Cannibal T.radix

[Foxrun402]

Hmmmm Maybe she likes solitude and being alone? This is what I am scared of with Suzi... Praying that she hasn't become adapt to being alone so much that she attacks other as if they are invading in here territory. Hopefully yours comes along well though Steve, she is a beauty =)

[ConcinusMan]

Hmmmm Maybe she likes solitude and being alone?

That does occasionally happen but with the exception of T. elegans, the normal reaction for a garter would be a bit of social stress resulting in constantly trying to escape, nose rubbing, poor feeding, etc., not cannibalism. And even then, it's not necessarily being with others that's the problem. It's usually certain individuals not tolerating certain specific other individuals rather than not tolerating any company at all.

This is what I am scared of with Suzi... Praying that she hasn't become adapt to being alone so much that she attacks other as if they are invading in her territory.

Not likely. Aggression, cannibalism, social stress, etc. at times other than feeding time is uncommon to extremely rare and the odds of it happening go up slightly only if they're way overcrowded and have to compete for basking spots, hides, etc. Garters are not territorial in the slightest and some suggest they're even social and seek out company but I wouldn't go so far as to say that. I think they're rather indifferent to the presence of other garters for the most part.

That's what makes this situation so puzzling. It is definitely aberrant behavior. Nothing normal about it. Snake probably has some mental or genetic abnormality that makes something go wrong so that other garters illicit a feeding response. Studies have determined that the type of items (by smell though) that garters recognize as food is genetically linked. They initially investigate just about anything that moves and is smaller than themselves. However, if it doesn't smell right according to their genetic "programming" it won't illicit a feeding response. For example, it doesn't matter how good food looks to us, if it smells like rotting flesh or feces we're not likely to eat it. Similarly, a garter is not going to try to eat a fake frog, no matter how realistic it looks. It has to smell right and garters will try to eat anything that smells like food, even each other.

Maybe he's got a tumor or something affecting the olfactory nerves/brain? It's been known to happen. I've smelled and/or tasted colors before, simply by looking at them. For example, smelling and/or tasting grape by looking at a purple object.