Might they inbreed? Eek! I don't want a two-headed one-eyed snake.

[zooplan]

garters give birth to living offspring and have no eggs.
This makes breeding easier.
to follow your description of thier activities I would say:
They are mating!
But it also seem that one is active and the other one don´t like it.
BTW: There can be homosexual mating as well.
The normal time for mating is spring but it can happen in all seasons.

[Lori P]

Ahhhh now you're thinking... definitely go for one stomach... and while you're at it, purple is my favorite color so I'd REALLY like a dark purple snake. Can anyone invent me one?? :-)

[GrapefruiTgirl]

Will dark purple cauliflower do for now? 'They' have that.

[Lori P]

Will dark purple cauliflower do for now? 'They' have that.

Only if I can gaze at it lovingly and not have to eat it!! :-)

[adamanteus]

Did anybody already mention that first generation in-breeding shouldn't be a problem? In fact it probably occurs frequently in wild Garter Snake populations.

[GrapefruiTgirl]

@ Adamanteus -- basically, yes, it was mentioned above in a roundabout way, and noted that 'some degree' of inbreeding produced such things as colour-morphs.
It wasn't mentioned that it does happen in the wild, but then, I suppose if two snakes who are related and don't know it, it's bound to happen by accident.
On TV here recently, they did a thing on the news about a two headed snake for real. I still wonder what brought that occurrence on.