Vacuuming & Other Loud Sounds

[Patricia]

Sorry if this is a silly question, but I haven't been able to find an answer online other than how snakes interpret sound.

Does vacuuming near a snake scare it? What about loud sounds in general made in the same room as the snake is kept? (Although in this house, vacuuming is just about the loudest sound.)

All our pets (dogs, cats, various rodents) have adjusted to the vacuum, but they aren't even half as skittish as our new BP, so I don't know what its tolerance level is.

[guambomb832]

Yea I think using a vacuum might affect a ball python, since whenever I vacuum in my room they try to feed it, they usually miss the first 2 tries, then finally grabs onto it. It usually depends on the snake also. Some could not be affected while others go off-feed.Hope that helps.

[Buttons]

Yea I think using a vacuum might affect a ball python, since whenever I vacuum in my room they try to feed it, they usually miss the first 2 tries, then finally grabs onto it. It usually depends on the snake also. Some could not be affected while others go off-feed.Hope that helps.

I'm confused by this statement. Your snake tries to "feed" your vacuum?? Why are you putting a vacuum that close to your snake??

[DutchHerp]

Snakes are deaf. They pick up vibrations and low sounds through their jaw bones.

I don't think vacuums give off vibrations...?

[Argentra]

Vacuums give off a ton of vibration. At least against the floor. If you run the vacuum really close to the snake, then they will at least come out to see what's going on and if it's a threat. When vacuuming in the room with the snakes, I always use the hose extension near the cages since it cuts down on vibrations.

[frankykeno]

Snakes are deaf. They pick up vibrations and low sounds through their jaw bones.

I don't think vacuums give off vibrations...?

Incorrect. Snakes are not deaf. They may hear in a way different from you and me but they do hear. Below are quite a number of studies confirming that the idea that snakes are deaf is a myth.

http://www.healthyhearing.com/releas...ar-ssssssounds

http://www.physorg.com/news130165463.html

http://www.anapsid.org/torrey.html

http://www.uni-protokolle.de/nachrichten/id/150678/

Patricia, many things can bug any animal. Make your noisy housework a routine for the snake. Try to avoid high vibration work on the day of feeding. Vacuum certain days of the week if that works for you. Any action done over and over and over again which produces no danger to an animal eventually becomes assimilated somewhat into that animal's experience and they will become used to it. They might not like it but they tend to not freak about it quite as much.

[littleindiangirl]

Incorrect. Snakes are not deaf. They may hear in a way different from you and me but they do hear. Below are quite a number of studies confirming that the idea that snakes are deaf is a myth.

http://www.healthyhearing.com/releas...ar-ssssssounds

http://www.physorg.com/news130165463.html

http://www.anapsid.org/torrey.html

http://www.uni-protokolle.de/nachrichten/id/150678/

Patricia, many things can bug any animal. Make your noisy housework a routine for the snake. Try to avoid high vibration work on the day of feeding. Vacuum certain days of the week if that works for you. Any action done over and over and over again which produces no danger to an animal eventually becomes assimilated somewhat into that animal's experience and they will become used to it. They might not like it but they tend to not freak about it quite as much.

I was just about to reply to that, but Jo was all over it!!

[Muze]

Incorrect. Snakes are not deaf. They may hear in a way different from you and me but they do hear. Below are quite a number of studies confirming that the idea that snakes are deaf is a myth.

http://www.healthyhearing.com/releas...ar-ssssssounds

http://www.physorg.com/news130165463.html

http://www.anapsid.org/torrey.html

http://www.uni-protokolle.de/nachrichten/id/150678/

I just tried explaining this to someone the other day, but I couldn't find where I had read the info (well, some of it is covered in the Barkers' book, but not enough).

[CoolioTiffany]

Snakes do not have ears, as they only can feel vibration through their jaw bone. Snakes cannot hear any loud sounds, so you can shout and scream and that will not effect the snake. The vacuum doesn't bother the snake at all, since the snake cannot hear. Vacuum don't give off vibration, I don't think..

[frankykeno]

Snakes do not have ears, as they only can feel vibration through their jaw bone. Snakes cannot hear any loud sounds, so you can shout and scream and that will not effect the snake. The vacuum doesn't bother the snake at all, since the snake cannot hear. Vacuum don't give off vibration, I don't think..

They do not have outer ears. They do in fact have inner ear structures. Snakes can indeed hear loud noises under certain circumstances. If you "shout and scream" at your snake while it was against your body for instance it would most certainly both hear that and also likely react to it.

A vacuum cleaner with either a beater brush or a deep cleaner head cleans your carpet by the dual action of suction and vibration. That's how it loosens the dirt trapped in your carpet so it can be sucked up. Whether that vibration frequency is strong enough to affect your snake if it's across the room, off the floor in it's environment would be impossible to know other than the monitor the snake's reactions when you vacuum close to it.