Are ball pythons a domesticated species?

[_Venom_]

Not talking about basemorphs.

My smiley faces are upside down!!!

[womensitdown]

If you want to get technical, cats arent domestic either. They have reasoning skills, and they are smart, thats why they come back where its easy to get food, They know how they are treated and whats "home".

I think it's in the eyes of the beholder. I read this whole thread last night and I still think snakes are wild and cats and dogs (although descendants of wild animals) are domestic, and even though there are a lot of good points (along with lots of B.S. that doesn't really have anything to do with anything) my minds not changed.

[Neal]

Yes it is the eye of the beholder, but neither of the 3 are domesticated species, they are tame, docile, and cats & dogs are smarter then snakes, which is why people think that they are domesticated.

[womensitdown]

Yes it is the eye of the beholder, but neither of the 3 are domesticated species, they are tame, docile, and cats & dogs are smarter then snakes, which is why people think that they are domesticated.

Well that makes a lot of sense to me. I guess I just figure that different breeds of cats and dogs aren't found in the wild, they are not wild, but I see what your gettin at.

[Neal]

Because they were human-portrayed, meaning we focused on making certain breeds of cats and dogs, by pinpointing traits, and breeding towards those traits, just as the same with snakes, certain morphs arent found in the wild, because 2 snakes we breed may not ever cross paths during the proper time, they may not win the female if more then 1 male is competing. It's all because we inverveined.

[blackcrystal22]

Because they were human-portrayed, meaning we focused on making certain breeds of cats and dogs, by pinpointing traits, and breeding towards those traits, just as the same with snakes, certain morphs arent found in the wild, because 2 snakes we breed may not ever cross paths during the proper time, they may not win the female if more then 1 male is competing. It's all because we inverveined.

If cats and dogs aren't domesticated, then tell me what animal is?

Every definition fits cats and dogs, but not snakes.

[azpythons]

If cats and dogs aren't domesticated, then tell me what animal is?

Every definition fits cats and dogs, but not snakes.

a monkey.

[azpythons]

So if you find a couple of baby foxes, they are domestic if you care for them feed them and breed them in your basement?

um...yea.

[blackcrystal22]

a monkey.

Neal, you are acting as if domestication does not exist, because cats and dogs, horses, pigs, and cows are the roots of domestication.

Didn't you ever read Animal Farm?

do⋅mes⋅ti⋅cate
   /dəˈmɛstɪˌkeɪt/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [duh-mes-ti-keyt] Show IPA verb, -cat⋅ed, -cat⋅ing.
–verb (used with object)
1. to convert (animals, plants, etc.) to domestic uses; tame.
2. to tame (an animal), esp. by generations of breeding, to live in close association with human beings as a pet or work animal and usually creating a dependency so that the animal loses its ability to live in the wild.
3. to adapt (a plant) so as to be cultivated by and beneficial to human beings.
4. to accustom to household life or affairs.
5. to take (something foreign, unfamiliar, etc.) for one's own use or purposes; adopt.
6. to make more ordinary, familiar, acceptable, or the like: to domesticate radical ideas.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/domestication

Corn is a domesticated plant, and so are most of the fruits and vegetables that you eat. Those did not exist the same way before human beings did something to change it.

In my eyes, this definition explains that the animal or plant had to exist (as a species) because of human beings.

House cats have become their own species, yes some have been released, but they were created by humans.
How many milk cows and draft horses do you see in the wild?
How many poodle dogs do you see running around upper Canada and Alaska with the wolves and coyotes?

How many ball pythons do you see in the wild?

[Ginevive]

I vote no. Simply because, no one has, through the centuries, bred ball pythons to benefit the human race, taking into consideration the stock's temperament, suitability to a job, etc. Horses.. dogs.. they have been shaped and formed, through years of selective breeding, into what humans want. Muscular, cow-savvy quarter horses for cowboys. Sheep-savvy herding dogs. Poultry too is domesticated in my eyes; breeds such as the Rhode Island Red were developed with purposes in mind; some lines were bred for their table palatability; some for their astounding eggs; some, even multi-purpose birds.
My chickens are pretty wild; they return to the barn at night, and know where their food is; that is it. But they're not wild; they were shaped and formed by years of human selection in their breeding. Humans terrify them for no reason other than they were not coddled since hatching. So, no.. tame-ness is not how I judge an animal's domesticity. There are "wild" (feral) individual domestic animals (just check out some Thoroughbred race horses! But that's another post; aesthetics and athleticism before temperament.. not judging, just saying.) And "tame" human-imprinted native animals.
Long story short; in my book, a domestic animal's behavior, body type, etc. being molded through humans for centuries, makes it domesticated. And yes, its ability to recognise human benefit in its (the animal's) life also; I don't see BPs ever doing this. Sure, they might bear a resemblance to people's breeding fish and other animals, for color alone.. but fish IMO are also not domesticated. It's a slippery slope though! People could argue, that, well, you can teach a fish to come to the top of the tank to eat.. but still. Either I am making sense, or you'll quote me on it!