Lazy-*** Garters

[kimbosaur]

Do you hand/hemostat feed them? If not, you might consider it.
That way they will associate seeing you with food and will come a runnin'

I hand feed at every feeding . They will sometimes come out if I wiggle my finger by the glass.

Kimberly - you've already found that changing up the layout stimulates them for a while, I try to switch things round every week. Just little changes peak their interest. The radix in the livingroom comes out and prowls the front of her tank a couple of times a day, she's been more active since I taped some dark paper to the outside of her tank covering the bottom 10cm or so.

I'm definitely going to try that. I do feel as though they are actually being lazy more than they're being shy though. I've caught them sleeping out in the open a few time (in the same spot for the entire day!).

Chris, it was actually your CuitzeoCam that made me realize just how lazy my snakes are. Before that I didn't really have anything to gauge their activity levels.

Kimberly...remind me what kind of garters you have again? One is an albino right?

They seem to come out more now that there is more open space in the enclosure...and they like to come out in the evening when I put the light on near the tank. Possum has been out every evening exploring when the light is on...and Hermes actually comes out a little too. Also consider they may be coming out at night when you aren't around. Mine never come out during the day...but I am up during the night. If I walk out to look at them at any given time during the night...they are out and active.

Yes, I have one albino checkered and one regular checkered. I do kind of suspect they might be coming out at night. In the evening, my albino tends to stick his head out of his hide for long periods of time. One night, I had to pull an all-nighter and he sat their with his head poking out for literally 6 hours.

If you're only using that yellowish basking light, try adding a full spectrum or white light florescent tube. I find it makes a big difference in their activity levels and appetite.

The yellowish light is actually an incandescent aquarium hood. I do switch it up with a 50 watt basking light that is much whiter. I also tried having both on one day and it didn't make a difference. I would have tried it for longer but I was afraid the tank might overheat.

Hey are your garters wild caught? If they are, they probably arent used to human interaction and probably view you as a predator.

Kimberly is in Canada, so her snakes can't be wild caught, because as far as I know, she has checkered garter snakes.

Good call Chantel. Both babies are captive-bred.