There is no doubt that snakes have a very acute sense of smell. It has been demonstrated that they can follow a pheromone trail in excess of one kilometre. They can follow the scent trail left by an envenomed prey running full bore to escape, until it ultimately drops dead. If you have python latch hold of you, the quickest way to get it to release is to place a cotton bud soaked in a strong smelling substance, such as methylated spirits or Listerine mouth wash, under its nostrils.
Based on the above facts it is just about guaranteed that snakes can distinguish between different volatile odours associated with hand washes and find some more tolerable than others as a result of the transduction of the volatile molecules (sensing of them). The snake’s reactions may be in response to the nature of the molecule transduced or the concentration of the particular molecule or a combination of both.
In simple terms, snakes may like or dislike a given scented hand wash because of the actual smell or as a result of how strong the smell is.
Blue