u/Animelizards

Garter snakes are still on my radar for possible new friend. I did purchase a fancy exo terra vista 120 gallon (hinged doors yippee) but as I live in a second floor apartment and hopefully plan to move in the next few years im hesitant to open it yet (flatpacked).

How fast do babies grow? I know most snakes take a few years to reach adult size but garters have the unusual fast metabolism. Could babies spend a couple years in my 36x18x18 until im ready to open their adult enclosure?

seen very mixed information on this. saw a post saying it was fine to cohab a male/female pair as long as you take the female out during breeding season (wondering how they can tell without being brumated like most reptiles...) others saying a male will harass/breed a female to death no matter what

also wondering if anyones experimented with cohabing with other species other than cuc? like a large harmless insect or diurnal micro geckos

contemplating if i want to get a pet snake in the future but having a hard time choosing which one would be best. the ones i'm eyeing are a hognose snake, garter snakes, or an african house snake

1. would they thrive in an 18x18x36? this is the largest tank i currently own and i'd rather not add to my collection of tanks that are only full of plants and bugs atm. i know i'd need a male of any species but that could be pushing it if they're large

2. are they good display animals? handling is nice but i'd rather have something that is entertaining to watch! something that looks striking but is also active and curious, preferably during the day when the enclosure lights are on

3. do they pose a threat to my rodents? i currently own two adult chinchillas. this question is mostly for the house snake. while i'm sure my boys could annihilate a hog or garter on sight, the bulkiness and constrictor nature of the house snake scares me a bit.

4. are they expensive to feed? garters seem to be the worst one here. having to eat extremely frequently and needing a variety of fish and rodent feeders (i have a massive phobia of worms so earthworms and nightcrawlers are NOT happening). i know hogs can be picky but i've also seen them eat scrambled eggs which is hilarious

5. locale/morph availability and price? this is mostly arbitrary as i'd prefer to get the best looking snake for my tastes. which unfortunately means a highly monochrome axanthic hog or a garter pair with one being a california red-sided and the other being a florida blue, so both options pretty pricey. i haven't seen a lot of house snake colors but i also think they are pretty plain looking regardless.

would love opinions if anyones kept any or multiple of these guys! welcome to more species suggestions but i know i don't want a rosy boa or rhino rat snake i just don't like the way they look sorry!

recently bought one of those felt donut tunnels for my chins and my super shy one absolutely loves it! it's rare for either of them to actually use any hides. does anyone know of any that might be made of a better material for actually putting in their cage?

tempted to glue fleece over the zipper part/mouth edge but from experience doing that just makes them want to rip the fleece off cause they know something chewable is underneath....

having a hank hill moment cause this is the SECOND time my very friendly chin has been in complete disbelieve at the sight of a brown person (first my mexican friend, now my filipino uncle) and refused to leave his cage, even with his dust bath right in front of him lol.

white people, black people, the light skinned asian breeder he came from? all fine

tan skin?? sus...stranger danger.... :'(

EDIT: after he finally took a treat from me i tested my first assumption before finding the wire; that he was running away from my cotton gloves i was wearing filled with essentially bag balm and vaseline to soothe my cracked finger tips. i showed him the gloves again and he made a face, ran to the back of the cage and wiped his mouth again. he took the second treat only after i took the gloves off. has anyones chin ever reacted to an unpleasant smell in this way before??

Just put my boys up for the night when I noticed one was pawing at his mouth. While vacuuming I see one of my roommates pc cords chewed on in the hallway (ive told them a few times to keep them from poking out from under the door and must have missed seeing them this time). He was acting normally before play time so no obvious signs of teeth issues. Is it possible he got shocked?

He's grabbing for food through the bars. but when I give him a treat he runs away :(

If he continues to grab his mouth ill take him to the vet tomorrow (almost 10pm here and the 24hr hospital doesn't do exotics)

my roommates cat suddenly started attacking him and me after he tipped over a trashcan near her. she chased and trapped me into my bathroom for a few minutes before i made it out to safety and to get a pet gate and blanket to protect myself. I backed her into my bathroom and shut her in it for the time being with the lights off.

but my other roommate will need to use it to go to work in a few hours. will she be back to normal by then or what should we do if she's still reactive in the morning?

for history she has only done this twice before when my roommate fell near her but she calmed down pretty quickly after that, this time around an hour has passed and she is still aggressive (swiping a piece of long grass under the door and she's growling and swiping at it)

her primary owner is out of town so i suspect that is an extra stresser causing her to lash out. are there any retail products that have worked for anyone? (cbd treats, calming sprays, etc)

don't recall my boys having any reaction to fireworks previously but since its a ~special~ 4th i'll assume there's gonna be way more than usual. so just in case, what do ya'll put on to soothe or drown out loud noise for your chins?

(no videos of other chins thought, i've accidentally clicked play on some instagram videos and they go ballistic lol)