Intelligence between different types of snakes

[Mikoh4792]

Is one group generally smarter than another? For example: carpet pythons to ball pythons, bci/bcc to other boas, rat snakes to king snakes, or even generally speaking, boids to colubrids.

[KORBIN5895]

Boas are the smartest.

[red ink]

Elapidaes - particularly Oxyuranus

[Terranaut]

Pretty sure the King Cobra (Ophiophagus Hannah) is number one. I know they build nests and males are territorial. I have heard Indigos are also very intelligent. I also remember reading both of these recognise different people which most snakes do not. I am at work but when I get home I will find the stuff I read and post links.

[infernalis]

Thamnophis - Garter snakes.

They do display behaviours that seem to indicate that there is more going on inside that head than eat, sleep, breed.

Mine watch me vacuum the rugs.

[Concept9]

I agree with the Eastern Indigo, I have read the same things and seen a couple YouTube videos on them. Will see if I can find them when I get off work as well.

[Mikoh4792]

I too have heard that indigos are one of the more intelligent species of snakes, under the king cobra.

I wonder if there is any significant or notable differences in intelligence between the snakes we keep in capitivity(pythons vs boas..etc).

[Mikoh4792]

Originally Posted by infernalis

Thamnophis - Garter snakes.

They do display behaviours that seem to indicate that there is more going on inside that head than eat, sleep, breed.

Mine watch me vacuum the rugs.

Interesting.

[Kettennatter]

I would agree with garter snakes. Not because they watch me sweep, which they do, but because they condition very quickly, such as distinguishing the feeding bowl from other objects in their enclosure.

[infernalis]

Originally Posted by Kettennatter

I would agree with garter snakes. Not because they watch me sweep, which they do, but because they condition very quickly, such as distinguishing the feeding bowl from other objects in their enclosure.

Even wild specimens display curiosity. I have documented that by animals fleeing and returning multiple times while photographing.

One incident I will always remember, a young male scooted off while I continued photographing a bigger female that didn't seem real bothered by my presence, within about 45 seconds, he returned, out in the open, when I pointed my camera his direction, he would again flee, only to show back up.

Apparently, that shiny thing had his curiosity going.

[Will0W783]

I've heard that the Elapids (cobras and mambas especially) are the most intelligent of snakes, with the king cobra and mabas being at the top.

However, I think it really depends on how we define "intelligence." Humans are social creatures; we've evolved to operate in groups and therefore have a large capacity for adaptive learning and cooperation. Most snakes are solitary creatures; they do not need to work in groups, and many are simply ambush hunters. They have highly evolved sensory cortex (areas of the brain that process sensory information), well-developed cerebellum (motor control) but little to no frontal cortex (executive control, judgement, behavioral inhibition, working memory). They simply don't need that aspect; therefore, evolution resulted in development of the brain areas they do need.

Some snakes are more social in nature- for example, garter snakes hibernate in huge dens, mambas tend to do better when kept in groups, so they would need more adaptations in frontal areas to allow them to exist in the groups successfully.

Furthermore, booid snakes (boas/pythons) are evolutionarily the oldest group - these animals have existed basically unchanged since the age of dinosaurs and even retain remnants of a pelvic girdle and legs (spurs). Colubrids, elapids and vipers all evolved more recently, and lack these characteristics. They have evolved to fit different niches in the environments; thus, each class is unique, yet they are all newer than boids. Colubrids are thought to have evolved after boids, with elapids and vipers developing from the colubrids as more efficient venom-delivery apparati were evolved. Thus, it would make sense that these animals are more "Intelligent" than boids- they have had more evolutionary pressure.

[Mikoh4792]

Originally Posted by Will0W783

I've heard that the Elapids (cobras and mambas especially) are the most intelligent of snakes, with the king cobra and mabas being at the top.

However, I think it really depends on how we define "intelligence." Humans are social creatures; we've evolved to operate in groups and therefore have a large capacity for adaptive learning and cooperation. Most snakes are solitary creatures; they do not need to work in groups, and many are simply ambush hunters. They have highly evolved sensory cortex (areas of the brain that process sensory information), well-developed cerebellum (motor control) but little to no frontal cortex (executive control, judgement, behavioral inhibition, working memory). They simply don't need that aspect; therefore, evolution resulted in development of the brain areas they do need.

Some snakes are more social in nature- for example, garter snakes hibernate in huge dens, mambas tend to do better when kept in groups, so they would need more adaptations in frontal areas to allow them to exist in the groups successfully.

Furthermore, booid snakes (boas/pythons) are evolutionarily the oldest group - these animals have existed basically unchanged since the age of dinosaurs and even retain remnants of a pelvic girdle and legs (spurs). Colubrids, elapids and vipers all evolved more recently, and lack these characteristics. They have evolved to fit different niches in the environments; thus, each class is unique, yet they are all newer than boids. Colubrids are thought to have evolved after boids, with elapids and vipers developing from the colubrids as more efficient venom-delivery apparati were evolved. Thus, it would make sense that these animals are more "Intelligent" than boids- they have had more evolutionary pressure.

Mind=blown

Thus, it would make sense that these animals are more "Intelligent" than boids- they have had more evolutionary pressure.

So would you consider ratsnakes, king snakes...etc to be more intelligent than boids in general?

[lady_bug87]

Originally Posted by KORBIN5895

Boas are the smartest.

My boa eats her food backwards and sails through her own poop.

Soooo smart

[Kettennatter]

Originally Posted by infernalis

Even wild specimens display curiosity. I have documented that by animals fleeing and returning multiple times while photographing.

One incident I will always remember, a young male scooted off while I continued photographing a bigger female that didn't seem real bothered by my presence, within about 45 seconds, he returned, out in the open, when I pointed my camera his direction, he would again flee, only to show back up.

Apparently, that shiny thing had his curiosity going.

It's that very fast evaluation cycle of danger/benefit that got my attention, and the way that garters seem to be able to tune their response. In the wild they may exist in your immediate vicinity and (correctly) not react to you as a threat.

My garters can distinguish different feeding bowls from water bowls and other objects that I have in their enclosure, even if the feeding bowl contains no food whatsoever, and respond differently. While this is true with many other snakes, garters seem to be able to adjust very quickly. This is in contrast to my BCI, which took quite a while to condition.

P.S.: I have no experience with Elapids, so I would have to take somebody's word on their intelligence.

[Kettennatter]

Originally Posted by lady_bug87

My boa eats her food backwards and sails through her own poop.

Soooo smart

The same with mine. She has however figured out how to adjust the humidity in her enclosure.