Snake Massage - they seem to like it!

[piedplus]

My BP, Lacey, has liked being massaged since I got her. She'll stretch out and kind of slither in place while I give her long, firm strokes down her entire back. I've enjoyed it! She's done pretty well training me just how to do it. If I get it wrong, she just slithers away.

I thought this was behavior unique to Lacey. Then the other day I had Lilly out. She was stretched out and I started stroking her the way I do Lacey. Not only did she stay put for her massage, she actually turned her belly up to be stroked! It was the darndest thing. When I stroked her belly, the muscles contracted right under my fingers... Maybe it tickled her some, but she really seemed to like it. She stayed put until I ran out of time and had to put her away.

I'm wondering if others have experienced this. Is it common or unusual. They're half sisters... maybe it's genetic. Does your BP like massages?

[Salodin]

That's very interesting. I've kind of done similar things with my Basil, but I never tried doing what youce done. Can you give a little more detail?

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[Valentine Pirate]

Both of my snakes do a sort of slither in place/muscle tense when you stroke anywhere on them, but I thought it was normal. The two I have are really the only ones I've had experience with, so if there's anything strange about that I'd never know, haha

[EverEvolvingExotics]

The connections between human and reptiles have always been misunderstood. The majority of humans...humanize species of all sorts, dogs, cats, hamsters, frogs, ext. Reptiles in general seem to "tolerate" handling over "enjoying" handling. There have been studies that show other findings, mostly in large lizards such as Monitors and such.

I believe it is more about us as humans finding ways to justify a species behavior for a human emotion.

Do I find anything wrong with it, NO, as long as the animals well-being is put before anything else. I would love to find or be a part of a additional studies to really examine the connection between us and reptiles. At this point I think that it stresses reptiles out more to be handled then to remain in their habitat uninterrupted.

As for massages, I am all for having a reptile contently letting me handle it in ways I would a dog or cat. I find it to be the best thing in the world!

I personally don't care for reptiles who do not tolerate handling, I NEED that interaction with them to justify my time and effort for caring for them.

This is an awesome thread, thanks for posting!

[Redneck_Crow]

My snakes don't seem to enjoy the type of massage you're talking about.

My craziest snakes, Minnie and Darth, do seem to enjoy or at least tolerate one other type of touch. If I hold my hand behind their heads and very gently stroke the softer fatty parts on the back sides of their head, they will sit still as long as I do it. Either they like it or it somehow sends a message to them that they should hang out until it stops and then it's safe to move on.

Either way, it gets them used to handling and I figure it's not a bad thing. Minnie has settled down so much that she allows first time handlers, with all of their jerky hesitant motions, to handle her. Darthie....well, the basket case still has a ways to go.

[piedplus]

The connections between human and reptiles have always been misunderstood. The majority of humans...humanize species of all sorts, dogs, cats, hamsters, frogs, ext. Reptiles in general seem to "tolerate" handling over "enjoying" handling. There have been studies that show other findings, mostly in large lizards such as Monitors and such.

I believe it is more about us as humans finding ways to justify a species behavior for a human emotion.

Do I find anything wrong with it, NO, as long as the animals well-being is put before anything else. I would love to find or be a part of a additional studies to really examine the connection between us and reptiles. At this point I think that it stresses reptiles out more to be handled then to remain in their habitat uninterrupted.

As for massages, I am all for having a reptile contently letting me handle it in ways I would a dog or cat. I find it to be the best thing in the world!

I personally don't care for reptiles who do not tolerate handling, I NEED that interaction with them to justify my time and effort for caring for them.

This is an awesome thread, thanks for posting!

I agree that handling can be stressful for a reptile. That's why I'm so happy to find something they seem to like. I too need some interaction with my pets. Not so much as a dog or cat needs, but some. From the responses here, sounds like this is pretty normal behavior for many BP's. I'm going to continue working with it. Maybe I can get all four of my BP's to like it! It would be more fun than them constantly trying to crawl away from me.

[piedplus]

If I hold my hand behind their heads and very gently stroke the softer fatty parts on the back sides of their head, they will sit still as long as I do it. Either they like it or it somehow sends a message to them that they should hang out until it stops and then it's safe to move on.

Interesting! I'll have to try that. All my snakes are a little head shy right now. It would be nice to break them of that.

[piedplus]

That's very interesting. I've kind of done similar things with my Basil, but I never tried doing what youce done. Can you give a little more detail?

When Lacey's stretched out, I place my hand a few inches away from her head and lightly cup her body around the top. Then I increase the pressure to what seems comfortable for her and stroke her down all the way to the tip of her tail. She particularly likes it on her tail and I might stroke her tail right past the vent a couple of times before starting over. She'll go into kind of an S shape and push my hand along when she's really getting into it. Like she's showing me how fast she wants me to go. I know I could be wrong, but she really seems to enjoy it!

[YOSEF]

Very interesting thread!

When I used to keep Monitors, I raised a baby Ornate Monitor from a 8 in baby to a 5 foot adult . I spent time with this monitor daily. She was very nasty at first but eventually I could do anything I wanted with her.


One day I decided that I would place her on the floor of my bathroom for some exercise and I would sit on the floor and watch her exploring. She checked out everything ! After about 15 min or so she walked over to where I was sitting and crawled right up onto my lap and closed her eyes and went to sleep.

I believe that we keepers have a lot of things to learn from our pets. We have plenty of surprises in store for us if we will but only REALLY be observant of the animals we keep. True, they cannot speak to us with words, but they can communicate in other ways.....if we keep our eyes open.

Now, I know that some will say I am ascribing human emotions to reptiles, but I really believe that there is a lot more going on in those minds than we currently know.

.....and while I don't think reptiles NEED to be held by their keepers, I do think that some reptiles do actually ENJOY being held .

Shalom,
Yosef

[piedplus]

Very interesting thread!

When I used to keep Monitors, I raised a baby Ornate Monitor from a 8 in baby to a 5 foot adult . I spent time with this monitor daily. She was very nasty at first but eventually I could do anything I wanted with her.


One day I decided that I would place her on the floor of my bathroom for some exercise and I would sit on the floor and watch her exploring. She checked out everything ! After about 15 min or so she walked over to where I was sitting and crawled right up onto my lap and closed her eyes and went to sleep.

Wow, that's neat! I think some reptiles may be able to develop feelings for their owners, at least trust. I see it in my BP's when they come to me, reaching out, almost touch me. Then the tongue flicks out and I can almost read the thought, "Oh, you're warm blodded... That can't be good." And they back away. Once I had one in a holding box while I cleaned her cage. When I opened the lid, she came right to me. Maybe my hands were cool. Maybe she got cold and was attracted to my warmth. Maybe she got scared in the box. I don't know, but it was very satisfying when she wrapped herself around my arm.

I'm looking forward to breeding these wonderful creatures. Health and color morph may be top of the list, but I'm also hoping to breed for temperment. How neat it would be to develop a line of BP's that would come right to you and curl up in your lap! Maybe not possible, but fun to try!