Last summer we found a juvenile garter snake in our garage. The little darlin' had an injury on the tail just behind the vent at one point that had healed up, but it was obviously causing problems shedding. We put the poor thing in an empty tank, fed it nightcrawlers at first, and then transitioned to mouse pinkies twice a week. The old injury still interferes with proper shedding though, we occasionally have to gently help her rub off the last bit each time using a damp rag.

For the first few weeks handling our charge was a challenge - we were bitten, musked, hissed at, there were many attempts at escape, etc. - but over the winter things got better. While not as chilled as our BP's or boa's, our garter would tolerate short handling sessions. With the warmer weather our little garter has suddenly backslid and is almost aggressive, especially during feeding. I'm not worried about getting bitten - I've been nailed by much larger snakes - but was wondering if this was normal. At first we thought the aggression was because s/he was too hungry on the same weekly feeding schedule as our other snakes, but feeding slightly smaller meals twice a week didn't change anything. We were also thinking that other garters would be active outside with the warmer weather, and with breeding season starting maybe that could be it?

BTW we haven't popped/probed to find out if we have a male or female, and given that we have no intentions of breeding or getting another (much to my daughter's disgust LOL) I'm not all that inclined to try.