help settle a debate. do snakes have personalities?

[youngster]

I say wild ones, colubrids to be exact, ringnecks to be even more exact

But I'm also biased.

[Will0W783]

Youngster, not to be harsh, but you really shouldn't be taking snakes from the wild. With all the many healthy captive bred and born reptiles out there...why put a wild and free animal through the stress of adapting to captive life? Wild-caught (WC) snakes usually require repeated treatments with dewormers, antiparasitics and antibiotics, and many still do not fare well and die quickly. Why take the risk and stress?

[Gungirl]

Kim.. I don't think Eli was saying you should take them from the wild. He was simply saying that they are full of personality.

[youngster]

Oh no I didn't mean I take them from the wild for pets just IMO wild snakes have more personality.
I only take WC in if they're hurt and I always release them as soon as I think they can survive in the wild.

[ineedsoap16]

+1 for carpets.

[BlindOne]

Nothing like a Spilotes

[shaunyboy]

Originally Posted by red ink

Not that you guys would have any experience in them but..... Morelia carinata rough scaled python

^^^^^
hopefully soon mate,as there are now a few legal pairs in europe and america

and no doubt now there are legal roughies,smuggled roughies hatchlings will start to appear

my diamond pythons are my most active and clever of my carpets

cheers shaun

[millertime89]

in my (albeit limited) experience, carpets and retics seem to have the most "personality"

[Pareeeee]

The Red-Bellied snake I owned years ago (when I was around 16 or so, way back before I got married) had an interesting personality. I took her in when she was almost killed by a weed-whacker. Anyway, I never saw a snake tame so quickly and become so extremely lazy. She would coil up and sleep in my hand, lazily take prey items (usually nightcrawlers) right from my hand and just be an all around lazy girl. She was very smart and figured out how to escape her enclosure a couple times. Luckily I found her! She was tiny.

I haven't had my Rosy long enough to examine his personality to the fullest yet.

[redsided]

Jeez, nothing, NOTHING, can compare to a garter snake when it comes to personality. Like Wayne said!

I have 5. They're all different. They each have their own personality's. It's really awesome. I wouldn't know where to start.

Rooster is calm but active, sweet, intelligent, doesn't like being crowded especially during feeding to the point of coming to the tanks rim, and going down when done eating, and extremely trusting.

Smoke is laid back, but sorta bully-ish with feeding.

Red is fruity. Goes nuts when food is near. Nice and friendly, but will bite if he feels like it.

Oscar (the grouch) is downright mean. Spooner is just a sweet, gentle, chilled dude.


That doesn't even begin to describe it. There's so many more subtle things that just make them the most personable snakes without a doubt.




You just can't compare to a garter snake.

[It'sKourtneyYo]

Originally Posted by BlindOne

Nothing like a Spilotes

is that a venomous snakes? he is gorgeous!

[Pareeeee]

I believe each snake really does have an individual personality. Some never tame and seem to hate their owners, while others of the same species will seem to be almost affectionate. Others will be curious, while some don't seem to care about anything.

I think snakes are like cats, half the time they just don't give a crap about us. LOL! We humans often make the mistake of classifying animals that don't give a crap as stupid or having no personality. Nope, I think they just don't care.

I also believe snakes are a lot more intelligent than people give them credit. Just because they are so alien to us does not mean they cannot think and reason, etc. I mean, scientists are constantly discovering new things about the intelligence of animals that we would never have guessed would be intelligent. Take the octopus, a gelatinous ball of tentacles, a mollusc, an animal that looks like it should be stupid, yet, new research definitely puts them in league with African Grey Parrots and possibly even dolphins.

I tell you, animals never cease to amaze me. They often force me to change my opinions of them. I once owned two fish that decided it was their job to protect a tiny, sick fish that was a completely different species from them. They positioned themselves on either side of him and protected him from the bullies in the tank, gently pushing him down into the protection of the plants. According to scientists, fish normally attack an ill fish to make it 'go away' so they do not catch the illness from it, or so it does not attract predators. I guess these two didn't read that article. :P

[youngster]

I think that's a mangrove snake, too lazy to google
So yes, it's rear fanged if I'm correct.

[BlindOne]

Originally Posted by It'sKourtneyYo

is that a venomous snakes? he is gorgeous!

Spilotes pullatus, the Tiger Rat. They get large, up to 14 ft, and are known for their ferocious attitudes. I have a trio of them and they are -awesome- Their threat display is to vertically compress the neck, rattle the tail, hiss, and slowly flick the tongue whilst looking you in the eye. Quite the personality! Very nippy species, it's a good thing they aren't venomous or I wouldn't be here. Coolest part about them is they are diurnal so you get to see them a lot

[BlindOne]

Originally Posted by youngster

I think that's a mangrove snake, too lazy to google
So yes, it's rear fanged if I'm correct.

Good guess but the Mangroves (Boiga dendrophila) have almost a triangular body shape with more a more defined head. They're also a bit iridescent, which isn't usually caught in photos, and have a clearly defined pattern over the entire body. Can you tell I'm a Boiga enthusiast? Probably the species I miss the most from my venomous days.