Curious Writer looking for some insight!

My answer is a little late, but this is such an interesting thread. I'm still very much a newbie, but have been giving the question of how much individuality and interaction my snake is capable of a great deal of thought since I brought her home. (We got her very much as a family pet, since my son is allergic to everything.)

In our case, our female is extraordinarily mellow, friendly and curious. She will come out of her enclosure when I open it and crawl right into my hands. I do not believe she is capable of reciprocating affection, but I do believe that she has an amazing set of senses, that allow her to differentiate between various humans and recognize familiar ones in her environment. Millie will reject a f/t mouse or rat if it is less than 10 degrees off the ideal temperature and is perfectly capable if smelling the difference between a rat and my hand, so I believe that she can certainly tell the differences in scent and heat signatures of humans. (I've seen mention in some threads of owners putting pieces of clothing that had been worn in with snakes to successfully acclimate to their scent, as well.)

Since I worked with animals for years and couldn't resist seeing if she would respond to behavioral cues, I started very, VERY lightly tapping the rim of Millie's tank 2 or 3 times with my fingernail whenever she would decide to climb up her branch to come out to visit. Since then if she has a day when she hesitates, if I tap she'll sometimes start climbing up. (Yes, I am trying to train my snake to come when called using specific vibrations, something I hadn't planed to admit on this forum!)

If you are looking for individual snake quirks to incorporate, my husband had another BP when he was in college that loved going to the movies. (He worked in a movie theater at the time.) He'd take her to preview night when the theater was basically empty, and she'd climb up to the top of his foot on top of the seat in front of him and "watch" the entire movie while periscoping off his shoe.

As far as realism in your portrayal of the BP, the thing that most struck me after getting one is how important it is to respect my snake's needs, if I want her to be her friendly self when she interacts with us. We make a point of leaving her alone the day after she eats so she can digest in peace, and don't mess with her for almost a week at a time when she's going through her shed. It's not like having a dog which is very much a pack animal and needs socialization and daily interaction.

If you post your writing online, I certainly hope that you post a link to it here, since I'm sure many of us would love to read it. Good luck!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Libby

My answer is a little late, but this is such an interesting thread. I'm still very much a newbie, but have been giving the question of how much individuality and interaction my snake is capable of a great deal of thought since I brought her home. (We got her very much as a family pet, since my son is allergic to everything.)

---

No, not late at all... after all, the event is a month long, and I am a fantastic procrastinator... I spent my one day off to write traveling to every wildlife keeper/reptile store/ect making them let me see their snakes... It was very productive.. minus the whole "not being productive at all" thing... Anyways. The allergy thing is actually why my MC started looking at reptiles in the first place.

Quote:

---

I do not believe she is capable of reciprocating affection, but I do believe that she has an amazing set of senses, that allow her to differentiate between various humans and recognize familiar ones in her environment.

---

Quote:

---

Maybe not because they "know you", rather than different people handle/hold them different, and they are more comfortable with one over the other.

---

hmmm... very interesting... I will have to think about that... I have a scene with her brother that I was trying to make as natural as possible but then I realized I needed to keep writing and leave it be (so, of course, I went and looked at more BP pictures)

Quote:

---

(Yes, I am trying to train my snake to come when called using specific vibrations, something I hadn't planed to admit on this forum!)

---

That's great... I am curious to see how that plays out... thanks for changing your plans to help me out!

Quote:

---

If you are looking for individual snake quirks to incorporate, my husband had another BP when he was in college that loved going to the movies. (He worked in a movie theater at the time.) He'd take her to preview night when the theater was basically empty, and she'd climb up to the top of his foot on top of the seat in front of him and "watch" the entire movie while periscoping off his shoe.

---

We used to do weird things when the theater was empty, but bringing a snake was definitely not one of them... I wonder why she did that. Unless she watched tv at home as well, it would seem there is a different factor at play, but maybe the giant people were just fascinating to her... (and now the scene from George of the Jungle where he does everything the tv tells him to do is stuck in my head)

Quote:

---

If you post your writing online, I certainly hope that you post a link to it here, since I'm sure many of us would love to read it.

---

Oh dear... that would make me self-conscious. I have a bunch of stuff from when I was like 15 that should probably be taken off fanfiction.net because it is horrible, but I might make my blog public to some select readers once the month is out. The problem with sharing NaNoWriMo is that it isn't edited at all, that includes horrid misspellings.







After procrastinating... I mean, researching on these forums and a couple other sites, I had another question. Okay, I have a million questions, but none that pertain to my story except... oh what was it? I thought of it in the first ten minutes of my two hour drive home from work... (ten minutes later) Imma blame this horrible memory loss on the glass of rum I just started and we'll pretend that makes sense... (Another ten minutes of, the 90lb dog thinking that she can fit in the six inches between my lap and the desk :rolleyes:) I remember!!!

I read on another thread (I think one about selling normals, I really am not even going to waste the time it's gonna take for me to remember more details) that some of the breeders here have a list of questions to ask potential buyers. The ones coming from craigslist/first time buyers/ect. What is on that list? What could a buyer say that would make you refuse to sell? and I don't mean "I intend to use this snake as a jump rope." or "I have a shoebox that will make a perfect home!" I mean something a relatively intelligent person might say. I would assume the list could not be as long as, say, a Burmese potential buyer, but I'm sure there are plenty things you've been told or asked that made you say "this is not the right pet for you." This has happened once while helping my landlord with his dog breeding (I rent a room, not a whole house/apartment, just to clarify). When an owner said the dog would be crated most of the day and not allowed in the house at all, we told her she needed to look into a different breed. I assume this sort of thing happens to all animal breeders.

Thanks again for all your help! I think I've 85% convinced my landlord that having a snake will, in fact, not result in his eminent death. His wife is all "I used to have an iguana" and "that morph is cool looking" so I figure that's a point in my favor...