Does your snake 'know' you?

[bdav70]

A bit of a strange question, but a family member asked me this, and i didn't know the answer.

I know that snakes by getting better with regular handling become familiar and tolerant of human interaction, but are snakes capable of being familiar with a particular individual ie. their owner or handler?

Some people have posted on here about interesting things their snakes do near feeding time (tail wagging, zipping around the enclosure at the sight of the owner etc.) meaning they potentially have some understanding of routine etc. but does anybody have any insight on the extent of each snake's 'personality' or similar?

I'd be very interested to hear people's experiences.

 

[Snowman]

http://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/general-reptile-discussion-42/snakes-familiarity-owners-188447/

 

[saximus]

This question gets a lot and generally leads to a lot of anthropomorphism, especially from inexperienced owners. Generally, the newer keepers will say things along the lines of "OMG yes my snake totally knows me. I could let it go in the backyard and it will crawl right back to me. We even play fetch". Then the older hands will say "No snakes are purely instinctive creatures who can't tell the difference between you and a tree branch".

Maybe the truth lies somewhere in between. I would personally imagine there is a connection with familiar and unfamiliar scents for them as well as the fact that a regular handler knows how to read their animal much better and so it's less of the snake knowing them as them knowing their snake and understanding how to interact with it in the least intrusive way. This also leads to a calmer attitude from the handler resulting in a calmer animal.

 

[Snowman]

http://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/australian-snakes-37/pythons-know-166580/

- - - Updated - - -

This question gets a lot and generally leads to a lot of anthropomorphism, especially from inexperienced owners. Generally, the newer keepers will say things along the lines of "OMG yes my snake totally knows me. I could let it go in the backyard and it will crawl right back to me. We even play fetch". Then the older hands will say "No snakes are purely instinctive creatures who can't tell the difference between you and a tree branch".

.

^^^^ Yep

 

[reptalica]

Having not read any threads etc as to whether your snakes actually know you my take would be dependent on how long you had them for and familiarity with things like routine etc like enclosure cleans, feeding times.

I have no doubt they would be very much aware of their keepers and habits.

 

[Lawra]

http://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/australian-snakes-37/pythons-know-166580/

The first page is a very amusing read

 

[OldestMagician]

I would personally imagine there is a connection with familiar and unfamiliar scents for them as well as the fact that a regular handler knows how to read their animal much better and so it's less of the snake knowing them as them knowing their snake and understanding how to interact with it in the least intrusive way. This also leads to a calmer attitude from the handler resulting in a calmer animal.

I think this pretty much sums up my thoughts on the matter.
A combination of scent that the snake recognises as being non-threatening, coupled with a familiar way of handling. It gets used to being picked up and moved around a certain way which is repeated without any pain or discomfort and it associates that handling with a lack of danger.

 

[saximus]

Good old Kawasakirider. He was good for entertainment while he was still around

 

[Red-Ink]

My snakes know me but not by my name...

They know me as Beelzeebub the cumbersome: thawer of the rats and keeper of the cage.

 

[muzza72]

They definitely recognise different people! My very first bredli which was about 2 months old bit me like crazy and eventually gave up and never bit me again. About 3 weeks after it stopped biting me, my mate picked it up exactly the way i do and it bit him about 5 times in a row. It would even bite him when I was handling it and he put his arm near it. If I did the same thing it wouldn't strike. A third mate tried handling it months later and it struck once but didn't bite. After that day anyone could handle it. I guess it learnt that people weren't a threat no matter how different or bad they smell . Scent, sight and maybe heat signature I guess! I'm only guessing about different body heat! Also my big male black head strikes at my other mate when he walks past the front glass door of the enclosure. I'm guessing that's through sight only. He never strikes at me when I walk pass even at night. Cheers!

 

[longqi]

Possibly a better question is "Does your snake not know you??""

Seen plenty of snakes nobody else could handle safely but the owner could use as a bow tie without dramas

 

[Snapped]

I think mine recognise my smell, & the routine of handling/feeding etc. My son can walk past the enclosure and my MD takes no notice, I walk past and he is very much interested, as I'm the one who provides rats.

 

[Snowman]

Well done @saximus you were spot on with your first paragraph...

The "best suited to pm" comment got changed before I saw your response. Now I want to know what happened!

 

[GBWhite]

Although snakes have only a small primitive brain which has not developed for over 200 million years they do have the ability to recognise people and places through sight and scent. They are incapable of displaying affection and bonding because their brain has not developed to a stage where it recognises emotion. They tolerate humans (even if captive bread) but if they had their way would prefer to be left alone and not be handled.

They are incapable of understanding the perception of time and as such it is highly unlikely the recognise routine.

They are principally concerned with fundamental needs such as survival, physical maintenance, dominance and mating.

They display similar traits conducive to each individual species and some have individual personalities.

George.

 

[Varanoidea]

This question gets a lot and generally leads to a lot of anthropomorphism, especially from inexperienced owners. Generally, the newer keepers will say things along the lines of "OMG yes my snake totally knows me. I could let it go in the backyard and it will crawl right back to me. We even play fetch". Then the older hands will say "No snakes are purely instinctive creatures who can't tell the difference between you and a tree branch".

Maybe the truth lies somewhere in between. I would personally imagine there is a connection with familiar and unfamiliar scents for them as well as the fact that a regular handler knows how to read their animal much better and so it's less of the snake knowing them as them knowing their snake and understanding how to interact with it in the least intrusive way. This also leads to a calmer attitude from the handler resulting in a calmer animal.

I'd like to think that snakes could tell the difference between a tree branch and a living breathing animal else they would be having a pretty bad time in the wild. I like to think that animals such as reptiles and fish don't necessarily have a 'primitive' but rather one that has evolved for different reasons. They've been around for hundreds of millions of years so having no emotion doesn't seem like that much of a handicap to me.

 

[PappaSmurf]

Well we have 3 & they are all very different.
The wife's Stimsons is an absolute comedian & likes to get in his skull cave & then stick his head out so he can see what's going on when he hasn't tunnelled under the substrate to get UNDER his water bowl to cool down. The 1st time he did it the wife had a fit cos she couldn't find him & thought he'd somehow escaped.
If the wife opens his house on the end closest to the computer he comes straight to the door & climbs up her arm for a cuddle.
If she opens the other end he's on the hunt for food.
My 4yr old female Bredli knows when i go into her house because she tries to eat me. Don't know what she's like with others as nobody wants to try her out LOL.
My yearling female Bredli is new to us & we are learning about each other every day. She handles like a dream but does seem to prefer me to others.

 

[longqi]

Although snakes have only a small primitive brain which has not developed for over 200 million years they do have the ability to recognise people and places through sight and scent. They are incapable of displaying affection and bonding because their brain has not developed to a stage where it recognises emotion. They tolerate humans (even if captive bread) but if they had their way would prefer to be left alone and not be handled.

They are incapable of understanding the perception of time and as such it is highly unlikely the recognise routine.

They are principally concerned with fundamental needs such as survival, physical maintenance, dominance and mating.

They display similar traits conducive to each individual species and some have individual personalities.

George.

I find this to an interesting reply

Some have individual personalities... totally agree
Incapable of displaying affection or bonding???

If some have individual personalities and if basic emotion is what makes up personalities???

Because we have a highly developed??? three part brain I think we fall into the trap of pretending that any animal with only a single part can never feel anything emotionally

Incapable of understanding the perception of time?? Possibly true
But if a snake is fed every Wednesday at 5pm most will be very aware that exactly 6days 23.9hours has passed

 

[wilburs1]

Re the personalities thing here one of the wild snakes is so tame I take him for a swim and when he's finished sometimes he will lay in between my legs no matter the temp. re my last pics in my album snake encounters. Now this snake if he didn't like me in some way wouldn't come out of the water smell who I am and then be at home with me without some attachment ( he's is a wild snake ) and lay there allow me to rub him as well then walk him up to the shed he frequents, still be there next morning as well. This same snake allowed me to retrieve a pigeon out of it's mouth and not even hiss or try to bite just kept looking for the food item ignoring me. Just a weird snake not normal, but that aside he is beautiful makes me want to get a license.

 

[GBWhite]

Hi Longqi

That's right the human brain has developed over millions of years of evolution and added layers and layers of sophisticated reasoning upon the basic foundation (often referred to as the reptilian brain) to develop and recognise amongst other things feeling and emotion. As mentioned earlier a snake's brain (like all reptiles) is only concerned with fundamental needs as described.

Reptile brains (including snakes) have not developed for over 200 million years as has humans, primates and other mammals and lack a frontal lobe which is responsible for emotion and feelings.

Snakes can have personalities which do not relate to emotion ie: some display tolerance and are easy to handle while others don't. Some are happy to loiter about their enclosure while others are more adventurous. Some are defensive of their enclosures while others aren't. All personality traits.

As far as a snake being fed on a weekly basis at the same time and being able to be aware of a time frame. I've been around this game for a very long time and personally, due to many varying factors I doubt that the regularity of this regime would be possible to maintain.

It's personal body clock through the digestion of a food item may stir it into a feed response but I question a snake's ability to be aware of the perception of human defined time.

Cheers,

George.

 

[blackhead13]

Let us all remember snakes in general are new to captivity unlike dogs in which we are talking thousands of years. We say some snakes are snappy and some are quite placid, i'm sure the snappy dogs that were first trying to be domesticated were let free. not saying we should do the same with our snakes, just trying to look at the big picture.
Obviously we will (as some of the first to try domesticate these animals) come across some animals that appear to show us affection and others will not.

I do think that over time we will form some sort of bond with these creatures even if it starts with a food and care response, does this not show that these animals show some sort of lateral thinking...

Looking at the people who have had snakes for numerous years compared to the new keepers or the small time keepers that keep these animals purely as pets, i'm sure they all look at their animals differently! For instance if you have a "pet" snake you will handle, care for and feed totally different to someone who is only interested in keeping these beautiful creatures for breeding purposes. This being said I would assume these two types of people will have a different perspective on whether or not their snake "knows them".

Personally I do think these animals are capable of some form of thought although I am not sure what type of thought. So I suppose what I am saying is don't discount something until it is proven either way! History has shown us that.

I am positive the earth is flat!!!!