Previous research has shown that competition, familiarity, diet, and relatedness can all influence aggregation patterns in garter snakes. We controlled for these factors and examined social aggregation patterns in juvenile Eastern garter snakes (Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis). We assayed snakes individually for consistent individual differences in boldness and sociability. We then placed snakes in groups of 10 in an enclosure with four shelters and observed their social interactions over a period of 8 days. We demonstrate that the snakes actively seek social interaction, prefer to remain with larger aggregates, and associate nonrandomly with specific individuals or groups. We show that their social interaction patterns are influenced by individual boldness, sociability, and age. The snakes’ social networks were perturbed twice a day by “shuffling” their locations. Despite these disturbances, the snakes eventually re-formed their preferred social environment. Aggregation and exploration patterns also varied across time, with most activity occurring later in the day. These results highlight the complexity of snake sociality and may have important implications for conservation efforts. Snakes are often considered nonsocial animals, but this is inaccurate. We used social network analyses to compare juvenile Eastern garter snakes’ group behaviors to their individual personalities. Our research demonstrates that these snakes actively seek out social interaction and prefer to join and remain with larger groups and that their social interaction patterns are influenced by consistent individual differences in boldness and sociability. Our work contributes to a sparse but growing body of literature on sociability in reptiles. This work is important for changing perceptions among the scientific community and the public as a whole. As a consequence, it may aid efforts in developing appropriate conservation techniques that consider sociability patterns in relocated reptiles.

中文翻译：

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吊袜带蛇的聚集和社会互动（Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis）

先前的研究表明，竞争、熟悉度、饮食和亲缘关系都会影响吊袜带蛇的聚集模式。我们控制了这些因素并检查了幼年东方吊带蛇 (Thamnophis sirtalis sirtalis) 的社会聚集模式。我们分别对蛇进行了分析，以确保其在胆量和社交能力方面的个体差异一致。然后，我们将蛇以 10 条为一组放置在一个有四个庇护所的围栏中，并在 8 天内观察它们的社交互动。我们证明了蛇积极寻求社交互动，更喜欢留在更大的群体中，并与特定的个人或群体非随机地联系在一起。我们表明，他们的社交互动模式受个人大胆、社交能力和年龄的影响。这些蛇的社交网络每天都会因“洗牌”它们的位置而受到两次干扰。尽管有这些干扰，蛇最终还是重新形成了它们喜欢的社交环境。聚合和探索模式也随时间变化，大多数活动发生在当天晚些时候。这些结果突出了蛇社会性的复杂性，可能对保护工作具有重要意义。蛇通常被认为是非社会性动物，但这是不准确的。我们使用社交网络分析将幼年东方吊带蛇的群体行为与其个体个性进行比较。我们的研究表明，这些蛇积极寻求社交互动，更喜欢加入并留在更大的群体中，并且它们的社交互动模式受到个体在大胆和社交能力方面的一致差异的影响。我们的工作为关于爬行动物社交能力的文献数量稀少但不断增加做出了贡献。这项工作对于改变科学界和整个公众的看法很重要。因此，它可能有助于开发考虑重新安置的爬行动物的社交模式的适当保护技术。