A snake's ability to recognize or bond with it's owner?

I am happily owned by 2 ball pythons. I love them dearly and have often wondered about a snake's ability to recognize or bond with it's owner. I've seen signs personally with my snakes that seem to say yes, they can. I'd love to hear stories of people getting love back from their snakes. Or, if you don't think that they can, write about that too. All views are welcome. And any experiences you've had with your snakes is greatly appreciated :)

I don't think it's possible for them to "bond." They are very simple animals. If anything, I think they can MAYBE decipher a "safe smell" and an "unsafe smell" that somehow links them to a bad experience. They know how to hunt & defend themselves. That's about all, in my opinion at least. I love all my babies just the same, don't get me wrong, but they aren't like dogs or birds that do bond.

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Originally Posted by M&NSnakeDen

I don't think it's possible for them to "bond." They are very simple animals. If anything, I think they can MAYBE decipher a "safe smell" and an "unsafe smell" that somehow links them to a bad experience. They know how to hunt & defend themselves. That's about all, in my opinion at least. I love all my babies just the same, don't get me wrong, but they aren't like dogs or birds that do bond.

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Well said.

I'm sure they can link smells with a threat or non threat but that would be about all. A snake doesn't have emotions and as much as we all want to believe that our snake loves us, it's just impossible. That's like people think that they enjoy handling, when it's that they tolerate it and more so enjoy the heat our body gives off.

My friend had a African Rock that only HE could take out of the cage, if anyone else tried he would go crazy And strike at you or the side of the cage while you opened it, if my friend opened it he was perfectly fine and maybe hissed... Once out he was puppy dog tame for anyone but getting him out... Yeah no...

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Originally Posted by zeion97

My friend had a African Rock that only HE could take out of the cage, if anyone else tried he would go crazy And strike at you or the side of the cage while you opened it, if my friend opened it he was perfectly fine and maybe hissed... Once out he was puppy dog tame for anyone but getting him out... Yeah no...

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Well that could be linked to the snake knowing his scent versus an unknown smell. I think he overdid the story a bit though.

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Originally Posted by Neal

Well that could be linked to the snake knowing his scent versus an unknown smell. I think he overdid the story a bit though.

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I actually agreed with the scent part but took it out..lol. And it wasn't a story. I witnessed it quite a few times. He also tore up my arm quite a few times. Lol

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Originally Posted by zeion97

I actually agreed with the scent part but took it out..lol. And it wasn't a story. I witnessed it quite a few times. He also tore up my arm quite a few times. Lol

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I mean the puppy dog tame thing is a stretch. Not that it's okay with him and not with you. That's mainly because of the smell. No snake is puppy dog tame though :p.

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Originally Posted by Neal

I mean the puppy dog tame thing is a stretch. Not that it's okay with him and not with you. That's mainly because of the smell. No snake is puppy dog tame though :p.

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Oh fine! :rolleyes: lol

My corn snake is very defensive around new people, but 100% fine with me. There is no bond between snake and human, though. They recognize smell. They know two types of interaction. Prey and predator. We aren't prey or predator, so I think they think of us as more of just objects or something. They don't necessarily like us, but they don't necessarily mind us. Just my opinion.

From what I understand, ball pythons and most reptiles have brains that function solely in survival mode. They don't have the brain structure for emotion. But part of the survival process is adapting and recognizing safety from potential danger. Do I think snakes can recognize their owners and associate a trust with them? I think it's entirely possible, but I doubt very highly that any snake develops feeling of love or admiration for anything.

For my boas I don't think there's any emotion, they just know who brings the rats.

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Originally Posted by decensored

From what I understand, ball pythons and most reptiles have brains that function solely in survival mode. They don't have the brain structure for emotion. But part of the survival process is adapting and recognizing safety from potential danger. Do I think snakes can recognize their owners and associate a trust with them? I think it's entirely possible, but I doubt very highly that any snake develops feeling of love or admiration for anything.

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Do snake operate like dogs in a sense of reacting to energy and not just smell? For instance, I had my bp out, he's still very little maybe, 5 feedings or 6, and everything was fine until my dog came along and sat at my feet with his tail wagging excited to see what I was playing with. The dog was about 7 feet away from the snake but he snapped at my hand. So I suppose I'm wondering if he snapped because of the dogs scent or if it was because the dog was a little over excited. If its the former Ill just have to make sure I keep the dog out of the way when handling Shamo. If it's the latter I just have to keep him calm.

They don't bond to you. Who's ever had a snake escape to come find their owner because they 'loved" their owner?

They learn their owner is not going to eat them, so they are more relaxed with them.

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I think what everyone has said here is true. Hey, I'll take it as a complete compliment if my snake shows that he feels safe with me <3

Some species of pythons definitely can recognize their owners. I think in general, older BPs who have been raised with the keeper trying to keep them stress free probably are not afraid of humans. I'm pretty sure most animals are capable of distinguishing prey species and predator species.

Larger pythons, most specifically P. reticulatus do have some level of intelligence. They can be hook trained and can learn different associative behaviors.

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Originally Posted by TheDragonSteps

Hey, I'll take it as a complete compliment if my snake shows that he feels safe with me <3

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Her feeling safe was my goal when I brought my Ball Python home. She is now relaxed with me and knows that I'm not here to harm her. I do not believe that she loves me, but I do consider the trust formed between us to be something similar to a bond.

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Originally Posted by bcr229

For my boas I don't think there's any emotion, they just know who brings the rats.

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hahaha

Hey all in all, I think that associating you with safety and food is a form of love? Recognizing me as a positive in its life is all could really hope for from a python haha.

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Hey all in all, I think that associating you with safety and food is a form of love? Recognizing me as a positive in its life is all could really hope for from a python haha.

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Originally Posted by devonascended

Hey all in all, I think that associating you with safety and food is a form of love? Recognizing me as a positive in its life is all could really hope for from a python haha.

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More like cupboard love than love...

Hey guys, I just want to say that I'm usually against reviving dead threads, but this one peaked my interested because while I was searching on google, this 2 year old thread was one of first ones that popped up, and I believe that I can contribute. I apologize in advance and I don't plan to make this a habit.

My roommate is a 13 year old California Kingsnake, and while I am well aware of his inability to express any love or affection, we do have a "bond" so to speak, and he is very much my companion. He is very content with his home, and has no desire to "escape", but from time to time has a desire to explore. I can leave the top of his cage wide open for hours on end and there is a high probability that he won't be interested in leaving. While he is in his King's Dominion (his name is Domino, he was very black and white as a little one), he gets stressed when anybody other than me enters his Kingdom, and while he has immediate access to a half log and a clean paper towel tube, he has almost no desire of hiding.

Whenever I pick him up, there is never any fuss. When I set him down anywhere, he just sits there and smells for a few minutes before he starts exploring at an extremely slow speed. While I'm cleaning his tank while he is home, he is never bothered by me, or the vibrations that I make and rarely acknowledges me unless he is touched. As far as this "bond" thing goes, while I am handling him, he does get stressed until I am fully supporting his body and I physically wrap him around my arm (after 13 years he still hasn't gotten used to wrapping around me himself) and start petting him. whenever he starts moving, and I then pet him, he almost immediately calms down and becomes content. I also hand feed him with little to no trouble. He is fired up during feeding, but as soon as I pick him up and place him on my arm (only to move him from his feeding container back to his home), more often than not, he loses his desire to have me for lunch! Because he is a king, he does confuse my fingers as a snack from time to time, but its rare and seems to be a "spur of the moment" kind of thing, and when I unlatch him from my hand and tempt him to bite again, he has never showed any interest in pursuing the potential snack.

Well I wouldn't exactly call this bonding, but my snake loves my brother. She acts differently with him than with me. She likes us both, as I can tell she is comfortable when I hokd her, but when she smells my brother she almost gets excited if that makes sense? This isn't proof of bonding, just my experience.

This thread is like 4 years old.

This thread is balogna. Snakes do bond. I once went surfing with my Royal and ended cutting my foot on dinosaur shells. Since he had no legs, he couldn't swim me back in, so we laid around on the board talking about hot girls until the dolphins came to help out.

I don't think that snakes (or pretty much any other animal) can feel "love", but I think they can feel and express pleasure to some degree, which is an emotion, just as fear and anger. When I am holding my snakes I feel like they are content and if anything, they probably get pleasure from my body warmth. Whether or not stroking and petting them truly brings them any pleasure, who knows? But, I would say that it at least seems to add to their contentment, calmness and overall feeling of safety and tranquility. I would go as far as to say that they seem to actually enjoy being held and being given the freedom to crawl around and explore and observe all of the surroundings.

It is my understanding that snakes possess the ability to learn, associate and remember patterned behaviors with things such as hook training, which they do in fact, seem to do. So, if that is true, I don't see any reason why they wouldn't be able to remember and associate us with other repetitive things we do, which brings them whatever degree of pleasure. I have seen videos on Youtube, where a guy will pull his Blood Python's tub out and the snake will crawl up out of the tub and just sit there letting him pet his head as if to greet him and then the snake will crawl right out into his arms. That at least "seems" to demonstrate some level of associated behavior and pleasure.

If it is at all possible to form any sort of actual "bond" with snakes, I definitely don't think that snake keepers/breeders with walls and walls of racks full of snakes that get very little (if any) human interaction are gong to be able to develop any level of "bonding", because there isn't enough hours in the day to spend that kind of time with each animal. Also, venomous snakes are obviously programmed A LOT differently and have much different temperaments than non-venomous snakes. I can't say that I have ever seen a tame captive bred Rattlesnake or Cobra...

Who cares how old this thread is??? I think it is a very fascinating topic. I would love to see some actual scientific studies done on this subject...