I think my snake loves me

[Neal]

I did alot of studying and researching into this matter, and i've talked to alot of people well qualified in this field.

Yes - Snakes do lack the part of the brain that shows affection, but some handicapped people also lack that same part of the brain, and are still able to show affection.

Meaning - People/Animals learn from interactions, what to trust/not trust. Look at it from everybodys point of view before you down them. Snakes learn to trust you overtime through periodic handling, and showing them that you will cause no harm to them, So why can't they learn to show affection in their "own" way?

Yes - I believe snakes don't show "affection" as you would call it, but they have senses that can sense fear, aswell as other emotions, that is evident, so in theory when you're upset or at the bottom of the rope. Yes, I do believe snakes sense somethings wrong, and in their "own" way show a bit of affection. Alot of what people call affection they just see something their snake does, and trys to match it with affection.

Off subject - That's like dogs for instance, literally they cannot show affection. But wait how can that be? My dog rubs his nose on me, paws always wanting to be pet, that's not actually affection, its your dog being dominate, space is gold in the dog world. Now I do believe dogs can learn just as well as some other animals, they have several reported stories of when a Pet owner dies, his animal died a few days/weeks later, or if you have 2 animals that are close to each other, when 1 dies, the other one follows. Animals learn just like we humans do, but alot of what we percieve to be affection isnt.

[Typical_08]

My dog rubs his nose on me, paws always wanting to be pet, that's not actually affection, its your dog being dominate[/quote]

Not exactly. It depends on what the rest of their body is doing during the action.

Showing dominance is not just one singular act. In one case pawing can actually be showing subservience, but the same action with a slightly different body posture can be dominance.

[_Venom_]

How come I never see any new posts????
All I see is Typical's post where he talks about his dog.

[dr del]

Hi,

When people vote in the poll at the top of these threads the forum software treats it exactly the same as it would a new post and bumps the thread to the top of the list.

There doesn't seem to be any way of stopping it AFAIK.


dr del

[TheOtherLeadingBrand]

I think snakes are not capable of "love" the way humans like to imagine it.

But, I think all animals are inherently self serving (including humans) and that's okay! It's the secret to a well trained dog for sure... (ie, dogs do what works in their worlds to get what they want). I am a big time dog nut... and dominance is definitely NOT what dogs are all about. It's but a small aspect of their complex personalities.

At any rate, I think snakes can certainly experience fear, pleasure, and other basic feelings. I have ten of them, and they have personalities- or if you can't deal with that term, they each have their own special quirks and preferences. Some climb, some do not. Some hide, some prefer to soak. Some are active and curious, some are lazy and chill. One is aggressive, the rest are not.

I'm not positive they recognize us, though I would think it is possible, since we have a unique scent.

I voted no, but I don't think snakes are completely, literally mindless.

Even my fish have personality quirks and are "trained" and come to the top when they see me as opposed to my DH because I feed them. Love? No. But still proof they have brains and deserve compassion and care.

[nicktreb]

I sometimes wonder if humans are actually capable of "love" or if love even excist.. seems like make believe to me. I know what it feels like to like someone ALOT.

[Crazy4Herps]

I'm on the fence about this. I think that some BPs learn to enjoy being taken out of the enclosure and handled by people who treat them well and don't hurt them. I think that BPs can definitely remember individual people. I think that if a someone (a child, maybe) who has handled the snake roughly in the past tries to handle the snake again, the snake will remember and try to get away. Also, I think that with someone (i.e. the snake's primary owner) who has handled the snake on a regular basis, supports its body, doesn't move quickly, and has never hurt the snake, the snake will be much more relaxed.



In short, I don't think that snakes can "bond" with people, but they can learn to enjoy being with people whom they trust (people who treat them well). Anyways, instead of saying all that, I just tell people that my snakes love me. (Thinking about pissy-pants Sangre loving anything makes me laugh )

[Crazy4Herps]

I know my snake doesn't care. It does not feel emotions

I do not agree with this. I don't think that snakes can "bond", but I do believe they can feel emotions. As I said above, trust is an emotion. I think that my snakes would *care* if I died, not because they would miss me, but because they would much rather be handled by me, who they trust, than by anybody else.

[TheOtherLeadingBrand]

It actually upsets me that anyone with live animals would think they have literally NO EMOTIONS AT ALL (fear, contentment, the state of being annoyed- those *are* emotions, and recognizing that your animals experience at least those basic emotions does not mean you think your snakes love you).

[_Venom_]

Those aren't emotions.
Just reaction to stimuli