Head bobbing...

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

lol I wasnt talking about them bobbing their heads beardd dragon style. you are talking about when they smell each other or rub up against one another, their head and body does this little tweaky twitch thing, right? they don't bob their heads like a lizard does haha! its a touch and smell thing. one garter does it, and if the other garter feels it and is responsive, it does it back. In the process of "twitching", they often get carried away and swing their head towards the ground a few times. I don't think its visual at all. if one of mine does it when they're not touching the other garter, it's because they just "got a whiff" of the other snake and they start twitching when they smell another garter. I have noticed that my females do it more than my males do. It's not just a garter thing either, all 7 of my corns all do this when they come into contact with each other. It's the way snakes say "hi, i'm another snake and I'm not going to eat you, and if it's a male he's saying I'm also going to check you out as a potential mate now ::intense tongue flicking begins::"

I have noticed that king's don't do it to other snakes, mainly because many times they DO intend to eat the other snake and don't really want to hold a conversation with their next meal. If you are breeding kings, however, the male and female will usually do the twitch greeting before courtship.

having 36 garters, I will say that ALL of them do it!

[adamanteus]

In the process of "twitching", they often get carried away and swing their head towards the ground a few times. I don't think its visual at all.

Yeah... everything Shannon just said! I totally agree. I know Garters have better eyesight than many snakes... but I don't see this behaviour as a visual communication.