Female garter starting to become aggressive

[Talon]

Hey folks, I just need some general advice about how to curb my female's aggression before it becomes an issue, and how to do it as safely as possible.

My female eastern garter is approaching two years. At the start of this spring she entered a major growth spurt. She use to be more timid, even when you handled her however she tolerated you and would rather try to get away then put up a fight. However ever since her major growth spurt she has changed considerably. Handling her is frightening at times. I try to minimize it because I do not want to stress her too much considering she's undergoing a major change in her life.

But once I took her out to show my husband, she was definitely acting different than the males( i have four males atm, so yes, a female garter is VERY foreign to me atm). She would kinda poise as if she was going to strike in my hands. This had me worried, i noticed her eyes trailing after my husband's hand. I warned him that she may bite, but he decided to try his luck and rub her on her chin. A few times she snatched back and uttered a loud snort. Last time he did it she had enough and lashed and bit the crap out of his finger! It was alarming because the males we have NEVER do this, they never seemed bothered when we would do the chin rubs to them.

Not good! I am very worried, she is STILL growing, and I was to curb this before she can really pack a punch behind her bites. What can I do? I know handle her more, but the way she kinda poises herself in a striking position is getting me worried. SHould I start handling her with gloves?

Any advice will help, thanks!

[Albert Clark]

Hi Talon! Welcome to Thamnophis. Are any of your garters wild caught and specifically the female? Two years is a good amount of time for a animal to become established in their enclosure. And also to become tolerant of handlings however all specimens are individuals with their own personalities. Was she in a shed cycle? Was she recently fed? The other garters, are they in close proximity to her? Then the main question is what type of encolsure is she in and what are the temperatures like in there. Ambient, basking spot, and warm and cool side temps? How are you heating the enclosure? These are the questions we need to check into. Then overall, we need to remember that these animals are captives but they have wild instincts.

[Talon]

Nope, all are captive bred. She hasn't been in the same enclosure for two years. Originally she was with her brother, but they had to be separated because they were approaching sexual maturity. Didn't want any accidental pregnancies, so she was moved into a larger enclosure and her brother was placed with the other three males in a very large enclosure.

She was in shed cycle, she was approaching the end of it. She was fed four days ago. The temperature of the enclosure varies on which side.. probably a 3-5 degree temperature difference. On average the entire enclosure is like 74 degrees. She does have access to an expansive hidey hole as well as a basking light.

I think I made the mistake in handling her at the end of her shed cycle, I figured that now she could see it would be alright to take her out and show her to the husband. Today when I had to arrange some things in the terrarium I had to use gloves to remove her temporarily. This time she was VERY vicious and bit my gloves several times as well as musking me. It very well may be because she's about to shed any moment now she's feeling very vulnerable hence aggressive.

[Albert Clark]

Oh ok. I think your overall temps could come up a bit. I would think 82f would be a fair elevation in overall temperature. With a basking spot of say 86f. How do you monitor the temps? Do you use a thermostat to control the basking spot? Shedding is a good reason for a animal to be aggressive and or defensive. Maybe some other members who have experience with the eastern garters will weigh in momentarily. If you don't have a ir gun to check the surface temps you may want to pick up one to keep track of the enclosure temps.