Is temperment genetic?

[Skiploder]

this is exactly what i think. thank you.

I dont have much experience with truly unfriendly snakes so i really cant say. All of my snakes are at least handle-able (even if im wearing long sleeves to handle them sometimes). And plus i've done no breeding yet so i have no concrete evidence either way.

I've never come across a snake that - with a little time, patience and effort - will become somewhat accepting of handling. It all comes down to how much time the keeper is willing to invest.

I have never had experience with a FRIENDLY snake. I've had experiences with snakes totally accustomed to handling, and I've had experience with snakes that have been raised to adulthood with very little interaction with humans. That still does not classify them as friendly or unfriendly - it classifies them as accustomed or not accustomed to being handled and restrained.

I can honestly say that all of the cribos I've ever produced and kept have been very handleable - so I guess I can make the argument that drys that I produced have excellent temperaments..right?

However some I've sold I have taken back because they bit or acted aggressively towards their keepers who became afraid of them. So does this mean that the temperament on my animals is subpar? No -with reptiles, while temperament varies from animal to animal, acclimation to handling is learned.

As for temperament being genetic in humans - I think that if you looked at studies over the years, the accepted amount of genetic influence on temperament is considered moderate.

I think what is accepted is that temperament is a combination of environment, sibling and parent relationships mixed with a healthy dollop of individuality, with just a dash of genetic predisposition thrown in.

Having more than one kid keys you in real quick as to how two parents with similar personality types can raise children with wildly different temperaments. Personality and environment influence temperament. Yes it can be argued that a child can be predisposed to aggression or anxiety for example. But how that child is taught to cope with this, how he or she is parented and the environment they are raised in ultimately determines their temperament.

With snakes I think that the genetic contribution is limited mainly to species type and the rest is environmental and/or learned via interaction with the keeper.