Do you think your snakes can be affectionate?

[infernalis]

This is an interesting topic that was closed in 2003, I thought it would be interesting to continue on, since we have so many "fresh faces" now.

So anyways, I re-opened the discussion, feel free to read back and see what has been said, comment on it or just post your own thoughts on the subject.

[Freebody]

my retic will just sit and chill if you go up to her cage but if I go up to the cage she will come out of her cave and follow me from one side of the cage to the other, if i have her out she will slither all over me and not transfer to another person but if someone else is holding her she will try her best to transfer back to me. if anyone other than myself is holding her she moves more rapid and inconsistant. can remember where i read it but it said that retics are actually smart enouph to distinguish a person from another person and even hate an particular individual, i might have seen it on discovery but not sure.

[Freebody]

i had a boa years ago i used to feed nothing but live food to, she had not eaten in about 2/3 weeks< i could not find food. i got this rat and bonked it on the head dropped it in her cage and my snake would not eat it, it came back from unconciousness and for weeks i kept this rat in the cage living with her, it would constantly sleep in my snakes coils and come out and roam the cage i had nothing to house the rat in so i fed the rat in the cage, i tried everything to get my snake to eat it, hanging it upside down by the tail infront of her....nothing worker. about 3 weeks of this rat living with my snake i had grown attached to it and decided to build a cage to keep it in, which i did keep the rat till it finnaly died a year or so later but the day i took this rat out i replaced it with another one i had gotten from the store or the next day and instantly ate that one NP i didnt have the heart at that point to feed it the one i had gotten the cage for to see 100% it had gron attached to it but i believe it did....i swear to god this is what happend take from it what you want but i believe 100% snakes can be attacked emotionally to somthing else may it be an animal or a person. i named the rat bam bam and tried to bread it got 1 litter from it and fed them and the mate to my snake and kept just her,being how i felt it was devine intervention on some level what it went through and never died or got eaten. food for thought plz tell me if anyone else you know had somthing similar to this happen.

[infernalis]

My Xena (R.I.P.) was a real character. She knew me, and would protest when I tried to put her down.

I tried to put her down outside, and the poor girl panicked and coiled my fingers so tight I thought they were going to turn blue.

all I had to do was put my hand in her cage, and she would be the first one to scoot right over and start up my arm.

One of a kind that girl was.

[Lankyrob]

I think love is a strong word to associate with any animal. I agree with some of the others that most animals can become aware of who feeds them, treats them well, handles them gently etc and then can form a bond through mutual trust rather than love.

The thought of a predator becoming this trusting is however "lovely"!!

[Feebo]

Snakes are not at all capable of showing you any affection in any way, what so ever. Curling up in your lap is purely because you`re warm and they`re cold because they`re not in thier enclosure. I own oooooh lots of snakes and I do see what you mean, they do seem interested in thier keeper to a certain extent but it`s certainly not love. They tollerate you, at best they find you interesting in the same way as they would a nice branch that`s comfortable to sit on. I`ve really gotten into my photography in the last few years and I have many a photograph that seems to suggest they can show affection lol but... as a cold blooded reptile, they most certainly do not. It`s all too easy to impose human emotions onto a snake, that could get you into serious trouble if you owned an aggressive or unpredictable species. Saying that, you`ve got a Blood ! lol If I were to impose an emotion onto my Blood pythons, I`d say they were psycopaths lol

[Will0W783]

This is a really interesting discussion! From a science perspective (Im a Neuroscientist) snakes do not have much at all of a cortex in their brains- the higher thinking, positive emotion-processing area. That said, they do have an amygdala which processes fear, anger and such; therefore they could theoretically be angry with you or afraid. But we can't really impose human emotions on any animal- we just don't understand how or what they think. I have a few snakes that will seem to "ask" to come out of their cages when they see me and seem to enjoy being out and handled. They do get used to us, and even come to understand that we are the source of food, water and escape from the enclosure. Perhaps in some reptilian way they can become slightly attached to us, but I do not think they can feel "love" or real affection as we understand these concepts. But who knows? There's still so much we don't understand about the brain and its workings. I think it's fine to speculate and even feel like your snake is affectionate to you, as long as you keep in mind that it is a primarily instinct-driven animal and you don't do stupid things with it that are likely to get you bitten..lol.

[emseeKAY]

I think that many reptiles can recognize that we are a source of food or water as well as escape from their enclosure, however i find it hard to believe that any reptile can "love" although from what infernalis said it seems his Xena showed some sort of form of affection, but for the most part i have not witnessed any reptile i have owned show any affection (unless crapping or musking on you counts... lol ) but its not to say that i wouldnt love it if they did show love towards owners. I did however hear that retics seem to exhibit traits that they can distinguish between different people which is cool lol

[infernalis]

Originally Posted by Will0W783

But we can't really impose human emotions on any animal - we just don't understand how or what they think.

I am going to deviate from the reptile discussion for just a moment here.....

I understand we cannot classify this as "human" emotions, well almost my kids have done it....

We have 3 dogs, ACE the alpha male has "chosen" Dorothy as his "human"
and will sleep at her feet, follow her around and is very clutchy toward her.

The 2 pups (almost 1 year old now) have chosen me, they will dance up and down and bark at the very sight of me (Especially if I have been gone for a bit)

That's one of the reasons we have them as pets, I couldn't imagine one of our snakes getting excited to the point of jumping up and down at the mere sighting of one of us, or "missing" us.......

So in summary I could not say "any animal", since there are exceptions.

Back on topic, I do agree, snakes and lizards tolerate us, they do appear to "know us" however I'm sure that has a lot to do with being familiar with us and not much more.

[Will0W783]

Dogs do seem to "love" us. They get attached to their owners and look up to them as alpha and pack leaders, but for dogs that is natural. They are a communal animal and they seek leadership both in the wild and in captivity.

[Feebo]

My beetles don`t love me either lol ;D or my snails....

[infernalis]

My roaches just love me, they really enjoy walking on me and cuddling in front of the TV.

[Freebody]

I can prove snakes can love.... rub the scent of a rat on you,walk in your cage and i can garantee your snake with dance up and down and come right over and give you a big long hug and and nice open mouth kiss lol
no for real i dont think its love they feel for us, i think thats a too complex emotion, but i think its more complex than just a warm branch it likes to slither on or the person who brings it food.

[Will0W783]

I agree with Freebody. They might not love us, but they probably feel something for us. For example, my fiance's Nic boa HATES me....she will freak out and attack the front of her cage and hiss at the top of her lungs if she so much as sees me. Anyone else she is fine with. Mere sight or scent of me is enough to send her into a tizzy, and God forbid I open the cage to try to give her water...
She is perfectly fine with my fiance; I have never done anything mean or nasty to her, she disliked me from the moment he brought her home. Now you tell me she doesn't feel something specific for me there.

[Hillsberry]

Totally agree with Willow and Freebody. I think snakes dont "love" but I think they pick and chose the people they like and dont. But I how my snakes know I love them to death!