes are absolutely the nuttiest! As a whole, they just seem to be hyper flighty. Often times, just walking past their tanks will cause them to go go ballistic, and fly up against the terrarium wall. Out in the field, the worst smelling musk that I ever encountered comes from Santa Cruz garters. It's way worse than Terrestris and Infernalis.

[ConcinusMan]

Out in the field, the worst smelling musk that I ever encountered comes from Santa Cruz garters. It's way worse than Terrestris and Infernalis.[/QUOTE]

It is pretty bad. Also, they tend to bite very aggressively and I've had pretty significant reactions to their saliva.

[jitami]

Am I the only one that has T. elegans? LOL, I haven't seen much on them at all... Mamas is very skittish, but she is still pregnant (still waiting for the babies). She is actually doing a little better now. Spica does not like being handled at all.

I have 2 T.e.elegans. I don't handle them a lot, but both are easy to pick up, hold, and manage as needed. Both are wild caught and I think that has more to do with their temperament than anything else. My captive born babies, both elegans & marcianus/sirtalis have all been easy to handle, no musking, no striking, rarely startle and are just calm for the most part. The captive born babies also tend to be out and about more often and do less hiding than the wild caught kids, but my w/c guys are such long term captives that there's not a huge difference there, either.

[Invisible Snake]

*I'm new to these 2 species/subspecies of garter snakes and currently working with mostly babies/juveniles, these are my personal observations*

Thamnophis sirtalis infernalis and Thamnophis cyrtopsis ocellatus are very similar in attitudes, both are defensive and don't like to be handled and won't hesitate to strike at something or someone they find threatening. My Ocellatus prefer to sleep under the substrate during the day and are very active when it gets dark. My Infernalis spends most of their time hidden either in a hide or under the substrate, they are very timid and don't like to be handled. Ocellatus are flighty, but will calm down after being held for a couple of minutes. Both prefer to eat live fish (I haven't tried worms yet) and will only eat heavily scented pinkies.

When threatened my infernalis will flatten its head and keep its body relatively low to the ground ready to strike. When my Ocellatus feels threatened/cornered they will rise up (like standing up, but it's body is still curled up) and puff up their bodies to appear bigger than they really are and won't hesitate to strike. I noticed these behaviors while trying to feed them unscented pinkies, they didn't recognize it as food and felt threatened.

[-MARWOLAETH-]

What are atratus like?

[@ndy]

Well i have 2x T. marcianus and they differ night and day, my big girl gets really aggressive at feeding time and she strikes and draws blood until she is in your hands.
Only then she calms down! I handle her allot and I have had her since 5 weeks old she is CB2010 and has her mothers attitude!

Then my new garter is a CB2011 baby form a different pair and she is calm and friendly but shy, she will only eat if you aren't looking and hates the camera!