The yellow rat snake that may enjoy some human contact.

[Cory]

My girlfriend has a yellow rat snake. Quite by accident I have encountered some behaviours I am unfamiliar with and that research online and in published materials has not been particularly useful.

Lily (the snake) seems to enjoy when I gently touch the top of his back with small, circular motions. The two unusual behaviours are:

1. he will often arch his back up toward my finger. I can slowly pull it away about an inch (2.5 cm) and he will follow with his arched back. I have considered that this may be a negative reaction intended to push me away but his normal reaction to unwanted stimuli is to retreat into his 'burrow' made from PVC piping. If this is a negative response then it is an unusual one compared to all the other times he doesn't like something and wants to get away.

2. he sometimes begin moving in a very jerky fashion, with sudden and repeated twitchy, even convulsive motions. He maintains his interest in the touch and tends to not recoil when it investigates and realizes that the source is human. Once he even slid two thirds of his body off of his perch and onto my hand.

In both of the above situations, the snake is in his cage and is interested in the source of the stimulus. His normal reaction to human touch is to investigate and then recoil slightly, as though the realization of a human actor is unwanted or disgusting. Almost as though he had his hopes up for something more pleasing than anything a human can offer.

I realize that many sorts of snakes den communally, will follow each others scents, and are capable of positive interaction when it is their mating season. For example, snakes with elevated testosterone levels have been shown to defensively strike less often. My present hypothesis is that this may be evidence of some sort of contact that this and other snakes enjoy. I am not the only person to have taken this sort of possibility into account since similarly positive behaviours have been noted by others, though they have been noted very rarely.

I am both reporting this odd behaviour to the herp community and asking for its interpretations. Thank you ahead of time for any insights or suggestions you may provide.