Balance/movement issues?!

[Buck]

I, and even the vet, were very confused. I do not believe it is mouth rot, the inside of his lip looks fine. And it's just tense and awkward for him to move (although I'm not sure how the vet determined that..) I guess. I'm kind of tempted to try checking with a different vet, as I'm not sure that I can fully understand or agree with this conclusion... :/

Is there any other possible explanation as to why she wouldn't be drinking?

[guidofatherof5]

I would say a snake that isn't drinking is indicative of some other medical issue.

[Buck]

Woah! I may have just found the answer....

I was just holding Buck while getting a cold glass of water for myself. She started moving (still sideways..) quickly towards the tap, attempting to get out of my grip. She did another corkscrew-like twist and I let her drop into the sink. Immediately, she cracked her mouth open a bit and let the water flow into her jaws.

I always give her room temperature water, as I've read that that's what's best. What I think I've failed to overlook is that I found her near a mountain-fed stream. She always drank super cold water! Could it be that she's just super fussy about something as simple as temperature...? I realize that this seems far-fetched, but I will definitely be filling her water bowl with cold now....

-fingers crossed a thousand times over-

[guidofatherof5]

At this point I wouldn't rule anything out but you did say "far-fetched" and I would agree.
Since cold water lowers the core temp of a reptile I would think reptiles would avoid it if possible.

[Greg'sGarters]

Steve's right, snakes don't like to drink cold water. I think it is the fact that is is running water. I have heard of reptiles only wanting to drink moving water. You can just get a reptile waterfall! Try that and see if that interests her! It can be ran on land and it is the perfect solution!

[snake man]

I was thinking the same thing as greg, if this is the problem you can also buy little fountains/water pumps off of amazon that will give you moving water within his enclosure.

[guidofatherof5]

I've never heard that any garter snake required moving water.
Worth a try but I feel it falls in that far-fetched realm.

[Greg'sGarters]

I've never heard that any garter snake required moving water.
Worth a try but I feel it falls in that far-fetched realm.

Sometimes snakes can be weird. At the pet store I used to work at, we used to have a 16 foot long burmese python with a jaw size of 2 hands put together. It would refuse to eat any rats, guinea pigs, rabbits, or chickens unless it had a mouse first. It looked like it was eating a grape. We tried scenting rats, rabbits and guinea pigs with mice but it needed a live mouse first.

[Buck]

Well, that does make a little bit more sense actually. She will be getting another drink of sink water tonight, and it's off to the pet store for a reptile fountain tomorrow! She does seem to be perking up a bit, thank goodness! I appreciate all of your answers, and I suppose she just missed her flowing stream back home! Another update in store for tomorrow!

[d_virginiana]

I agree with Steve on this... I just don't see a garter snake refusing water to the point of having seizures unless there is a more serious issue present. I've heard of reptiles developing bizarre ticks when it comes to food in captivity, especially if they are wild caught, but I've never heard of one refusing water like that.

My guess is whatever is causing her to be unable to use her jaw muscles correctly is probably the reason she hasn't been drinking.
When you had her near the faucet, was it clearly drinking, or could she have been having another seizure/been unable to move away?

... Go to your nearest walmart or wherever and get a gallon of spring water. Try that for awhile. Even well water, which is free of chlorine, can be SERIOUSLY contaminated with heavy metals. Wouldn't be enough to harm a human, but it could be enough to damage a snake. Not all well water is like that, but I think that something like that is more likely than her just deciding not to drink until she has seizures.
Even if the surface water in your area is fine, the well water can have very different content. I've done research on surface vs. well vs. treated tap water before; you'd be seriously surprised about some of the weird things you find in different water sources.