Snakes liking/disliking certain people?

[justinO]

Not sure if this has already been asked before, if it has, please let me know.

Do some snakes like or dislike certain people?

I've got a little hognose that always tries to bite me, but never tries to bite jess. I've also heard of other snakes that seem to get more agitated when certain people go near their enclosures. We've also got a little ball python that will only strike at jess, but not at me.

Thoughts?

cheers,
Justin

[greenman1867]

My Snakes especially like the neighbourhood children..........they're so tender and juicy.

Shawn

[ATBlover]

im not ure but it might be the way hyou handle them?..just a thought..i would also like to know if they get used to some people...Connor

[peterm15]

well my cham is fine ( well not pissed) at anyone except for my mom.. when shes around he blows up and turns bright colours.. ( stressed out colours)

[BOAS_N_PYTHONS]

JUSTIN:

If you scent yourself like a mouse or rat I think they will love you :D

Joking.

[Manitoban Herps]

Well, I got an amazon tree boa from a friend named Vince, and the snake bit him a few times and was aggresive towards him, and is a overall calm snake for me.

Hahaha Vince :p

[HumphreyBoagart]

Same thing has happen to me several times. I have handled a friends Borneo short tail several times without it even looking like he's gonna strike. As soon as he tries to go even near it, it is striking at him like crazy. Exact same thing with a few different amazons. Strike at everyone but me. I got a really good deal on a Surinam female for the same reason, strikes like crazy at my buddy that had it, but never even looked like she was gonna strike at me. Same buddy had a soloman island ground boa that struck at him like crazy, but never at anyone else, it's kinda funny because guelphpimp bought it and a female SIGB off of me about two months ago, and we JUST got back from guelph buying that pair back along with another pair. It's weird too, both females are salmon colour and both males are grey. I think they sense fear, and they strike. Maybe not, I dunno.

[greenman1867]

Actually I was in a pet store a few weeks ago and they guy there warned me about a real nippy baby king. Of course like a dummy I said I figured I could pick it up. So I did, LOL funny thing is I could do anything with the snake and it didn't bother with me, but as soon as the store worker got into range it would strike at him. So I suspect that theory has some merit based on that experience.

Shawn

[crazy4reptiles]

Where my GF works there's a female Carpet... The guy that works there holds her all the time.... no worries... but when I go anywhere near her she strikes, tagged me a couple times.

[joey]

Originally posted by greenman1867
My Snakes especially like the neighbourhood children..........they're so tender and juicy.

Shawn

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA..........you're kidding, right? :P

[varanus69]

i have a male blue beauty ratsnake that was calm towards the previous owner ( KATT) but absolutely despises me. He wastes no time in trying to seperate the flesh from my face lol, oh well he is amazingly colored so he's worth the trips to the medicine cabanet.

[greenman1867]

LOL Yes, just kidding ;) , being a smart asp. No offense meant to people with kids.

Shawn

[Cruciform]

Wonder if there's any scents related to diet or other things setting them off.

I know when someone gets on to an elevator wearing cologne or perfume I want to snap their neck and stuff them down the chute, so I can identify with some of those snakes :)

[prcdslnc13]

one of my monitors is like that. hes never been aggressive toward me or anyone else. but a while back my living situation got real crazy so i kept him at a friends house for a few weeks, and she couldnt even walk by his cage with out him freaking out. even if i was holding him and she walked by he wuld try to bite her as she walked by. crazy huh

[ChristinaM]

I recently sold my hog isle bci. One of the reasons for selling her was due to her being nippy. I would come by the tank and she'd tag the glass. She never actually connected, but she sure did try to.

The guy who I sold her to has had no problems with her. She's been calm, he's been able to walk with her around his neck, etc. ( me putting her around my neck, I would probally have a bloody nose LOL ).

In this case, I wonder if its a snake "liking" males better than females? I do not know.

[Dave_18]

il never forget my mate lost his rat snake in his car under the seat (it was being taken back to the house after he bought it and it pushed the lid off its container), my dad stuck his hand straight under there thinking it was a corn and to his suprise pulled out a p***ed 6 foot black rat snake, it sat very happily in his hands but my mate couldnt even touch it, also i got my royal python because the previous owner was scared of it and shes been great ever since, only been bitten once!

[rwg]

I dont think so. I've always been told that snakes lack the mental capacity to distinguish one human from another, and I've never seen any evidence or studies to the contrary. Most of the time they cant tell a human from a tree.

Certainly voice is out of the picture, and visual is probably not much of a factor as a lot of snakes have very poor vision, so you're only left with smell, and the way various people handle snakes.

I handle a lot of snakes, and I even handle "bitey" ones all the time. I very rarely get bitten by anything, and I'm sure it's not because any of these snakes like me or even know me from anyone else. It's because I handle them in a way that causes them the least amount of stress so as not to induce a defensive reaction.

Monitors and crocodilians are another story entirely. I am fairly certain they are able to recognize individuals and that they prefer some to others. Dont know about other lizards though.