Owner awareness?

[Marshallarts]

Today my mom was holding Marshall, and he reached out for me and held onto my hand until I walked away. He will let me touch his head but not anyone else. Has anyone else experienced this?

[Derek1]

I know snakes don't love us per the debate not long ago. But my Cal King knows me and my 5yr old. She knows who it is and is calm and cool. With others she is jumpy/flighty. Never strikes or bites, but she knows. With the cold weather I wear my college hoodie a lot and she likes to hang out in the front belly pocket, but I only handle her once/twice a week.

[Minkness]

I think it's a kind to recognition and trust than 'love' per say. Reptiles have more intelligence than I think most give them credit for.

Like I have had fish that greet me at the front of their tank, and geckos that chill with me, ect. But not all of them do XD

[Marshallarts]

Yes I wouldn't call it love, but trust. And I find they like to interact.

[Minkness]

Yes, some deff like to interact! Lol

[millertime89]

I don't know if it's a trust thing so much as we're a familiar object, akin to having a preferred hiding spot. I think it's a comfort thing. They like to retreat to something that they know when feeling stressed. You have to really break it down to the most basic of instincts with these animals.

[Aaron_S]

Today my mom was holding Marshall, and he reached out for me and held onto my hand until I walked away. He will let me touch his head but not anyone else. Has anyone else experienced this?

Yes. If someone is holding a snake and I put my hand near it's tail it will instinctively grab ahold of it for proper support. Your mom most likely wasn't doing this.

Snakes live on the ground (well most do) and even though some enjoy climbing when they do they very much make sure they are "grounded" in some form or fashion. Most ways are to wrap the tail or a part of their body around a "tree limb" so if they fall they will catch themselves.

Has nothing to do with awareness of an owner.

[Jrich]

Could it be how warm or cold someone's hands are? I know it's strange but I try to warm up my hands as much as possible before I get one of my snakes out because they seem to hang around longer/not move as much rather than try to get away/explore. I could just be silly.

[Marshallarts]

Interesting you say it's not owner awareness at all, because Im not the only one to say this. I've heard of other people's snakes doing similar things, like if hey put the snake on their friend it will slither across the couch to its owner. Not a heat thing, my moms hands were a lot warmer than mine. Comfort is a good point. That would make sense.

[Aaron_S]

Interesting you say it's not owner awareness at all, because Im not the only one to say this. I've heard of other people's snakes doing similar things, like if hey put the snake on their friend it will slither across the couch to its owner. Not a heat thing, my moms hands were a lot warmer than mine. Comfort is a good point. That would make sense.

The snake is just being curious and those people are interpreting it as "the snake is showing affection". It's called anthropormorphizing. It's wrong. HOWEVER, aslong as the snakes are well cared for I could careless if someone thought rainbows shot out of it's butt and it smiled and purred when they entered the room.

[jjhill001]

This may sound crazy but there is such a thing as being bad at handling reptiles. This would explain the head thing. Chances are to go towards its head you are slow yet deliberate. Whereas most peoplw who handle reptiles are herkyjerky and shake around like nimrods. Slow and deliberate doesn't scare as much as fast jerky movements. Also reaching out to you mostly involves the way that handling colubrids usually goes. They get to the end (your moms hands in this case.) If she stops moving her hands to create more crawling room the snake will "reach out" looking for some other stuff, which in a situation where its just you and your mom standing there is going to be you.

There are a few things that I've noticed that will cause some things like this, some snakes will shy from smokers and people wearing lots of cologne. But then again, most people do that with the second one anyways so they aren't really alone.

People say reptiles don't love like its a bad thing, no animal we regularly keep as pets loves. A cat looks at you like a subordinate and a dog looks at you as its master or in the case of small childeren as a something to be herded. A dog doesn't listen because it loves you.

[MDT]

Interesting you say it's not owner awareness at all, because Im not the only one to say this. I've heard of other people's snakes doing similar things, like if hey put the snake on their friend it will slither across the couch to its owner. Not a heat thing, my moms hands were a lot warmer than mine. Comfort is a good point. That would make sense.

A lot of people used to say the earth was flat, too....still didn't make them right

[Mikoh4792]

I would not say it's owner awareness. I would say it's usually you who holds the snake, so it's gotten used to "your way" of handling. I'm guessing the experience of being handled by other people feels alien to them.

I however, have not had such experiences with my snakes. They do fine whether being held by me or anyone else. Though I own semi-arboreal pythons so that might be a factor since they need less "support" than ball pythons and such.

[CosmicOwl]

Ask yourself why a snake would care who its owner is.

[marvelfreak]

I believe it as to do with Scent. We all have our own scent your snake recognizes your scent and associates this with security.

[SnoopySnake]

I believe it as to do with Scent. We all have our own scent your snake recognizes your scent and associates this with security.

This is exactly what I was going to say.

[CosmicOwl]

I believe it as to do with Scent. We all have our own scent your snake recognizes your scent and associates this with security.

I agree with this, but I don't even know if I would extend this to the snake feeling secure. I think it has more to do with familiarity. Your scent is familiar to your snake and thus non threatening. Another person's scent is unfamiliar and thus cause for the snake to be more cautious and alert.

[reptiledude987]

I agree with this, but I don't even know if I would extend this to the snake feeling secure. I think it has more to do with familiarity. Your scent is familiar to your snake and thus non threatening. Another person's scent is unfamiliar and thus cause for the snake to be more cautious and alert.
I agree with this completly.

[Sublimeballs]

I agree with this, but I don't even know if I would extend this to the snake feeling secure. I think it has more to do with familiarity. Your scent is familiar to your snake and thus non threatening. Another person's scent is unfamiliar and thus cause for the snake to be more cautious and alert.

I like to think this is right, I've observed my female jampea will make her way to me. I don't think this is because she sees me as her owner( way to complex of a thought) but more of a familiar smelling short warm tree.

[Kuamata]

People say reptiles don't love like its a bad thing, no animal we regularly keep as pets loves. A cat looks at you like a subordinate and a dog looks at you as its master or in the case of small childeren as a something to be herded. A dog doesn't listen because it loves you.

I'm sorry, but am I the only one bothered by this statement? There has not been a day in my life that I have lived without a cat or dog. I've experienced enough of my own personal experiences, and heard and seen others' experiences, to say they feel emotions like affection and not just raw instinct like reptiles. There are countless stories online, videos, etc. One of the most trending these days is the dog weeping at the grave of its deceased owner, or dogs taking trips, of their own accord, to see the grave of their deceased owner and remaining at that tombstone.

Even my parrots feel emotion like grief, love, etc. Heck, one of them wants to be my mate and I keep shooting him down. Parrots, in my mind, are the closest non-human animals that you could possibly get to having children. I had a pet African Goose named Matilda. While we were raising her, we would say 'Matilda' or 'What what' when addressing her. She eventually honked back two or three times whenever we did that. Well, my bonded macaw boys picked this up from watching me talk to her, and began talking with her by saying 'What what' like we did. Naturally, she would talk back. Now... I normally deal with death by going into denial and shutting it out if my mind... when Matilda died, I was not able to do that. Why? Because my boys were so stricken with grief. When she stopped responding, they knew something wasn't right. They began wailing,"What what? What what?! WHAT WHAAT?! WHAT WHAAaaat..." It was so heart wrenching, to hear them grieve like that, and knowing I couldn't really communicate with them like I would another person to console them. The best I could offer was my presence, which only mildly helped. This went on for about two weeks of them wailing and mourning before things steadily went back to normal...

At any rate, I agree with Aaron. Your snake was looking for some support.

[Sublimeballs]

Must have missed that about dogs not loving.

Until you can show me a study I can't believe that with the actions of my German sheppard. We're not talking about simple instinct based animals with no cerebral cortex were taking about canids; an intelligent pack animal.

[Kuamata]

Must have missed that about dogs not loving.

Until you can show me a study I can't believe that with the actions of my German sheppard. We're not talking about simple instinct based animals with no cerebral cortex were taking about canids; an intelligent pack animal.

Yeah, and people also say cats are condescending jerks, but my cats actively seek me out for attention or for protection from something they perceive as a threat, like some foreign object they've never seen before. I have a cat named Runt, known her since her first day of life. She loves nothing more than my attention, and would happily sit with me all day if I didn't have things to do and other animals to care for. Same thing with my elderly cat who I've known for 16 years now. My kitten, though, he's still a young hyper boy, so he still runs around like a lunatic, but he's starting to mellow out and he's becoming more demanding for attention than my two girls, lol. He loves sleeping on things with my scent. Guess it makes him feel like he's with me when I'm away.

[Sublimeballs]

We have a male ferret that is absolutely in love with my girlfriend, he loves his time with her.

[Marshallarts]

Well whatever the case, whether it's comfort or they just simply like your scent, I'm completly okay with it. This sort of topic interests me, since we don't actually know what goes on in their little heads. Sure some research has been done, but we still honestly don't know. So to say "defenitly not affection" or "my snake loves me" is really just what you believe. Oh, and if you think dogs and cats don't love you, you've never been to a rescue center. Those animals will wrap around your leg and never let go, LITERALLY.

[Kuamata]

Well whatever the case, whether it's comfort or they just simply like your scent, I'm completly okay with it. This sort of topic interests me, since we don't actually know what goes on in their little heads. Sure some research has been done, but we still honestly don't know. So to say "defenitly not affection" or "my snake loves me" is really just what you believe. Oh, and if you think dogs and cats don't love you, you've never been to a rescue center. Those animals will wrap around your leg and never let go, LITERALLY.

Agree with the dog/cat statement. I think people feel resentment toward one or the other,or both, 'cause they expect more to be given back for all their 'hard work'. One, it's called responsibility and you automatically assume all of it upon accepting ANY animal into your life. It's not 'hard labor' that you should resent. Two, they're animals. They're not going to work a job and pay your rent. :/ The best they can offer you is their undying love and affection. If that's not enough to satisfy you, then don't get one, plain and simple.

On the snake love thing, I believe it has been scientifically proven that snakes and some other reptiles lack the part of their brain that forms bonds, relationships, etc. Not sure if it's all reptiles or not.

[MDT]

On the snake love thing, I believe it has been scientifically proven that snakes and some other reptiles lack the part of their brain that forms bonds, relationships, etc. Not sure if it's all reptiles or not.

This........

[jjhill001]

I'm sorry, but am I the only one bothered by this statement? There has not been a day in my life that I have lived without a cat or dog. I've experienced enough of my own personal experiences, and heard and seen others' experiences, to say they feel emotions like affection and not just raw instinct like reptiles. There are countless stories online, videos, etc. One of the most trending these days is the dog weeping at the grave of its deceased owner, or dogs taking trips, of their own accord, to see the grave of their deceased owner and remaining at that tombstone.

Even my parrots feel emotion like grief, love, etc. Heck, one of them wants to be my mate and I keep shooting him down. Parrots, in my mind, are the closest non-human animals that you could possibly get to having children. I had a pet African Goose named Matilda. While we were raising her, we would say 'Matilda' or 'What what' when addressing her. She eventually honked back two or three times whenever we did that. Well, my bonded macaw boys picked this up from watching me talk to her, and began talking with her by saying 'What what' like we did. Naturally, she would talk back. Now... I normally deal with death by going into denial and shutting it out if my mind... when Matilda died, I was not able to do that. Why? Because my boys were so stricken with grief. When she stopped responding, they knew something wasn't right. They began wailing,"What what? What what?! WHAT WHAAT?! WHAT WHAAaaat..." It was so heart wrenching, to hear them grieve like that, and knowing I couldn't really communicate with them like I would another person to console them. The best I could offer was my presence, which only mildly helped. This went on for about two weeks of them wailing and mourning before things steadily went back to normal...

At any rate, I agree with Aaron. Your snake was looking for some support.

Well the dog crying at the veteran's grave (the version of this BS Facebook story I saw) is not true because dogs can't cry. Liquid will only come out of a dog eye if its infected or something is in it.

I'll admit to not knowing much about parrots, that's why I said most animals we keep as pets and not all. But couldn't they just be reacting to a change (stressor) in way. I know they do live a long time so I imagine they were kept with one another for a long time and a missing compadre could be a major stressor causing the reaction.

Its much easier to avoid anthropomorphizing (spelling? Autocorrect won't save me here) an animal like a snake because they don't make noise or have eyebrows than it is to avoid it with something that has so much more personality in general like a dog or cat or bird or whatever. I love my pets and I anthromorphize them by naming them and everything. My cat reacts when he gets yelled at by coming to comfort me which is really just a reaction to get me to let him do whatever he wants, which works most of the time. But he's only doing that to get what he wants. Not because he's sad he made me upset.

Like another poster here though it is all semantics because in the end with regards to husbandry it really doesn't matter if something loves you or not as long as you care for it properly.

[Aaron_S]

Well whatever the case, whether it's comfort or they just simply like your scent, I'm completly okay with it. This sort of topic interests me, since we don't actually know what goes on in their little heads. Sure some research has been done, but we still honestly don't know. So to say "defenitly not affection" or "my snake loves me" is really just what you believe. Oh, and if you think dogs and cats don't love you, you've never been to a rescue center. Those animals will wrap around your leg and never let go, LITERALLY.

As stated already you're welcome to your views.

I just wanted to point out that yes there's been more than just "some" research done. Many studies in fact. That proves that we do in fact know how their minds work. You're welcome to disagree but please don't go around putting our misinformation because you rather think differently.

[SnoopySnake]

Another one of these threads...Sigh

[Marshallarts]

Not trying to make another one of those threads... People just seem really defensive about this topic for some reason. Even though a lot of research has been done, we still will never know for sure. And that goes for every animal, because they can't talk and tell us what they think, or feel. So I don't think that im misinforming anyone.

[pdomensis]

Another one of these threads...Sigh

I was thinking the same thing...and then my snake shot rainbows out of its butt and smiled and purred when I walked in the room.

:yes:

[SnoopySnake]

I was thinking the same thing...and then my snake shot rainbows out of its butt and smiled and purred when I walked in the room.

:yes:

My snake stuck his head out of the hide when I came up to the tank.. He's so happy to see me! :bouncy:

[pdomensis]

But to weigh in with my honest opinion, I think it's a mistake to attribute higher emotions (like, love, trust) to snakes, and better to look at it biologically. They may recognize an object by sight or scent as has been mentioned, and they may recognize the object (in this case you) as being harmless or even beneficial, ie safe, secure and a good source of food. A useful comparison may be looking at how garter snakes will return to a familiar den. The idea of affection is an interesting evolutionary concept, but I don't think it applies here.

[Marshallarts]

I don't think snakes love people. Most reptiles don't. I was just wondering if I am familiar to him.

[SnoopySnake]

But to weigh in with my honest opinion, I think it's a mistake to attribute higher emotions (like, love, trust) to snakes, and better to look at it biologically. They may recognize an object by sight or scent as has been mentioned, and they may recognize the object (in this case you) as being harmless or even beneficial, ie safe, secure and a good source of food. A useful comparison may be looking at how garter snakes will return to a familiar den. The idea of affection is an interesting evolutionary concept, but I don't think it applies here.

I completely agree.

[Obsidian_Dragon]

My kingsnake will lean towards a stranger's hand and then go NOPE and come back to mine. I don't think he loves me, of course, I'm just the known non-threat.

My garter, of course, thinks everyone is a threat....

[Marshallarts]

But to weigh in with my honest opinion, I think it's a mistake to attribute higher emotions (like, love, trust) to snakes, and better to look at it biologically. They may recognize an object by sight or scent as has been mentioned, and they may recognize the object (in this case you) as being harmless or even beneficial, ie safe, secure and a good source of food. A useful comparison may be looking at how garter snakes will return to a familiar den. The idea of affection is an interesting evolutionary concept, but I don't think it applies here.

You put this perfectly.

[Derek1]

My kingsnake will lean towards a stranger's hand and then go NOPE and come back to mine. I don't think he loves me, of course, I'm just the known non-threat.

My garter, of course, thinks everyone is a threat....

I can see it in my Garters eyes. Pretty sure he wants to eat me.

[Minkness]

Just going to say...I love how this thread is titled 'Owner Awareness' and not 'Does my snake love me?' XD

[millertime89]

Just going to say...I love how this thread is titled 'Owner Awareness' and not 'Does my snake love me?' XD

Hey, it got me to click on it... haha.

[Marshallarts]

I titled it that way because owner awareness is very different from love. Owner awareness is basically knowing or being comfortable with the owner, whether it be through smell, feel, or whatever it might be. Love is hard to explain, but i will say that it's an emotion.

[Minkness]

Oh I know. That's why I love the title! I promise I wasn't being cheeky ^_^

[Sublimeballs]

Quote:
Originally Posted by SnoopySnake
Another one of these threads...Sigh
I was thinking the same thing...and then my snake shot rainbows out of its butt and smiled and purred when I walked in the room.




This made me laugh.