Do your snakes remember you?

[Paysons Bps]

If you were to handle your snake twice or three times a week do you think it remembers your scent after a while, and will become use to you handling him/her?

[David802]

Nope, there eyes are to bad to recognise physical characteristics, also snakes lack the mental ability to even differentiate your sent from another large heat sorce's sent.

They just don't have the mental capacity for it. Sorry

[mrmertz]

I've wondered about the scent thing in connection to handling. I guess so. I mean I think you would see three distinct reactions if for instance it scented you, a rat or a perceived potential predator like a dog or cat. I know sight comes into play here to some extent also along with heat emmisions. So I guess really we are talking about conditioning.

I don't know. I'm just a Muggle though (it's a forum joke thang - don't ask). Perhaps someone who knows really what the, uh, heck they are talking about can answer better.

[mrmertz]

Nope, there eyes are to bad to recognise physical characteristics, also snakes lack the mental ability to even differentiate your sent from another large heat sorce's sent.

They just don't have the mental capacity for it. Sorry

Heat source is one thing, but what the Jacob's organ is picking up and sending to the brain is another.

[David802]

Heat source is one thing, but what the Jacob's organ is picking up and sending to the brain is another.

And the jacob organ helps recognize the difference between are sent and the sent of food, the question is not can the snake recognise the same sent over and over again, the problem lies in the snakes inability to remember that sent and connect it to a person.

[mrmertz]

And the jacob organ helps recognize the difference between are sent and the sent of food, the question is not can the snake recognise the same sent over and over again, the problem lies in the snakes inability to remember that sent and connect it to a person.

Okay, then I misunderstood the OP. If he was asking can a snake scent an individuals discreet scent, then no - I don't believe they can.

[David802]

My apologies if that last post came off rude, I as in a hurry.

At the OP. your snake will never recognize you personally, how ever it will learn to recognize the scent of humans and learn that we are not a threat. Whether this is considered learning or more of a temporing seems to be up for debate.

edit : It should also be noted that from what I understand CB snakes are handled almost from the beginning of there life, so most CB's are somewhat tempered/trained when purchased.

Here is some reading on the basics of brain function, reading up on the R-complex really helped me understand just what is going through my snakes head.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R-complex
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triune_brain

I wish I had more reliable sorces but... Enjoy!

[j_h_smith]

Now that you mention it, I guess they do. One of my corn snakes that I raised about 6 years ago just called me. We talked for a while, he's had a few clutches, he's very proud of his one bubblegum morph. Talked about her for 10 minutes.


Now, to get a little serious, I don't know if they recongize you in the human sense, but there may be a time when your snake realizes that you are the one picking them up. Could have a lot to do with the scent of that person. My male pied seems to be much more relaxed when I'm holding him than anyone else. My male albino is super calm when I'm holding him, but is a little restless when my son holds him.

I guess we'll never really know!
Jim Smith

[mrmertz]

Now that you mention it, I guess they do. One of my corn snakes that I raised about 6 years ago just called me. We talked for a while, he's had a few clutches, he's very proud of his one bubblegum morph. Talked about her for 10 minutes.

LOL...I only wish I had thought of comeback like that!

[mr. s]

Nope, there eyes are to bad to recognise physical characteristics, also snakes lack the mental ability to even differentiate your sent from another large heat sorce's sent.

They just don't have the mental capacity for it. Sorry

Now is this for all snakes? Do they all have equal mental capacity? I know that with fish there are some which can recognize a person across a room from a tank, whether it is due to better eyes or bigger brain I don't know, (or maybe it is just the ideas of those hopefully fish owners thinking their animals are the smartest things in the world!). On the other hand, there are lots of fish that are just mindless zombies and don't seem to grasp anything.

Do we know of differences in intelligence with snakes? Might some know who you are eventually?