Yellow Anaconda update

[Gooseman]

as for letting the snake sleep outide the cage... be really careful, I know that you feel you are bonded with your snake, and it's great that your snake tolerates you so well, but snakes do not feel emotional bonds to either people or other snakes, and they don't cuddle, they have no understanding of anything emotional or sentimental. She may tolerate your petting and touching, but she doesn't "love" it, per say. So while it's nice that you love your snake so much, for it's health and safety, just please remember, it's a snake, and not a dog or a cat. She WILL at some point decide to wander off on you. She may only be staying close to you because you are so warm and being out of the cage for a prolonged period of time, means less time out of the controlled environment that it needs to be in for optimal health.

Couldn't have said it better myself!

[mumps]

The capabilities of snakes/reptiles' brains is, in my opinion, greatly misunderstood. I have seen countless forums where people say we can't compare reptiles to humans, and then back up any points they make by comparing a reptile's brain to a mammals'. Doesn't make sense to me.

Crocs eat their young.
Snakes do not care for their young after birth/hatching.
Snakes do not have the ability to recognize themselves as individuals.

The first two statements, believed for decades, have been proven wrong. The third statement I think is absolute hogwash, as my snakes react differently to people other than myself or my girlfriend, their regular handlers.

Not the topic of this thread, but I thought I would throw it in there.

And no, I don't think letting a snake roam free is a good idea, unless you are supervising it.

Chris

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

Snakes DO recognize themselves, and other snakes, in my opinion. keeping and breeding garter snakes, which are a rather social little snake, it's not that hard to see. I even have some groups where certain snakes tend to hang around each other and one or two of the others will be more of a loner. If you introduce a new garter that's not been around before they all sniff the heck out of it, follow it around, twitch heavily, and often will not bask with it right away, but if it's a snake they've met before, even if it was a few months ago, they are not nearly as interested. I have some that at feeding time, actually willingly make it their goal to steal another's piece of food rather than get a piece from me or the dish. One in particular, her name is Bluebie. And observing garters regularly in the wild, I can say that even in the wild, they seek to be near other garters, rather than alone. I have even seen them bask in a big pile when it's plenty warm enough not to worry about conserving heat and there is plenty of other basking area available. If I have a picky eating, or not eating one, I place it with others that are eating. They watch, and it's almost as if they get jealous and finally after a few minutes they will keep re-smelling the food and you can actually see them trying to mak the connection.. the others are eating this.... why shouldn't I? and then start snapping at the food as well. It's like monkey see monkey do. It's fascinating to me because so many people think snakes are incapable of that kind of behavior. So I would say that some snakes are definitely a LOT smarter, and conscious, than people think them to be. Not all of them, but definitely some. But they still don't have feelings and they definitely won't be sleeping outside their enclosures any time soon.

[Neal]

that's a nice snake. If you feed a HUGE meal every 3 days, I could see how that could put a lot of stress on the snake's body. but if you feed smaller meals, more often, you can get steadier, good solid growth, it won't hurt a baby, and once she's bigger, you can slow up a bit

as for letting the snake sleep outide the cage... be really careful, I know that you feel you are bonded with your snake, and it's great that your snake tolerates you so well, but snakes do not feel emotional bonds to either people or other snakes, and they don't cuddle, they have no understanding of anything emotional or sentimental. She may tolerate your petting and touching, but she doesn't "love" it, per say. So while it's nice that you love your snake so much, for it's health and safety, just please remember, it's a snake, and not a dog or a cat. She WILL at some point decide to wander off on you. She may only be staying close to you because you are so warm and being out of the cage for a prolonged period of time, means less time out of the controlled environment that it needs to be in for optimal health.

LOL I know. She's still a baby so its no big deal, it's not like she could really hurt me at all. I keep a close monitor on her though. I won't do it once she gets bigger, I want to say right now shes around 2 1/2 foot.