Garter snake disposition

[ConcinusMan]

I'm thinkin' maybe she was blind in one eye, or one eye had poor muscle control. The head shakin' thing is done to get depth perception. If one eye can't quite see, the back and forth thing helps to get an idea of distance to an object she's looking at. Heck, even some snakes that see just fine will do that if both eyes can't see forward at the same time. ALL coluber constrictors(Western Racers) I ever kept (all short term) did that, and so did my Rubber boas and some lizards at feeding time. Never saw a garter do that though.

I would be willing to bet that if all those "base board steam pipe heating" or all sources of heat(outside of your walls) were eliminated, and then you turn on a space heater,(away from, and not pointed at walls) and the shower to "steam up" your living areas on a cold night, and dim the lights, those snakes would follow the heat and moisture to end up in your living areas. In other words, they would come out, attracted to the heat and moisture.

If you try that, and happen to come across an attractive red phase eastern milk snake, or any U.S. native milk, it wouldn't break my heart if you held onto it for me. Remember, come spring, I will be surrounded by awesome T.s. concinnus and ordinoides. Ehem.