Most doctile snakes? I think not.

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

I would not worry about the hissing, that's just a bluff, a little sigh to let you know his/her discomfort. Some of them, like my little banded nightmare, seem to never want to grow out of being an evil psychotic little snake no matter how you try. It doesn't bother me at all but it does urk many people, ESPECIALLY those who have just a snake or two intended as pets to be interacted with and handled regularly. Trust me, when I got my first snake, my cali king, I was not happy about the fact that his first instinct, being the glutton he was, was to try and eat me with all of his might. 7 years later, he still has not completely outgrown the urge to occasionally swallow a finger, or wrap around my wrist and try to kill it. But he's sweet, and I love him anyway.

In order to be successful at "taming" your snake, its best if you look at it while separating yourself from your emotional attachment to it. What I mean by that is, sometimes people tend to forget that snakes don't have emotional feelings, they do not "enjoy" our company, and they don't love us, or each other for that matter. They couldn't care less about us, except for the fact that they know we provide the food. To them, we are nothing more than a big, scary, stomping creature that COULD make them the next meal. They don't like being petted, They don't cuddle, when you pet them they don't understand what petting is, to them it's just some really annoying rubbing or tapping by some large potential predator (you or me). Instead of focusing on getting your snake to "like" you, like you would a dog or a cat, you have to instead attempt to get him to tolerate you. That is what snakes do, they tolerate us. maybe even accept our presence, only after being conditioned to understand that we benefit them (by providing food) as opposed to their instinct, which is that we are a potential predator. That's why when baby snakes hatch, they are often incredibly defensive and shy but soon lose it after a few feedings. They no longer fear you. They are creatures of pure instinct that react to stimuli, and while it's fun to add anthropomorphic feelings when we talk about our snakes and even while we interact with them, to be successful at keeping and understanding them completely we have to separate ourselves from that for the benefit (and mental and physical health) of the snakes.

I hope my rambling made some bit of sense... it does to me, but sometimes I get carried away and people misinterpret my ideas