My snake loves it.

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Originally Posted by zhang317

How can so many people vote that snakes have no emotions?

Is stress not an emotion?

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No.

D-i-c-t-i-o-n-a-r-y



:twocents:

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Originally Posted by littleindiangirl

No.

D-i-c-t-i-o-n-a-r-y



:twocents:

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Oxford English Dictionary:
emotion
• noun 1 a strong feeling, such as joy or anger. 2 instinctive feeling as distinguished from reasoning or knowledge.

Is stress a strong feeling, along the lines of joy or anger? Yes.

Is stress a instinctive feeling as distinguished from reasoning or knowledge? In the case of a Ball Python, stress is a instinctive feeling as distinguished from reason. Such reasons may be due inadequate husbandry or housing. So yes.

Therefore: Stress is an emotion according to the definition of the Oxford English Dictionary.

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Originally Posted by zhang317

Oxford English Dictionary:
emotion
• noun 1 a strong feeling, such as joy or anger. 2 instinctive feeling as distinguished from reasoning or knowledge.

Is stress a strong feeling, along the lines of joy or anger? Yes.

Is stress a instinctive feeling as distinguished from reasoning or knowledge? In the case of a Ball Python, stress is a instinctive feeling as distinguished from reason. Such reasons may be due inadequate husbandry or housing. So yes.

Therefore: Stress is an emotion according to the definition of the Oxford English Dictionary.

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Haha, nice one there only posting half of the accepted definition for stress. Now go back and read the unabridged version and post it. :gj:

EDIT:

I feel I should clarify a little, to avoid further confusion. When people discuss "stress" in regards to BP's, they are often using it as a general term for "distress"; as opposed to eustress. So I would start your search there. ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by littleindiangirl

Haha, nice one there only posting half of the accepted definition for stress. Now go back and read the unabridged version and post it. :gj:

EDIT:

I feel I should clarify a little, to avoid further confusion. When people discuss "stress" in regards to BP's, they are often using it as a general term for "distress"; as opposed to eustress. So I would start your search there. ;)

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you win!

of course they have emotions, anger is an emotion and i've had a angry snake on my hands before!! yesterday i put a rat in for dinner with my boa, he was about to shed and didnt want nothing to do with the rat, the rat put its paw on him and he went crazy!! puffing up and hissing like mad, even after i took the rat out he was pissed for about 10 mins, i don't know about you but a boa's hiss is creepy to the core for some reason to me

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Originally Posted by jeffjr464

of course they have emotions, anger is an emotion and i've had a angry snake on my hands before!! yesterday i put a rat in for dinner with my boa, he was about to shed and didnt want nothing to do with the rat, the rat put its paw on him and he went crazy!! puffing up and hissing like mad, even after i took the rat out he was pissed for about 10 mins, i don't know about you but a boa's hiss is creepy to the core for some reason to me

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Do you really believe a snake feels anger as you feel it? That could mean that a snake would involve higher comprehension and reasoning akin to mammals and avian. I do not believe this is the case and we should completely avoid anthropomorphizing snakes and other animals.

Could the snake have been upset and distressed by your intrusion because it felt vulnerable? Then feeling vulnerable and under duress it can certainly defend itself?

That follows the simple logic of snakes can feel secure, or insecure; fight, or flight.

Avoiding putting human emotions such as anger on an animal that does not have those higher thought processes and reasoning skills.

so isnt being upset an emotion? i believe it is, i think all snakes show emotion to some degree i agree they aren't as complex as our emotions, but they are still emotion

Love can have many meanings. To a snake, it may mean "feels secure, prefers, and enjoys" the object or person.

I recently posted a thread which I think stated my BRB "Loves" or "Is loving" his new humid hide. I also believe I said he was "Happy" in the title of it, though I cannot recall now without looking.

I think it's true... ;) So what? It's how I relate to my pets.

I believe that snakes and most every otheir animals experince emotion, but in a much more primitive way. For example I would say my snake loves its hide, however a more correct statement would be like my snake needs it's hide to satisfy the instinctual need for shelter. They most definetly have emotions, just on a diffrent level then ours. I feel that they can become attached to a reliable object or thing such as a always safe hide or the presence of a nondangerous animal

I think there is some confusion as to what emotions actually are. Some folks appear to mix them up with sensations. Stress is a physiological response--not an emotion or even a sensation. We can say we feel stressed, but what we really mean is that we are feeling sensations associated with that physiological response--the side effects. We dislike those sensations, so emotionally we are simply unhappy.

Reptiles do possess the areas of the brain necessary to experience primitive emotion, and this should really end the argument--science does win this one. Some of those primitive emotions include happiness, unhappiness, fear, anger, and curiosity. Emotions are the driving force that leads higher animals to engage in both instinctive, and more especially learned, behavior. Emotions are accompanied by cocktails of brain chemicals which cause physiological responses and trigger various behaviors. Reptiles are evolved enough to be more than instinct-driven automatons.

The purpose for emotions is obvious if you examine them closely--curiousity, for example, is an emotion that leads an animal to seek out novel situations and experiences. It is necessary to balance it with the fear of novel situations that can also be a survival trait. Animals that don't seek novel experiences must stumble upon food, shelter, and mates rather than searching for them more purposefully. A praying mantis wanders rather aimlessly until it happens upon an insect--a snake roams its home territory, but pokes into new areas such as a shed or attic in search of prey. Sophisticated behavior like that requires a balance between caution (mild fear) and curiousity--seeking out too much novelty is detrimental, and an animal's inherent personality and experiences work together to determine how much exploring it does--the winners find the best balance for their area, and survive.

Love is generally considered to be affection for others--this only occurs in social species, and snakes are not social. Snakes cannot love. They can feel happiness, but not love. To find the real emotion of love, with all of its accompanying physiological changes (such as the release of oxytocin), you must look only to social higher animals--animals that have a society. What's more, they must be species that form bonds to other individuals, such as mating pairs or friendships. Humans are highly adaptable, so are capable of loving things that in most of nature would be inappropriate...such as members of other species, or even inanimate objects. We personify them. This is rare in species other than great apes, though it has been documented on rare occasions (such as the lion that adopted and attempted to care for a wildebeest calf--to the calf's detriment).

Snakes never care for one another, and never form bonds with one another. The only interest they have in one another is to determine dominance, or mate. A few species congregate for hibernation. That's pretty much it. Because they do not care for one another, it would be rather silly to think they would care for us. But we do not need them to return our affection, nor should we try to demand it--they are beautiful the way they are, and should be appreciated for their differences.

Well, first of all of I think it is necessary to have the definition of "love" before deciding if something is capable of it. I busted out my Webster's, and one of the definitions is : love- "a strong enthusiasm or liking." So, if a snake has a strong enthusiasm for eating rats, or a strong liking for a certain hide over all the other hides in his tub, couldn't you technically say it loves them? At the same token, if a snake has a strong enthusiasm or liking for a certain human person, or going outside in the grass, or breeding with some snakes but not others, coauldn't you apply love in just the same sense? However, Webster's also has several other definitions for love, such as :1. a profoundly tender, passionate affection for a person, and 2.an intense personal attachment or affection. I personally think that yes, some snakes prefer some human persons over others, and can have a strong liking for some people and things, as compared to other people and things. So, depending upon which definition is applied, you could in a sense,techinically say, yes. But, in the other sense, I don't think that snakes are capablle of showing affection the way we do, and for the most part we are anthropomorphosizing(sp?) them. However, I believe all animals, including snakes, are beings. And there are some extraordinary animals, which have that "extra special something else" that others of the same just don't have. But then we start getting into philosophy,spirituality, religion, and people's beliefs and such....and that my friends, is an entirely different subject all together. ;)
Just my :twocents:

Does it really matter if a snake feels love or is capable of the act of feeling love? We're humans, we're not snakes. We'll never be able to understand the life experience of a being so different from ourselves but in the end does it really even matter? So we sometimes use human words to describe an reaction in a snake - what of it? We are humans, we therefore use human descriptive terms. What else would we use?

As long as it does not go to the point where we disrespect the snake by imposing human emotions on a creature that quite honestly has no use of them, well I have no issue with it. As long as we respect their difference understanding in the end just how little we really do know about them and strive to keep our muddy and oft confused emotional lives out of their simple and beautiful lives, well I think we and our snakes do just fine together. :)

Science has done a lot more to explain what love is in recent years than a dictionary definition would indicate. Love is accompanied by activation of specific areas of the brain, and specific chemical responses. We understand it better now than we ever have before, even if it is still unpredictable and we have no idea what triggers it.

I don't think love is involved simply in having preferences. For a snake, pheromones, scent, and body language are far more likely to be involved in selecting a mate--lust, not love.

Preference for people may be due to a familiar scent that the snake has learned is safe, and that individual's body language and way of moving. Being more comfortable with one person than another is also not love. I think it is a mistake to believe that any snake actually enjoys being handled by any person--much more likely, there are simply degrees in how much the snake minds it. Fall asleep, and snake will creep away under the furniture without a backward tongue flick.

Note: That's also why I didn't answer this poll.
Snakes are capable of a variety of emotions, it's just that love isn't one of them. So none of the poll choices are accurate.

well I marked "of course he loves me....he gives me snakey kisses"....mainly because that was the funniest phrase I have ever seen.......sorry. :rolleyes:
And the fact that my normal loves to try to get in my ear...weirdo

Ok....do I think they love....hmmmmm.....I think they learn to feel trust. Hence we percieve that as love. Do they feel anger...sure....ummmm who has been bitten due to not wanting to be touched? Do they feel scared or stressed....sure...take a look at my bee sometimes. He is the biggest scardey cat I have ever seen.

On the other side of the coin is my normal which is really anything but normal. She wants to hang out of the cage all the time. Will wander around the house and then come back to you. She won't go too far from you and will keep checking to make sure you are in the same spot. Now is this love.....I would like to think so but in reality I think it is a sense of security and trust. (and yes I keep an eye on her as to not get away)

Ok...so now you have my newbie 2 cents....woohoooo

I wanted to vote the "duh" answer but I went with a logical answer lol

I voted that they have preference.....but I do love snake kisses!!! hahaha

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Originally Posted by Kaorte

Love is a human emotion though. Can you say that a snake actually loves its hide box? Yes it feels secure there, but can it actually love it?

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How can you say love is just a human emotion ? I would not agree with you there !

I'm not sure if snakes are capable of love but I am pretty sure they have preferences.. My snake Jewels prefers me to handle her and my husbands snake Diamond prefers him to handle him. If we handle each others snakes they tend to crawl to the original owner. I know I LOVE my snake though!

They love food, pee'n and poop'n, and having orgy's. Hey they love as much as humans.

Without a limbic system snakes cannot love. They are a bundle of nerve responses (... alright so are we but we're a lot more complex)

They have their requirements: Food, water, shelter, warmth. They have their reactions: Startle, attack, consume, etc.

If you damage the limbic system of a monkey it will cease to recognise that there are other monkeys around it who have needs. If it sees food it will just take it from the other one, if it has to go to the bathroom it will where it stands, etc. They only recognize the presence of predators, anything else they treat like background scenery.

Thats all reptiles are.

good poll... hard to say, but i defiantly see very distinctive traits and all have various personalities..