Taming tips?

[Calift]

Yay more great advice!

I have found that talking to the snakes has been a big help....they (Minnie and Nixon) were very noise sensitive in the beginning, but seem much calmer when they see a big head over the tank making funny sounds. :P

I didn't expect a wild snake to adapt so quickly to both food (Minnie is like a garbage can for any leftover pinks) and touch!

[guidofatherof5]

It sounds like you are getting to know your snakes very well. Most Garter Snakes adapt well to captivity. My T.radixes and T.s.parietalis have done very well. I'm sure there are some who don't do as well.

[Lovok]

I was hoping if I did some exploring I'd find a thread like this one. I've had a female for a month now, and she still freaks out when I try to pick her up. She does calm down a little bit in my hands once I have her (she's only musked on me once, and had never bitten or struck at me, but it seems too that when she "gets a good look around" she wants to bolt. When she does that, I put her back in the tank.

I've toyed with the idea of only leaving her like, one place to hide instead of two or three, in the hope that that'll desensitize her and get used to me being in the room.

I don't know how much of a psychology garters have, so everything in this thread is good info to try. I always handle her gently and talk to her, and I've noticed that when she's in the tank and I have food, she doesn't run from my hand. She takes earthworms from my fingers, and the salmon slivers from tweezers. Since it seems like she's beginning to associate my hand with food, I'll try the approach of having some treats ready from now on when I take her out.

A recent acquaintance also said that (and I'm throwing this out for comments) essentially still being a baby, she may still have a strong flee response, and that as she gets bigger, she'll calm down, i.e. her larger size will make her "braver".

At any rate, the responses here have given me hope that she stands a good chance of becoming domesticated if I'm as persistent and stubborn as she is! LOL

[bkhuff1s]

I've had a pair of Pugets for about a year. The female is cool and will let me walk up to her without to much of a response, but the male tries to fly out of the enclosure everytime I move towards him... I think it depends on the snake