how sensitive are snakes to sound?

[dragonteen]

for science, we have to write an essay/report about an area of our interest. we have to preform an experiment of some sort.
now, i have a great intrest in learning more about my snake, and my teacher sugested useing a device that makes a range of noise (goes from low to high pitched) to see how sensitive to sound he realy is to the vibrations. but i had questions and concerns.
1st will this harm him in any way, if it dose, i will not do it.
2nd how will i tell how sensitive he is (if it makes a diferance, he's slightly agressive)
um that's it i think.
p.s. if there is a better thing i could do, especaly if this one will harm my snake.

[Lankyrob]

The noise and vibration is likely to stress the snake out, this is why it is recommended not to put speakers etc near their vivs.

Personally i would say that how you have described the experiment is hardly scientific as it is impossible to record the snakes reaction in any meaningful manner.

I would think of something else :)

[infernalis]

Snakes are more sensitive to low level frequencies (bass) than they are to High level frequencies (treble)

In summary, they can detect ground vibrations (such as an approaching predator) but sounds like a bird singing in a tree are not heard.

[dragonteen]

i thought it would stress him out, that's why i thought i'd ask before i did it. realy the assesment is on how we write the report, not on what we do (our teacher is a bit odd), i mean, my friend is doing how strong each brand of hair spray is, which isn't scientific either, but i do see what you mean, i think i'll think of something else, as i don't want to freak my snake out more than he already is all the time.
i had heard about them no being able to pick up vibrations unless they are going through the ground, but i wasn't realy sure.
thanks

[millertime89]

how much time do you have to do this?

[dragonteen]

how much time do you have to do this?
1 term (about 8 weeks left)

[jaleely]

might be more viable to do scenting of prey items or something.
or even see if snakes do the memory maze thing, like rats. get some pvc pipes and build a maze with them and have prey at the end...lol! i have no idea if that's viable!

[millertime89]

I was thinking something like what Melissa said. However you need repeatable results which, if you use food, might take too long.

[jaleely]

i was thinking teasing.... =O
Like, let'em smell it, put them at one end, and let them slither through to the other, and then ...take the food away!!!
Harsh! then put them back to try again. However, this may be considered pretty dangerous for a lot of snakes, since they'll be in feed mode and may strike. Also it's mean : )

I may have mentioned on here at one point that our girl ball, when she was little and would fit....we would put her on the floor and let her crawl into a pvc pipe and put food at the end. She learned to soar through those pipes and get the mouse! IT was always a different shape, but pretty short.

[millertime89]

i was thinking teasing.... =O
Like, let'em smell it, put them at one end, and let them slither through to the other, and then ...take the food away!!!
Harsh! then put them back to try again. However, this may be considered pretty dangerous for a lot of snakes, since they'll be in feed mode and may strike. Also it's mean : )

I may have mentioned on here at one point that our girl ball, when she was little and would fit....we would put her on the floor and let her crawl into a pvc pipe and put food at the end. She learned to soar through those pipes and get the mouse! IT was always a different shape, but pretty short.

I wouldn't do that with any of my snakes, that's for sure.
You've mentioned that before as well. I'm intrigued by the idea, I might give it a shot with my cornsnake.

[jaleely]

lol i know, she is actually the only one i would consider 'teasing' because she never strikes and is so slow...but there is always a first time! I suppose you could rig up something safely...blockaides, and hooks, long tons or a string attached to jerk the prey item away...as long as there isn't already a snake attached *lol*

Most of my critters are still babies, so i'm a little bit brave when it comes to being bitten, since it doesn't hurt...but i DO know that's a very bad habit, and i have not teased them. Can't say it didn't pop into my head reading this thread though (obviously). Half my little minions don't even strike, they just mosey on up, sniff, and then slowly open their mouths, so it's easy for me to imagine a workable scenario. It's probably *not* a good idea for most snakes, however.

[millertime89]

you'd have to secure the top so the snake doesn't get smart and just goes over the walls.

[dragonteen]

might be more viable to do scenting of prey items or something.
or even see if snakes do the memory maze thing, like rats. get some pvc pipes and build a maze with them and have prey at the end...lol! i have no idea if that's viable!

i do like the idea, but my snake is fussy and refuses to eat dead pray:sad: (i'm working on it. i don't like feeding him live prey) so i can't see it working well with a live mouse...and i can't see my teacher being overly impressed with me feeding live mice to a snake...:sorry:
i did consider maybe, either seeing how active he is at day and at night, or, how fast he can consume a mouse (once it's dead of cource).
the first one had the issue of it's realy cold here as winter is on the way and he's lazy as it is. and as for the second one, the most of the other girls would get upset at the site of a snake eating a mouse...oh well :D

[millertime89]

Maybe see if the addition of uvb lighting to his enclosure changes color/growth rate? Do like two week increments with one week with uvb all the time, one week just in the day, one week no uvb but light all the time, and one weekwith no uvb but light just during the day.

[jaleely]

maybe something simpler...like, does he like his water from the warm side, or the cold side? see if he frequents either or both.

[shaunyboy]

Maybe see if the addition of uvb lighting to his enclosure changes color/growth rate? Do like two week increments with one week with uvb all the time, one week just in the day, one week no uvb but light all the time, and one weekwith no uvb but light just during the day.

i experimented with uvb light with 2 pairs of bredl

the pair with the uvb colours got brighter and their pattern more prominant

it took months to do,as you need to wait on them shedding to see the differences

i used different strengths of uvb and found anything above 2.0 was too harsh on them,and gave them a look of always coming up to a shed

with only 8 weeks to do the op's work,i'm thinking it would take too long

it would be a great experiment,if the op had say a full year for his project

cheers shaun