Do snakes feel emotions and/or love?

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Originally Posted by dryates

funny i just commented on another one of these, but honestly have any of you had a conversation with a snake, not to be rude but don't burst someones bubble just because u think they can or can have emotions, seriously, how do you know dogs have emotions, just because they like to be petted doesn't necessarily mean they feel emotion, or does it, it would seem they do because they keep letting you do it, maybe snakes do like to be held maybe they don't, maybe it just takes domesticating them for them to tolerate it, just like dogs, when they were wild, they wouldn't have thought twice at attacking you, until one day someone fed it, gave it water, kept feeding it, up until today when they are a socially acceptable animal. Don't reem me for this, but it is just how i feel on the subject, people are gonna think what they want no matter what I say you say or anyone else. It is my own experience that people don't like change especially the way they think, but it is possible with time.

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Well, how do you know they don't? Did you have a conversation with your dog, who let you in on the secret that snakes don't have emotions?
So what if they dont? Do you need to go around telling everybody who likes to think their pet snake loves them, that it is physically, mentally incapable?
That's not very nice--though it may be truthful, in a sense (we don't REALLY know that they can't sense feelings, do we? chemicals and such?) you don't HAVE to go around telling everybody that. :(
I like to think my snakes recognize and like me. They probably don't, but...you get my point. :oops:

I think u misunderstood me I was getting that if u want to think ur snake loves u then go ahead an if u don't think they have emotions then fine, but all I was saying that it is pointless to argue about it because there is no way to know if they do or don't, sorry if u mistook that, I would like to think my animals love me honestly but who knows, btw I don't own a dog 4 snakes and a Congo Africa grey, I was just trying to make a point

So I just re thought and maybe you were agreeing with me, but if u didn't get what I was saying then use the above post

I was agreeing with you in some ways and just reaffirming that there is no point in arguing :) I think it's a wise decision for myself, anyway, to not argue it.

What is love?
Baby don't hurt me
Don't hurt me
No more
Baby don't hurt me
Don't hurt me
No more
What is love?
Yeah

Well, we only have so many months till next years Valentine's day... what's a good snake present?:P

None of us, despite what some of you may think, will ever know definitively whether or not snakes feel any sort of emotion.

Sometimes, I do wonder if they can tell the difference between the scent of each human, which may help them gauge the threat level. I notice that my snake seems relaxed and comfortable when I hold him and he even seems to really like being held. But, when my boyfriend's sister holds him (she doesn't hold him often), he balls up first and when he comes out, he'll constantly crawl around looking for a place to hide. I've wondered if he recognizes my scent as a "trusted" scent and because he's not used to her, maybe it makes him skittish. I don't really know, but that would be cool to find out.

I don't really know and I don't really care if they feel emotions or not. I don't need that in an animal. If I wanted an animal that would show emotion, I'd get a dog or a cat. I don't need my snakes to love me to make me love them in return. As long as they're healthy, eating, pooping, and shedding properly, I'm happy. I consider that their way of showing me love. :)

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Originally Posted by Bones

I don't need my snakes to love me to make me love them in return. As long as they're healthy, eating, pooping, and shedding properly, I'm happy. I consider that their way of showing me love. :)

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Well said :gj:

I do not believe Snakes have emotions or can feel love. I'm repeating what other people have said when I say that they are not a social animal, so they don't have to care about other living things to survive; in the wild they're independent. Reptiles are very unlike mammal pets like cats, dogs, ferrets, sugar gliders, etc.

But I don't see anything wrong with anthropomorphizing your snakes so that you can bond with them better or make your experience with your pet better. When I see my snake, I'd rather look at it as if it was like a person and could form bonds with people, instead of as a cold-blooded, anti-social creature.

Obviously we are already vastly different so it's irratating to see people say they know something like that. If something is there it's not the same as us but it doesn't automatically mean there's nothing. Same with somebody who thinks their snake loves them...

I think that snakes do feel emotions, but not the same ones that we feel.

What purpose do emotions serve? On a basic level, they serve to further the survival of the individual and it's offspring.

Humans and wolves (I would include dogs, which are wolves that have been modified through selective breeding) are social creatures. Being a social creature is beneficial to the survival of some but not all species. The set of emotions that would serve the needs of a social creature are a different set than that which would serve a non-social creature. Loneliness, ferinstance. To an animal whose survivability is best served by being a member of a pack or tribe or whatnot, loneliness is valuable. It encourages that creature to seek the company of others of it's kind and increases the chance that they will be safe, obtain adequate food and shelter, and produce offspring of their own in some cases (human) or that their genetics will at least be passed down by a related individual. (wolf) In the case of dogs they transfer the emotions that they would naturally feel toward their pack to humans.

Loneliness is not a valuable asset in a solitary hunter such as a snake. This particular emotion would decrease the chances of survival--a bunch of snakes that all hung out together would not have much to eat because the bunch of them would scatter the prey they require to survive.

Fear serves both groups. A human or snake who does not fear a fire would get roasted in a natural setting if one breaks out. "Ho, hum, there is some smoke, oh, it's getting closer...look at the bright yellow things....meh...AAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!-- not having the emotion of fear would put either type of creature at a severe disadvantage in terms of survival and reproductive success. And it's telling to me that all animals, garden slug to human, seem to fear and flee from things that would are potentially harmful or life threatening.

Anger is another emotion that would seem to serve both types of creature. I've seen some snakes, and have one currently, that can get downright pissy. If something is trying to eat you and you're cool with that....well, you're not going to win any prizes in the reproductive success category. When a snake is striking it might not be apparant to you and me whether it's acting out of fear or anger. But something is motivating that animal to react in an offensive or defensive manner, and I'm pretty sure it's not because it read about how it's supposed to respond to a particular stimulus in the snake handbook. :)

Love is an emotion that is born from a value that is placed on someone or something else. We value our children--that is our key to reproductive success. We wouldn't survive long as a species if we didn't. But does a solitary hunter whose offspring hatch/are born able to fend for themselves need to value it's offspring to be reproductively successful? If it does it's not to the extent that a human who must spend years raising his/her offspring until they can provide for themselves would. But in some cases it might exist. A female python can spend time brooding and defending her eggs. I can't tell if she feels some sort of emotional attachment to the eggs or not. But it's possible that she does, and that would seem to be a feeling that would increase her reproductive success.

I don't believe that my snakes love me. I do know that of the ones I have owned each showed signs of fear and mistrust of me until they became desensitized to the possible threat I presented through a process of repeated handling. Personally I think that they place a much higher value on the rats I bear to their tubs than they do to me. This makes sense to me in terms of what would serve the needs of a solitary hunter.

So while it's possible that a snake does feel emotions and I think that they do feel some emotions, it seems to me that they wouldn't feel the same set of emotions that I do because of the huge difference in the way that each of our species goes about increasing our chances of individual survival and passing on our genes. Emotions can be a valuable survival tool and one that comes cheaply in terms of having to rustle up the resources to employ it. It makes sense to me that this survival strategy would be used in their kind as in ours.

Just my thoughts on it.