A couple of pics...

[kibakiba]

It takes a lot of patience, they will get used to you on their own time. If I were you, I'd use the tweezers with the food on them and hold them there until she comes out. I had to do that sometimes with Squirt. It took about 5 minutes. Maybe if she doesn't take it when you do that, after 5 minutes then put it in a dish and try again the next day, it might help her get used to you being around when she's eating.

[ConcinusMan]

When she's in her hide, you can make sure she's aware that your hand is in there, the present food at the opening. If she's really hungry, she mite bite it and retreat. If not, keep trying. Once she starts doing that, try coaxing her out a little bit. If you can get her to feed like that, eventually she'll be coming out to your hand when she's hungry.

Just do it in baby steps. It could take months for her to come to trust you and think of your hand as the provider. Just be persistent and have patience.

Once you have little snakeys coming out of their hides, and "running" over to greet you, you'll realize how worthwhile the effort was.

[EasternGirl]

Okay...well I'll try that. I tried putting her in her feeding cage today and holding the worm on tweezers and she just got really freaked out and kept trying to escape. I didn't want to stress her out anymore, so I put her back in her enclosure. I'll try the baby steps. The problem with her new enclosure is that there are so many places for her to hide...under the substrate, in the plants, etc., that I can't find her half the time. Then I have to look for her and that scares her. If she is out and about and I open the enclosure, she hides. I guess it is just going to take a lot of time.

[guidofatherof5]

Hold off on feeding her for a few days. Then when you get in she'll smell the food and come to you.
Don't worry about her being hungry. Garters go without food for long stretches of time in the wild so a few days even a week is no big deal.
Hunger is a great motivator.

[kibakiba]

I agree with Steve, Squirt was a shy eater and he couldn't stand being around me. Any time I checked on him or to put some wiggly worms in his dish, he'd musk and hide. I held off on feeding him for a week (it was cold) and put a worm on the tweezers and he took it, and after a couple weeks he's still a little skittish, but he'll come up to me and look for food now.

[EasternGirl]

She knows how to get to me! She comes right up to my face through the tank and opens her mouth like "Feed me lady...I'm starving!"...with this look on her face. But I'm going to try what you guys said and hold off. I will not let the snake use her mind control on me...I am in control...I am in control...

Lol...

[guidofatherof5]

Be strong.
In the end you will learn "resistance is futile"

[kibakiba]

Mama does that too. She's gotten a hold of my hand before, she didn't bite down hard but she was looking up at me as if she were saying "go fetch me a pinkie right now or I will bite you harder" of course, I did what she said.

[guidofatherof5]

Mama does that too. She's gotten a hold of my hand before, she didn't bite down hard but she was looking up at me as if she were saying "go fetch me a pinkie right now or I will bite you harder" of course, I did what she said.

It must be a universal garter snake move.
Many of my big radixes will do the same thing.
You nailed it.
They look at you and you know exactly what they want.

[kibakiba]

For you, Steve, it's just the mind control...