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Evil Garter Snake

xStaticSnow

xStaticSnow

New member
My two year old female albino checkered garter snake has suddenly morphed into an unrelenting vicious little yellow snake! :nope: It's been happening for the past 5 or 6 weeks now.

I don't know what to do with her! Even when I reach my hand into the tank to change her water bowl she shoots out from where ever she was hiding and tries to bite the crap out of my hand, haha. She looks like a little cobra because she flattens out her head and body and flips around trying everything she can to get her teeth into my skin.

Her feeding response is still strong as ever. I have her on mice and she gets fed once a week, but she usually tries to bite the tongs a few times before she gets ahold of the mouse. I use to feed her out of her enclosure in a separate bin but I can't even get her out of her tank anymore because she's too fast and flighty and way too nippy. I get worried she's going to end up ingesting aspen since she's use to being fed out of her cage. I'm dreading the day (coming very soon) when I really am going to need to do a deep clean on her cage and take out all of her furniture/aspen.

I just don't know what to do. I can't handle her anymore because she's way too flighty and gets away easily, bites me constantly, and flings musk all over the place! :cry: Nothing about her environment has been changed except the fact that I've gone to University a few miles away, but I still come home at least once or twice a week to care for my snakes. I guess maybe she's gotten use to the absolute quiet and calm of my empty room, and when I come home she's just really angry about it?

Has anyone else ever dealt with an extremely flighty and aggressive small colubrid? Suggestions for what I can try to do to tame her again? She use to be so sweet :(
 
he only flighty aggressive small colubrid I've dealt with has been Omnom, and he's growing out of it :( I hope someone can offer advice soon!
 
CHECK CHECK CHECK TEMPERATURES!!

Even if you are almost positive they haven't changed, check them anyways! I have heard way too many stories about nice snakes turning "evil", and then the owners finding out there was a thermostat malfunction, or something else like that where the heat was way too hot :(

That's the best advice I can give you now, unfortunately. Otherwise I have no idea what could have caused this change.

Have there been any changes to your snake's enclosure in the last couple of weeks, or to the house? Has anything been different at all?
 
As mentioned, first actually measure temps and anything else that you think is the same, but could have changed. Of course, medical problems are always suspected when an animal's behavior changes. Eating normally is a good sign of no medical problems, but check her over carefully to see if anything looks, sounds (listen to breathing) or feels (gently palpate body) unusual.

Next, is it possible to move the cage into a living area where there is activity? My day geckos have become totally scared and reclusive since moving them into the reptile room where I only spend a relatively small amount of time. They run into their hides as soon as they see me enter the room, and don't come out until I leave (I looked through the window to confirm this). My friend who gave one of them to me said that she was out all the time when she was kept in his living room and was used to more activity in the room. So moving into a more active room could help.

I would suggest a lightweight pair of cotton gloves, just thick enough so the most bites don't pierce the skin. Then you can go about handling her normally (and often) when you are home, without being hesitant about bites, which can make her more nervous. If there is nothing wrong with her environment, and no medical problems, then being in a more active room with more handling in a confident, non hesitant manner, will hopefully help.
 
Thanks everyone. I of course have a thermometer in there to measure temps, and she only gets get heat from an above light on a day/night cycle (which I have been using for years now). But maybe I'll get a new thermometer in case this one has worn out or something...

Unfortunately I probably wont be able to move her into the living room since the rest of my family is not at all fond of my snakes. She recently shed well and looks to be a healthy weight. In addition to your suggestion Kathy, I also got another suggestion to use rubber gloves when handling because they don't like the taste of them? And their tiny teeth have a hard time going through the material. So I'll start handling with some gloves and see if she calms back down.

She's always been a little bit flighty, but she is a garter snake. Usually once I have her out and I've handled her for a few minutes she calms down and is very pleasant.
 
Just a little update! I started handling her with rubber gloves on an every-other-day schedule, and she's practically back to normal! She has completely stopped biting me, is fairly calm before and after I pick her up, and barely musks me anymore.

I was shocked at how rapid the change was. She went from a tiny little striking monster, to her good ol' self again! :)

Thanks for all the advice from everyone!
 
So good to hear! Did you find anything or do anything else differently besides handling her with the gloves? It sounds like she missed you!
 
smigon said:
So good to hear! Did you find anything or do anything else differently besides handling her with the gloves? It sounds like she missed you!
Click to expand...

Nope! She seems healthy still. Is eating, pooping, shedding fine. Her temps are good and everything. I think she just got use to being in a quiet empty room for so long that when I disturbed her she got upset! But now I'm home on winter break from Uni so have been handling her/living around her more often and she's gotten use to being around me again.
 
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