What kind of garter (if any)?

[ssssnakeluvr]

I've found that wandering garters are quite calm..even wild caught ones. May not be the prettiest garters, but do real well, have had many (many, many) of them over the years. They seem to enjoy handling also.

[suzoo]

I have a male T. radix (plains garter) that acts like Roy's, crazy/afraid if I walk past the tank. But in the same tank, the T. radix female (unrelated but from the same place) is just the opposite. She not only climbs on me as soon as I open the tank, but she won't get off me, and I have trouble putting her back in the tank, as she wants to stay with me. So you may want to handle the snakes until you find one you like, that also likes you to handle it.
On a side note, Gracie (female T. radix), knows me from everyone else, and does not like one of my daughters. She has never been aggressive toward me, but has struggled to get away from said daughter, everytime she's picked her up, and settles down as soon as I take her, but has bitten my daughter when she tried to take her back. This has gone on for 2 years! My daughter handles all the other snakes fine, Gracie just doesn't like her. I think it's funny, but odd. Anyone else have snakes that are particular like that? Or is Gracie just different?

[Tori]

Afraid I'm the only one that holds mine. It isn't that I wouldn't allow it, no one wants to! Go figure... My lizards lay all over my boyfriend and he thinks they are the coolest thing on earth, but he has no real interest in getting friendlier with the snakes. I have a subadult Eastern garter that has been my "baby" since he was born and he reaches up to be picked up while most of the others either run or take a nip to see if I'm eatable. Which is why I always wear gloves (don't laugh, that does NOT feel good). I take them off after they figure out I'm NOT eatable, which is pretty quickly.

[GarterGuy]

Originally Posted by Tori

Afraid I'm the only one that holds mine. It isn't that I wouldn't allow it, no one wants to! Go figure... My lizards lay all over my boyfriend and he thinks they are the coolest thing on earth, but he has no real interest in getting friendlier with the snakes. I have a subadult Eastern garter that has been my "baby" since he was born and he reaches up to be picked up while most of the others either run or take a nip to see if I'm eatable. Which is why I always wear gloves (don't laugh, that does NOT feel good). I take them off after they figure out I'm NOT eatable, which is pretty quickly.

I have the same problem with my big kingsnake (you think a garter hurts, you ought to try a "nip" from a 5ft.+ kingsnake!). Usually I take a "tank hook" and gently rub her first before going into the tank. This lets her know that it's NOT feeding time and then I can just go in and pick her up. If I were to just go in and try to touch or grab her, she'd light me up! It's so strange though, 'cause she's such a sweatheart to handle, even to the point that I use her in Snake talks that I do for schools and let all the kids handle her at the end of it. It's just when there's the possibility to be fed, she's like a loaded gun....ready to go off!!!