Aggressive

[Garter_Gertie]

"Assess." Not "Access." Sorry. Didn't think that looked right.

Not yet, Wayne!

[anji1971]

I think aggressive behaviour is a personality trait.
Many snakes have aggressive feeding responses, but most are pretty calm in between. Truly aggressive behaviour would be a snake that strikes/bites on a regular basis, during normal handling.
We've all heard about those few that the members here have. The ones with "attitude"!

[kmreese]

Hello everyone! I'm new here and also a new owner. I've been reading the posts and you all are great! Lots of info to be absorbed here. My introduction post has not been posted yet...but anyway, on to the reply on aggressiveness. I am curious about this one. A girl at the local pet store told me to remove my snake from its habitat when I feed him/her (I haven't figured that part out yet). This (she said) will keep him/her from developing 'cage aggressiveness'. She told me that I should put him in another cage or bucket to feed and then put him back into his 'home' so they don't associate your hands in their cage as a sign of feeding time and become somewhat aggressive towards you. She told me they do that with all their snakes at the store. Is this really necessary? I do want a snake that does not mind being handled and won't try to feed on my fingers when I'm changing its water or cleaning parts of its cage. What do you all think? Thanks!

[kmreese]

Well...I'm not sure if the 'cage aggressiveness' I was told about and mentioned in my last post is true or not, but I decided to try a few things. My snake finally ate something after having him for 9 days, although he probably would have eaten sooner if I tried the right food for him, nightcrawlers. After the 3rd one, I started feeding them to him from the palm of my hand. He eats them from my hand now and has all of a sudden seemed to warm up to me now. I haven't picked him up yet, but I can gently stroke him as he slithers around and he doesn't freak out and scoot around trying to get away from me like he used to. Is this ok to do? or should I not feed him like that? Also, how do I tell if it is a male or female. I'm pretty sure it's an adult at 2 feet give or take a cuople of inches.

[Elliot]

It's fine to feed them out of your hand, I do that with mine. Some pictures of the tail/vent area can help us identify the sex of your snake.

[anji1971]

Usually the reason to feed in a separate enclosure is to avoid them accidentally ingesting the substrate. Also to more closely monitor how much they are getting to eat, or avoid food fights with multiple snakes.
If your snake is eating out of your hand, and seems content to let you touch it, then go for it! It's nice when you get one that is comfortable enough with you to do that.

[ssssnakeluvr]

I think this may be an off-shoot of the vegetarian myth that meat-eaters are more aggressive than vegetarians
in nature as a general rule of thumb, I suppose carnivores are more "aggressive" than herbivores, but I don't think that within those parameters food choices make that much difference, although apparently the taste of human flesh changes a predator's preferences, which from our point of view would make them more aggressive, but that's another subject
my most aggressive eater is my most handleable garter and she eats primarily rat pups

Human flesh changes predator's preferences?????? I hope you don't buy that one......I have yet to see any proof of that....some people think that's true...not! People are just easier to catch prey....just think, chasing down a deer or a man.....its obvious which is faster....

[zooplan]

Aggression against the keeper, is motsly caused by the fear of the keeper!
Garters can learn a lot they may learn to eat rodents or to strike at the hand that twitches away.

[drache]

Human flesh changes predator's preferences?????? I hope you don't buy that one......I have yet to see any proof of that....some people think that's true...not! People are just easier to catch prey....just think, chasing down a deer or a man.....its obvious which is faster....

that's why I added "apparently" - it was the wrong modifier though
I don't have a clue
to my human tastes of course, something with less fur would be preferable to something where I keep getting hair up my nose while eating, but I doubt animals have these silly preferences
and we probably taste no better than factory farmed chicken - possibly a bit more tender than wild prey
yeah - it must be that we're easier to catch

[Loren]

[quote=kmreese;71900]Hello everyone! I'm new here and also a new owner.
A girl at the local pet store told me to remove my snake from its habitat when I feed him/her (I haven't figured that part out yet). This (she said) will keep him/her from developing 'cage aggressiveness'. [quote]

Hi and welcome.
The "feed out of the cage" theory is usually used more with much larger snakes, where being bit is something to fear a bit. I dont know how much it actually works, but basically, a garter snakes bite is not worth being afraid of. It will scare you a bit the first few times, and then you will see its not really a big deal. Gentle, regular handling should help make the snake very handlable. Dont surprise the snake, and dont handle him with snake-food type smells on your hands, and dont handle him right after he eats or when he is ready to shed.
Snakes usually bite either because they confuse you for food, or because you make them feel threatened. Watch his behavior and reactions to you closely, and learn from them.
There is one valid reason to feed outside the cage, as someone else mentioned, and that is to avoid the ingestion of subtrate.
As for how often they bite- I have many types of garters, and basically, mine dont bite at all- and if they do, its because they think I have food. Again, this can be avoided by letting them see you coming, so they can see what it is that is aproaching. If I have a snake that has an over-excited feeding response, I like to hold my hand out just out of their reach for a few seconds, so they can focus on it and see what it is. That helps a lot.
An aggresive garter is pretty rare if they are handled gently.