Snakes aren't really dumb but they arent the brightest creatures ever. they can learn basic stuff like when its feeding time, and tolerating being handled. Now, if they were dumb would they be able to adapt to living in captivity? They dont have the cereberal capacity to feel emotions such as love or anger and most of there actions are based on instinct (such as striking a keepers hand mistaking it for a prey item) but based on some reading I have done as of recent they can learn primitive feelings such as aggresion, fear, and pleasure. So they do have the capacity to learn and relate things to one another but not anything much further than that.