Ball "thanking me? Weird snake behaviour

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OK, let me preface this whole shebang: I KNOW snakes dont show emotion/feelings etc, and a lot of people assign human traits to animals. Now, on with the story:


A few days ago, my beautiful pastel citrus ball went into shed mode, so I did what I could to make him comfy (more moisture!). When all was said and done, he had a 2" spot that he just couldnt shake, so last night I set up a "spa" for him so he could soak some, and hopefully shed the rest of the way.

He's never minded being handled, altho he is jumpy, and even in shed he was ok with limited handling.

Once I put him in the water, he *seemed* like he knew what I was doing. He submerged his spot under, and when that didnt seem to do much (should have had more water in there...) I laid the rag I had in there on top of his spot, and he didnt object at all.

At one point, I started rubbing him to try to loosen the scales and it was like he understood what I was doing. He didnt flinch and the only movement he made was to push against my finger! Same thing with the rag!


When I was done, he wrapped my wrist and, for lack of a better term, "ran in place" rubbing me! It was almost like he was thanking me.


Anywho, can anyone explain what he was doing to my wrist? Was he just scratching himself on me, or returning the favor?



Pics of my pretty blue eyed snek, freshly shed.