Sssssleeping Sssssnakes

[McMonty]

None of the books I have read, have covered the subject of sleeping snakes.

How many hours a day would they sleep? Summer? Winter? Hibernation?

Do they close their eyes (I have never seen a snake close it's eyes). Do they even have eyelids.?

A friend of mine had his python wrapped around his arm - motionless for a couple of hours. My friend said they snake was sleeping - but he was still gripping tight and his eyes were open. The snake had sort of tied itself into a knot with his head poked through, supported by his body (very cool).

And now the dumbest question of all - do they dream of chasing mice? Of inhabiting nicer terraria?

[infernalis]

No one on the planet can ever confirm if they dream, since they cannot tell us.

Snakes have no eyelids, and are always aware, even when "sleeping" since they could be eaten by a predator.

So what they do is turn down their metabolism to a point that they are resting soundly, but the instant they sense danger, the metabolism cranks back up to full on mode.

During brumation ("hibernation") they are in a very similar state, I have artificially brumated snakes in my basement, and no matter what time of day or night, the moment I take the lid off the tote, they look up at me.

When a snake is in shed cycle and they eyes turn blue, it clouds their vision, so in the wild, they will locate a secure hiding spot, and wait it out.

[mommanessy247]

since we're talking about "sleeping snakes" here, its a good practice to nmake sure a snake is fully alert before handling it right?

[infernalis]

Yes - you will startle the animal otherwise.

[gonesnakee]

Many folks have been nailed hard by a startled snake waking up to a warm fleshy thing moving around in front of their face or a big "predator" grabbing them ;) Mark

[Will0W783]

Yeah, I did that a few times when I first started keeping snakes, until I learned to "read" them better and now I always make sure they are aware of my presence before I go sticking in a warm, fleshy hand...

[emseeKAY]

breakfast in bed? haha

[mommanessy247]

oh ok i dont wanna get bitten so i thought i'd ask.

[Lankyrob]

I normally make some noise when opning the enclosure and then gently stroke near the tail end to ensure they are aware of me before picking them up.

[shaunyboy]

i make sure i see them flick their toungue out before i go sticking my hand in.carpets tend to hit first ask questions later. " its hot its food oh no its not its the guy who changes my water,oop's "...!!

i startled one of my jungles grabing her water bowl.she was facing the bowl roughly 4 to 5 inch away.the result was a spooked carpet and a tagged hand.
http://i429.photobucket.com/albums/qq17/spilota01/S8004405.jpg

cheers shaun

[Will0W783]

Ouch, that's a good bite there Shaun!

[shaunyboy]

as you know willow they always look much worse than they are before you clean them up.to a non herper they look savage and painfull.but we all know its over and done with that quick and by such needle like teeth you barely feel it.unless its a feeding response and even then it depends which part of you the snakes latched onto.one of the worst i had was a few month back from an 18 month old bredl of all things.it had caught 2 viens in the back of my hand one with each top fang.its bottom jaw had me between my index finger and the next finger along on the palm side of my hand.every time it tried to eat more of my hand it tore the viens that bit more.he was tring to eat the wee webbed bit between my fingers.i was yellping and making faces like a little girl.my wife couldnt help having a wee chuckle and a big grin as she watched me run the bredl under the tap to get it to release me ( just a tiny flow of cool water,barely a trickle.it works for me every time ).it was my own fault as i was seperating the bredl to feed them and i had handled food a few hours earlier.my bredl seem to have the best sense of smell over all my carpets.they are always the first out when i bring the feeding tray through from the other room.dont worry mommanessy247 99 out 100 bites you hardly feel.there are just the odd one you do.cant wait to see pic's when your snake arrives.
cheers shaun

[Will0W783]

Oh yeah...they look awful at first, and then you clean it, and you can't help but think, "All that blood came from this little nip???" The bites bleed like a son of a gun, but like Shaun said, snake teeth are so thin and needle-like that they dont' hurt all that bad. The thing that hurts worse is the force behind the bite of a large snake. When my 'tic got ahold of me, my arm was all bruised for a week...but it only hurt for about 20 seconds. That one was not fun because she's 8 or 9 feet of solid muscle and gave me a feeding strike. Still, I didn't even cry.

[Freebody]

my retic bite my hand during feeding and she turned 3 of my knuckles purple from bruising the cuts were like you said just bloody and not painfull due to how sharp the teeth realy are. but the her hear slamming into my hand and wrapping them up all bent for a sec was not so fun. im sure you seen bella she only about 6 feet and still a skinny juvenile.
if you want to sleep with your snakes, i had a boa that would sleep with me, i would pull her out and after a few minutes she would curl up in a ball and i would put a blanket over her and she would sit against my chest as i watch tv. my other snakes i had are all go go go till i put them back in there cage.

[mommanessy247]

oh my gosh lol i sure hope i dont get bitten.

[gonesnakee]

oh my gosh lol i sure hope i dont get bitten.

What type snake(s) do you keep?
Unless you work with bigger Boids (Boas & Pythons) you should have no worries & have likely been hurt worse already by a kitten or puppy.
Most folks that fear being bitten once it finally happens realize it was nothing to be really concerned about. Mark

[emseeKAY]

i always seem to jump at the anticipation of the strike more then the bite itself lol

[Lankyrob]

emsee - i think that can be waht causes the most damage. Not been bitten by the snakes (yet!!) but with our dog and cats its not the claws or teeth going in that causes the injury but our reaction when the hand/arm is suddnely drawn away causing "ripping". Guess its a natural reaction to move but if we could stay still the claws/teeth would go in and out and not cause so much injury.

[gonesnakee]

Its hard not to pull back even if you know you are going to get bit.
The body takes over & does its thing LOL
The best thing to do is not move though.
It freaks you out more than anything as sometimes its just wham out of nowhere.
I've had it happen more than once where I thought I just got a closed mouth strike until you look down & theres the blood LOL
Theres no doubt about it the snake is faster than the hand most always. Mark