memory

[Evolieno]

It's been interesting reading this thread, but I must say I respect snakes more because there is no proof for a lot of things with snakes. Of course I would like my snake to remember my scent, or that when she hears me say her name, she understands and she knows it's me(her caretaker that has never harmed her) Instead of a predator. However, all of this is debatable and questionable. I will keep respecting snakes for the simple fact that they are magnificent creatures and are not 100% explainable. Just my thoughts...

[Wildside]

Originally Posted by shaunyboy

i rescued a Jungle Carpet once.....

the guy had kept it in,a carboard shoe box with it's lid on,so the Jungle was ALWAYS in the dark 24/7.....

the guy ONLY opened the box QUICKLY,to fling a prey item inside the shoe box...

this Jungle was the MOST defensive biter i've EVER come across,we called him Mad Bert,he was like a bloody machine gun,just struck out at ALL signs of movement

i tried working with him for over a year and he NEVER calmed down one bit

so maybe it turns them into nervous,defensive biters ?

cheers shaun

This right here blows the purely instinctive theory out of the water. That snake clearly had issues directly relating to the world it was exposed to.

[jaleely]

I agree with the enclosure thing. I can only go off of my experience with 18 snakes, (7-8 species i think).

I have an 11 year old ball python that has had an unknown lifestyle. He took a year to get used to us and to the movement in our house. He is now comfortable and comes out and cruises ALL around his 60 tank.
(Side note, i use mostly tanks with mesh lids! However the humididty in my house is very high compared to most. With our many fish tanks, and the general humidity in the area near the beach)

I have a "baby" (she's five feet long now lol) carpet that we kept in the living room, who would hide a lot. I felt she was stressed. I moved her upstairs, and she still hid a lot. I upped the heat, and she came out more...but dried out more. Was still jittery. I moved her to an almost clear tub with lid (64 quarts, i think?) with some drilled holes. She is now out all the time, and loves the tub. She has become calmer, though still doesn't really like being handled.
She is the ONLY one who likes the tubs.
I periodically put some ball pythons in tubs and not only did their behavior change, they constantly tried to get out when i'd come into the room. I put them back into tanks and now they stretch out, lounge on branches, and stare at me arrogantly.

hognoses...my two hoggies have only ever been around me and my husband for the past year. I had a friend from out of town visit, who likes snakes and various animals. I took her into the snake room, and EVERY SINGLE snake acted weird and flighty when i passed them to her. The hogneses actually became defensive, hissing, flaring out their heads, and tried to get away.

I opened the cages the same, i did everything the same as i always do, but as soon as i brought a snake out and showed it to her, the snake freaked. There was only one snake (my male dumeril's boa) who did not react to her presence.
Other than him, i strongly felt that the snakes could recognize that they didn't know her.

That dumeri's boa is mental though. He was a hatchling then hybernated for a year before only now starting to eat again. His manerisims are odd compared to my female, and the other species of snakes, as well.

Anyway, agreed that a snake will remember the escape route.
Agreed that i think they act differently in vivs, vs racks or tubs.
I even think they recognize people.
Some do a better job at that than others, and i think it is the environment they are kept in that lets them exercise their brains.

Its' funny, whenever i take one of the tanks and clean it out, a lot of times i just put the stuff right back where it was. The snake goes in and wiggles around, and that's it.
EVERY single time, however, that i add something new, or switch up the branches and stuff, each snake goes exploring. It's very fun to watch.
I feel very sorry for the rack snakes, just because i have seen this curious and interested nature in the snakes i own.

[Evolieno]

Melissa, I love what you said. In my personal opinion I do feel like my Coastal knows me. Perhaps she likes my scent, or actually remembers it and associates that positivity. When I first got her I was in a relationship and if he ever held Serophina, she always seemed to find her way back to me and it seemed like she preferred to be handled by me. I've heard certain people say snakes can hear in stereo, and I've never done research or anything, but I do think it would be awesome if Sero could hear my voice enough to recognize that it's me. Who knows! My relationship with her is still growing as I haven't had her too long.

[jaleely]

I know my carpet bites my husband, becuase he hesitates when he picks her up. she doesn't bite me anymore. I do really think she knows i won't put up with it. She knows she can bluff him and "bump" strike him, whereas i just grab her anyway, she doesn't even try lol

Thought it was pretty funny both hoggies hissed at my friend though

[Evolieno]

I really think they know the difference between a stranger and their owner. Or maybe they could smell fear? Either way, I think there's more to snakes than we really know. Wish I could prove it, but I am no scientist! Sero has only bumped me once just a few days ago. It was my fault though, I touched her after she ate a jumbo rat... An this was the biggest rat that I've ever personally fed her. I apologized to her(lol) but I think she knew it was me and she was just telling me she wasn't done with her process yet. After reading some of the threads on here, I'm starting to think I need to feed her in her enclosure. She's just so big and I think it's more stressful if I have to move her back to her enclosure after feeding. Correct me if I'm wrong(please). Whether she hears me or not, I talk to her all the time. Say hello when I walk in the door and goodbye when I leave. A few times she has actually turned toward me when I talk to her

[shaunyboy]

Originally Posted by Wildside

This right here blows the purely instinctive theory out of the water. That snake clearly had issues directly relating to the world it was exposed to.

he was the craziest mother*****r of a carpet i've ever dealt with

he was quite a charectuer old crazy bert

i put his defensive agression down to how he had been kept

that said,from my own experience and what i've read,its seems it's mostly jungle hatchlings,that are the most defensive strikers of the bunch ( carpet sub species hatchlings in general),but most settle down with handling

crazy bert was a whole different machine imo though

even as adult he was vicious (i sold him to a guy who wanted him for a breeding project)

i suppose it would be a little cruel to do an experiment on say 4 hatchling carpets.....

1.keep the first 2 straight out the egg,in a blacked out enclosure

2.keep the other 2 hatchlings as you normally would

wait for time to pass,then see how the first 2 hatchlings turn out as adults

cheers shaun

[shaunyboy]

Originally Posted by Evolieno

I really think they know the difference between a stranger and their owner. Or maybe they could smell fear? Either way, I think there's more to snakes than we really know. Wish I could prove it, but I am no scientist! Sero has only bumped me once just a few days ago. It was my fault though, I touched her after she ate a jumbo rat... An this was the biggest rat that I've ever personally fed her. I apologized to her(lol) but I think she knew it was me and she was just telling me she wasn't done with her process yet. After reading some of the threads on here, I'm starting to think I need to feed her in her enclosure. She's just so big and I think it's more stressful if I have to move her back to her enclosure after feeding. Correct me if I'm wrong(please). Whether she hears me or not, I talk to her all the time. Say hello when I walk in the door and goodbye when I leave. A few times she has actually turned toward me when I talk to her

snakes cannot hear.....

as far as i know they have nothing that resembles ears

imo its always best to feed a snake in its tank,to avoid any stress when moving them,before and after feeding

cheers shaun

cheers shaun

[shaunyboy]

Originally Posted by infernalis

Try this experiment (In jest, don't do it)

Place your snake, regardless of species on the ground during a nice warm sunny day, turn your back for a few moments.

Now when you turn around, did your "buddy" stay put? did he even look back at you as he slithered away?

^^^^^
so you cannot train them to retrieve sticks that you throw

i thought after all the millions of years they've been around,they'd pick up a few tricks

i am of the belief that snakes run purely on INSTINCT

but do have memory (hope that all makes sense ? )

cheers shaun

[Evolieno]

Shaunyboy- it's just wishful thinking on my part. I talk to my cats, too. (no, they haven't talked back, yet! Lol) there isn't 100% proof about a snakes hearing as I have read the article about snakes hearing in stereo. But, I'm not too worried about it, and I will still always talk to her. Also, when I purchased her I was told to feed her in a plastic bin or somewhere other than her enclosure so she wouldn't associate my hand in her home as food. I have read a lot of threads on here and I have read that it's best to feed in an enclosure, especially with Sero being 9-10ft (which is what I was told when I purchased her- haven't measured her myself yet) and moving such a good sized snake back into her enclosure after feeding is too stressful for her. Now I have proof since she bumped me the last time I tried to move her. No matter what, I want to make her as comfortable as possible and be respectful of her. I was told her previous owner handled her often, and she never showed aggression from the reptile shop I got her. I want to make sure she stays docile and that we can respect each other and she can tolerate me. She's too amazing NOT to do right by!

[shaunyboy]

Originally Posted by Evolieno

Shaunyboy- it's just wishful thinking on my part. I talk to my cats, too. (no, they haven't talked back, yet! Lol) there isn't 100% proof about a snakes hearing as I have read the article about snakes hearing in stereo. But, I'm not too worried about it, and I will still always talk to her. Also, when I purchased her I was told to feed her in a plastic bin or somewhere other than her enclosure so she wouldn't associate my hand in her home as food. I have read a lot of threads on here and I have read that it's best to feed in an enclosure, especially with Sero being 9-10ft (which is what I was told when I purchased her- haven't measured her myself yet) and moving such a good sized snake back into her enclosure after feeding is too stressful for her. Now I have proof since she bumped me the last time I tried to move her. No matter what, I want to make her as comfortable as possible and be respectful of her. I was told her previous owner handled her often, and she never showed aggression from the reptile shop I got her. I want to make sure she stays docile and that we can respect each other and she can tolerate me. She's too amazing NOT to do right by!

please don't get me wrong.....

i speak to my snakes to,as in...

why did you bite me you ******d,will you let go that branch so i can get you out the tank,etc,etc

my wife keeps saying " you'll get a firght of your life if,one day it answers you back "

cheers shaun

[Evolieno]

Originally Posted by shaunyboy

please don't get me wrong.....

i speak to my snakes to,as in...

why did you bite me you ******d,will you let go that branch so i can get you out the tank,etc,etc

my wife keeps saying " you'll get a firght of your life if,one day it answers you back "

cheers shaun

Haha, exactly! I can't not talk to her, she looks at me sometimes with her head cocked to the side like a confused little puppy dog. It makes me laugh, she must think I'm mental!

[shaunyboy]

Originally Posted by Evolieno

Haha, exactly! I can't not talk to her, she looks at me sometimes with her head cocked to the side like a confused little puppy dog. It makes me laugh, she must think I'm mental!

we're all a tad mental on here pal

cheers shaun

[Gungirl]

Originally Posted by shaunyboy

we're all a tad mental on here pal

cheers shaun

I think most of us ( you guys) are a bit more than a "tad"

[shaunyboy]

Originally Posted by Gungirl

I think most of us ( you guys) are a bit more than a "tad"

yes Kat some of us are further gone than others

but its great fun...!!

cheers shaun