Will a snake get used to specific people more than others?

ErikBush97 · 05-21-13, 02:48 AM

Hi. I have had my snake for a couple months now, and she's gotten used to me in that time. At first, if I would put my hand in her cage, she'd curl up and get defensive, and at this point, she's just a little skeptical to let me pick her up, and is completely comfortable with me once she's in my hand. The main question is, will she be more skeptical with other people handling her, or will she just get used to humans equally. For example: My dog is very happy and playful with me, but with some people, she's skid-dish and skeptical. I know this is an odd, and stupid question, but it just randomly popped into my head

Thanks for your time.

Lankyrob · 05-21-13, 03:03 AM

Personally i think snakes can recognise between people and can feel more secure with one than another. Not saying that they form attachments as such like a dog would but they look for security.

StudentoReptile · 05-21-13, 05:52 AM

What L-Rob said. My BP who I've had for 20 yrs, recognizes my scent, my movements and is familiar being around me. If being handled by several people, and I am around, he will start gravitating toward me.

This is not affection, or any form of a social bond; it is the snake wanting to feel comfortable with something (or someone) it feels secure with, just as it would want to slither to its favorite hiding place in the wild.

Freebody · 05-21-13, 09:37 AM

ya my snake bella is like, she will gravitate toward me when others are around, even during feeding time, she has never stricken the glass on the tank while im around, but my father has said many times that when hes up their feeding his snakes and gets close to the glass she has stricken the glass and startled him. I don't think its affection like a dog bond is, but I think she knows me from everyone else and sees me and a favorite warm hanging branch that bring food to her lol

possum · 05-21-13, 10:45 PM

I think snakes recognize us (mostly by touch & scent, not visually) & feel safe in familiar territory, but I have to say that I've done a number of programs sharing my snakes with people and I've never had any snake "act up" (try to bite) with total strangers (same goes for any vet trips) so in my experience, I think that once snakes learn to trust their human it has alot of carry-over to unfamiliar humans. In some cases snakes have been given to me because they repeatedly bit their owners & the owners were scared/gave up handling them, & these snakes became reliably mellow first with me, then later meeting others. I've also had some snakes show a preference for me by trying to come back if I let someone else actually hold them, but that is something I almost never do.

Terranaut · 05-22-13, 02:59 AM

My JCP adults both do this . The come to me if someone else is holding them. My female sometimes even drops a hiss at strangers. I know they differentiate me from other people and no I do not think they love me but rather I represent safety or familiarity.

exwizard · 05-22-13, 04:37 AM

All of my snakes do this to me. They always gravitate toward me when I let someone else handle them. Even snakes I don't know do this to me as well. For example the other day at a local pet store the was a guy holding a Black Blood and I started talking to him. Within a few minutes, this snake withered onto my shoulders. This I can't explain.

possum · 05-22-13, 11:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by exwizard

All of my snakes do this to me. They always gravitate toward me when I let someone else handle them. Even snakes I don't know do this to me as well. For example the other day at a local pet store the was a guy holding a Black Blood and I started talking to him. Within a few minutes, this snake withered onto my shoulders. This I can't explain.

Maybe we retain a little snake 'cologne' that other snakes can pick up? Their sense of smell is quite extraordinary...just a few missed molecules of mouse on your hand & you know what happens...LOL! That must have been funny!

exwizard · 05-22-13, 11:22 AM

He was surprised.

exwizard · 05-22-13, 12:05 PM

Another example: Last February we went down to see Rogue because I was picking up 3 Borneos from her to take home and she was showing us her snakes including her 2 Burms. Baby Girl, the bigger one, was out exploring the living room and I was sitting on the opposite corner from where she was. She made a bee line straight for me and started slithering up my leg. Again, I can't explain it. It just happened.

possum · 05-22-13, 06:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by exwizard

Another example: Last February we went down to see Rogue because I was picking up 3 Borneos from her to take home and she was showing us her snakes including her 2 Burms. Baby Girl, the bigger one, was out exploring the living room and I was sitting on the opposite corner from where she was. She made a bee line straight for me and started slithering up my leg. Again, I can't explain it. It just happened.

I think this makes you a "snake-whisperer"? LOL There must be a snake-friendly vibe that some of us give off? One time I responded to a neighbor who was screaming about a snake in his yard ("that he was gonna kill if I didn't remove it" etc) and it was just a huge over-heated gopher snake. I picked her up easily, and then the neighbor no sooner mumbled that it "liked me" and leaned slightly forward for a closer look at the snake and she hissed & lunged at him! I thought I'd die laughing...that was all the neighbor could take, he went in his house. (The snake was fine after she got water & rest from the heat, & was later released.)

Nataku · 05-22-13, 04:53 PM

My ball python is a fairly gregarious example of his species in that he shows no hesitation in climbing onto new people who happen to get close enough that he can get to them (ie standing near me while I'm holding him/ coming to sit down in the room when he's getting his free roam time). I am not sure if this is simply because he was raised as being handled frequently (I got him as an adult, I have no idea what his previous living conditions were like) or if maybe he was one of those snakes that doesn't inherit quite as many of the 'be cautious' genes and so doesn't have as much of a hard-wired response to be nervous around humans. Perhaps in the wild he would have been the hatchling snake that got eaten first for being the one to slither out from under cover to go investigate something.
Regardless of his apparent lack of fear to humans, he does seem to exhibit a preference to myself and my sister as the appropriate humans to go down the shirt for >.>; I'm not sure why he doesn't do that to any other people. You'd think one warm dark spot would be as good as another?

possum · 05-22-13, 06:57 PM

And while I'm thinking of it...one time a guy wanted to meet one of my snakes I was holding...but apparently my snake didn't feel like meeting him for some reason & slowly slid into my shirt to hide! The guy's eyes got REALLY big...something about that snake heading for my throat? LOL! (the snake was actually heading for my open collar...I thought it was funny since that snake never did that with anyone else...I'd used him in programs & he was usually fine with strangers.)

ErikBush97 · 05-22-13, 11:21 PM

Wow... Just checked this thread, again, and I'm really glad to see all the feedback

And I love seeing everyone's stories, too

sweatshirt · 05-27-13, 01:08 PM

My old corn freaked out whenever somebody besides me held her. My new BCI is pretty chillax with everyone, probably because she's a tiny baby.