Just a few quick questions re: pinkies and garter activity cycles. I've only ever owned boas, so my experience with colubrids is extremely lacking.

Garters don't have pit organs, so I'm curious whether or not they prefer warm prey (strictly from a non-targeting, palate-preference standpoint). Their love of fish, worms and amphibians makes me think no. However, when I offered a thawed pinky piece to my 10"er the other day, she struck it, chewed for a split second then released. I know that she was eating them along with worms prior to coming to my place. As I've said in previous posts, she's probably still settling in, but the fact that she went for it then backed off made me wonder if I'm just presenting it incorrectly. I take them out of the freezer and drop them in a ziplock which I then place in hot water until the pieces thaw and warm a little. The pieces are warm-room temp when I offer them. Should they be warmer? I use a small pair of hemostats to offer food and slowly put it in front of her nose. If she doesn't go for it immediately, I back it off and make it move a bit in the foliage or wherever she is. Humidity and temps are fine, btw.

My next question is re: her activity cycle. I thought garters were supposed to be diurnal. Granted I'm not home very often during the day, but when I am, I never see her out. The only time I ever see her come out and cruise is around 6:30-7:30pm after the UVB light has turned off. Like I said, my temps and humidity are fine (72-86F daytime, 68-72F night, 40-65%). She's making me think that she's more crepuscular than anything. Also, she doesn't seem terrified of me (just conservatively distrustful) and I've never chased her to pick her up, so I don't think she's scared and hiding all day: her tank is right next to my desk and she still comes out when I'm there in the evening. When she's out, she just cruises around placidly, climbing and swimming and stopping to watch me once in awhile. Am I doing something wrong or is this normal? Maybe, being a northern species, she likes things to be cooler....though ambient T is usually hanging around the mid to upper 70's. I'll stay home all this weekend to see if she comes out mid-morning, too. Until then, any sage advice from the more experienced? She's a lot of fun otherwise; I just hope I'm not making things hard on her.