Snakes ARE affectionate

[MDT]

Originally Posted by MesoCorney

MDT by definition acclimation is getting used to a new environment and trust is expecting the same results. Acclimation does not apply to what I was talking about.

Ok...I'll restate. Your snake neither knows you or trusts you. Mine do not "know" me or "trust" me.

My retics could give a rat's behind who or what i am....when I open the enclosure, it's game time. Unless I break that response by tapping with a snake stick, paper towel roll, etc, if I put my hand in the enclosure, I will get bitten. Every. Single. Time.

Once I break that response, I can manipulate them out of the cage, but I will not let my guard down. I know what they are capable of.

That is their genetically imprinted behavior. That is what a retic "is". That is what I love about these amazingly beautiful animals. But there is no reciprocity on their part.

[sophiedufort]

Originally Posted by MDT

My retics could give a rat's behind who or what i am....when I open the enclosure, it's game time. Unless I break that response by tapping with a snake stick, paper towel roll, etc, if I put my hand in the enclosure, I will get bitten. Every. Single. Time.

I had ten snakes so far, not counting two that I found in the garden and kept for a couple of days before releasing them. I have never, ever been bitten. Not once. I reach inside my snakes' enclosures a hundred times a day, and they are never hostile. Then again, I hold them for hours on end, and pet them just as much, and so does my husband. The only snake that sometimes seems to be on the edge is my smallest Brazilian rainbow boa. She is ready to strike when I reach into the feeding tub to pick her up after she ate, but as soon as she can smell me she ceases her display of aggression and lets me grab her.

[SSSSnakes]

Originally Posted by sophiedufort

I had ten snakes so far, not counting two that I found in the garden and kept for a couple of days before releasing them. I have never, ever been bitten. Not once. I reach inside my snakes' enclosures a hundred times a day, and they are never hostile. Then again, I hold them for hours on end, and pet them just as much, and so does my husband. The only snake that sometimes seems to be on the edge is my smallest Brazilian rainbow boa. She is ready to strike when I reach into the feeding tub to pick her up after she ate, but as soon as she can smell me she ceases her display of aggression and lets me grab her.

To keep a snake from biting you, all you have to do is not cause the snake to fear you and see you as a threat. This does not mean the snake Loves you. I can handle supper aggressive snakes and not get bit, because I handle them slow and confidently and they do not fear me. Another person handles the same snakes quickly and carelessly and they get bit. It's not Love, it's the snake not feeling threatened that keeps you from being bit. I handle my snakes as little as possible and they do not bite me when I have to handle them. It's not making them fear you that keeps you from getting bit. This come from 35 years of experience and keeping up to 200 snakes at a time and having kept thousands of different snakes over that time period.

[SSSSnakes]

Originally Posted by sophiedufort

I had ten snakes so far, not counting two that I found in the garden and kept for a couple of days before releasing them. I have never, ever been bitten. Not once. I reach inside my snakes' enclosures a hundred times a day, and they are never hostile. Then again, I hold them for hours on end, and pet them just as much, and so does my husband. The only snake that sometimes seems to be on the edge is my smallest Brazilian rainbow boa. She is ready to strike when I reach into the feeding tub to pick her up after she ate, but as soon as she can smell me she ceases her display of aggression and lets me grab her.

If you truly love your snakes you would stop doing something that causes them stress, like taking them out and holding them a hundred times a day.