Are snakes that smart?

I took my snake to the vet and was very surpised to find out a couple of things: He's a she (which I'm not too happy about.. but i made Hisler's middle name Hersler to balance things out) and he/she knows who I am... I didn't think this was true because I read someone's post on here saying that the snake will never recognize different people. But the vet is a snake specialist and says that the snake knows people by smell and can distinguish who is who and who he feels comfortable with, does not like, etc. But this same vet also told me that the snake had a nerve disorder and when I got a second opinion from my friend's dad who is a vet for animals including snakes at Gatorland, he said that my snake doesn't have a nerve disorder, and that he's not sure that the whole thing about snakes knowing people is true... so confused lol so my question is WHO IS RIGHT? can a snake know its owner?

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Originally Posted by HisslersMommy

can a snake know its owner?

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A snake can certainly be less stressed around a person that it recognizes through frequent contact via smells and sounds.

-adam

I think so. Snakes have a very powerful sense of smell and it would be easy for them to distinguish people on that alone.

Whenever I feed my snakes, they are much more shy if I have a visitor with me. They are more comfortable when it is just me. I believe they know me and are calmer when there is no one else.

Even though Rick and I are still very new to snakes and have only had Carmen for 6 weeks and Cleo for um...3 months?, we both swear that Carmen is more comfortable with me and Cleo with him. =)

hmm, so i wonder why when they are shedding they strike at you if they can tell by your smell who you are? mine is shedding now and he didn't bite me but he was so nervous i felt bad and put him back... i know its not funny but i was reading that post about the shedding process and cracking up because those poor snakes must have been so mad lol and how did he get them to stay in those positions!?!?! mine woulda been like, "Believe that if you wanna!" and bounced...

Snakes are always more nervous when in shed; just leave them be until after they shed. =)

This is a pretty interesting subject to me actually. I would say from my limited experiences that snakes can definatly recognize different people through smell and maybe even heat signatures. They seem to be more relaxed around people they know. It would also be safe to say that they can count days, since they know when feeding day is. I wonder what else they are capable of? I was talking to adam the other day wondering if a snake had the option of moving to a place cold enough to kill it, would it? say for instance, snow or a freezer. And since cooler is more comfortable they would. but this isn't exactly their fault, they have no natural ability to know what too cold is, since they could never move to a place too cold for them in the wild. I guess theres really no way of giving snakes an intelligence test, but I would be interested on any info on just how smart they are.

You're not happy to have a female? Most people are thrilled to find out a male or unsexed BP is actually a female. Hope this issue with a nerve disorder is sorted out soon.

I guess I'll never know how smart a snake is but I think like all creatures that have been surviving a long, long time they instinctively know what is what. If our snakes are used to us, over time they will sense that we are not a predator so not a danger to them, we are not prey for them and our scent is not related to anything that caused them problems...I would expect they'd come to "know us". Some of our snakes are consistently less stressed/more comfortable with one particular person or the other (Saoirse is a good example of this).

I have always asserted that my snake Bill and a few others do recognize me. Bill prefers to be held by me, and rarely if ever will he actively climb onto anyone else but me. Maybe it is because he recognizes me and trusts me. Maybe it is because I smell like his bedding and rats more than most people.. I don't know. I prefer to think he recognizes me as someone who has never mistreated him.
Most people I know who dislike snakes refuse outright to believe that he has ANY sort of preferances. Of course they also think he is just bideing his time until he kills me. Silly people.
JMO
Wolfy

Yep gotta stay constantly vigilent for those marauding bands (errr flocks? slithers? packs? herd?) of Wolfy killin ball pythons! Horrid, scarey things they are! LOL Amazing how anyone could be scared of a BP. Of all our snakes they are seriously the most shy, laid back, basically lazy snakes in the house. Hmmm well unless they are tucked in those hides plotting the downfall of Mike and I??? Nah, mostly likely having nice rat filled snakey type dreams tucked up in their clean, cosy hides.....what a life! :)

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

LOL Amazing how anyone could be scared of a BP.

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Well, I'm still pretty cautious of my big snake that gave me a feeding bite and coil. Even now when I look at her, it seems like she's just waiting for me to let my guard down. :hungry:

I know what you mean, though. Usually I'm trying very hard to prevent them from flinching.

Today my female was curious enough to check if I was the one who got home. I guess the good sense of smell did it or maybe it was just curiousity.My male could care less who get's home.

LoL yea my mom calls me every day to tell me how crazy I am for having a snake and sends me emails on pet snakes that attack their owners (none of them are ball pythons) and if I don't answer her calls in the morning, she comes over at lunch and bangs on my door, afraid that the snake has escaped the cage, climbed up my bed, and strangled me!

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

You're not happy to have a female? Most people are thrilled to find out a male or unsexed BP is actually a female.

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But why would having a girl be better than having a boy? I like boy pets better I don't know why, plus we just got so used to calling her 'him' it's weird now.

Female BPs are very desirable and valuable for breeders.. they are considerably more expensive. They also grow larger.

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Originally Posted by xdeus

Well, I'm still pretty cautious of my big snake that gave me a feeding bite and coil. Even now when I look at her, it seems like she's just waiting for me to let my guard down. :hungry:

I know what you mean, though. Usually I'm trying very hard to prevent them from flinching.

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Well not to minimize the potential for a darned good bite from a good sized BP. I know when Brannagh was at her worst, she was a sight to see and she wasn't playing. An aggressive 2,200 gram female BP is a bit intimidating but to be scared of her......nah. I can't imagine what some of the really big female BP's are like if they are ticked off or don't want to come off their eggs. LOL

well does breeding play a factor in their value? because mine came from a flea market and thats ALL i know. she cost all of $100. she's healthy though. so how do you breed them, besides the obvious buying a male? lol new topic...

There's hundreds of threads on breeding BPs.. just do a search or browse through the BP breeding forum and you'll learn a lot.

A breeding age normal male BP is of minimal value.. females can be quite pricey.

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Originally Posted by frankykeno

Well not to minimize the potential for a darned good bite from a good sized BP. I know when Brannagh was at her worst, she was a sight to see and she wasn't playing. An aggressive 2,200 gram female BP is a bit intimidating but to be scared of her......nah. I can't imagine what some of the really big female BP's are like if they are ticked off or don't want to come off their eggs. LOL

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Yep, I can't wait for my first try at pulling a mama from her clutch. :O Even so, I think the worst Ball bite imaginable still wouldn't be THAT bad. It's funny, I'm probably the most calm around my BCI, yet he probably has the ability to inflict the most damage. I just know he's lulling me into a false sense of security for when he gets really big. :evileye:

I have an interesting tale about my little girl being fairly intelligent.

When I first bought her...maybe five months into having her, we'd bought some mice, and I kind of take to the little guys every once-in-a-while. Anyhoo. I picked one up, pet it, let it crawl on me for a bit and then I threw it in the tank. She wouldn't touch it. Both my boyfriend and I realized that it smelled like me. Stupid Mel. O_O You learn, right?

Another time, one of the mice had bitten me, and that was actually the first one she went after. Funny how that happens!