I think my snake loves me

[Jay_Bunny]

It's hard to say because if I was to put my snake on the table it would come towards me before it would someone els... I dont know if that would be affection or some time of comfort

The whole "my snake recognizes me so it must love me" argument is not a very strong one. I could argue that a snake recognizes your scent as something that is non-threatening. Much like if it were in the wild. It it smells or detects no threats in an area, it will seek out the most comfortable spot. In captivity it does the same thing. Your scent is something they associate with no threats. While they may not associate you as an individual person that they become attached to, they do understand that with your smell comes no threat of predation. You are also warm, which in a home that is sitting at room temperature (72), they are going to seek out something that is radiating heat to be close to. That is often why some snakes will prefer to stay on you rather than roam the room. You are warm and they sense no threats. This does not mean they love you. It just means you are a comfy, warm, rock which no predators around.

[sgath92]

It would be interesting to have a thread debating the opposite: Can a snake hate someone?

Sometimes a snake just can't seem to stand a specific person. Why does that happen? How is that possible if they're emotionless robots?

[zmd0827]

Yes, a snake can hate someone. A few other individuals on this site work with me on the Reptile Rescue team. A few weeks ago we picked up a redtail boa BCI.

It's been a while since he has moved locations. He still hates everyone. He hisses, throws a fit, and if you walk within visual range of him he strikes the glass or the mesh top. He got exceptionally upset with me for taking a picture of him.

Go figure.

[sgath92]

Everyone could make sense if a snake has been abused by humans and has learned to expect them to inflict pain.

But what if a snake reacted that way only towards some specific individual who had never done anything to "get off on the wrong foot"? If a snake hates one person for no apparent reason, and tolerates being around everyone else; surely something is responsible for the personality clash.

[nor_cal1980]

some of my snakes difinetly recognize me and can differentiate me from other people. one of my corn snakes who is very chill and tame when im holding him absolutely freaks out when i hand him to anyone else. bites poops pee's etc..then calms right down when i take him back....i dont think he loves me or feels emotion....i just think he has trust in me ( as much trust as an animal with a brain the size of a grain of rice can have) and feels safe when im holding him.

[nor_cal1980]

I cant believe 47 % of people really think there snakes love them....every action made by a snake is pure instinct. The only things they feel are the need to eat, reproduce, and feel secure.

[smd58]

i cant believe 47 % of people really think there snakes love them....every action made by a snake is pure instinct. The only things they feel are the need to eat, reproduce, and feel secure.

x2

[Jay_Bunny]

Everyone could make sense if a snake has been abused by humans and has learned to expect them to inflict pain.

But what if a snake reacted that way only towards some specific individual who had never done anything to "get off on the wrong foot"? If a snake hates one person for no apparent reason, and tolerates being around everyone else; surely something is responsible for the personality clash.

I have never seen a snake react differently toward a person. It could be a matter of if you are trying to hand an already stressed out snake (handling=stress) and hand them off to someone who is perhaps not as comfortable with snakes or smells of a predator (dog, cat, etc) then the snake might react defensively, but a snake isn't just going to start hissing and biting because "Hey, I don't like the way that dude looked at me. Take that, Hand!"

Snakes cannot hate. They can feel uncomfortable around someone who is less experienced in handling them. A nervous person is going to be a bit more rough and jerky, which causes the snake to stress out. If you were in a tree and suddenly the tree hands you off to a tree that kept shaking you or moving branches really close to your face, you'd be scared too.

This debate on whether or not snakes can love or hate is getting really old. Its like debating whether my dog can do algebra. Emotions are not intelligence, I understand that, but it is comparable. Reptiles lack the mental capacity to form complex emotions. Can they trust that this warm rock (you) won't move out from under him..maybe. Can they love you...no.

[Foschi Exotic Serpents]

I have never seen a snake react differently toward a person. It could be a matter of if you are trying to hand an already stressed out snake (handling=stress) and hand them off to someone who is perhaps not as comfortable with snakes or smells of a predator (dog, cat, etc) then the snake might react defensively, but a snake isn't just going to start hissing and biting because "Hey, I don't like the way that dude looked at me. Take that, Hand!"

Snakes cannot hate. They can feel uncomfortable around someone who is less experienced in handling them. A nervous person is going to be a bit more rough and jerky, which causes the snake to stress out. If you were in a tree and suddenly the tree hands you off to a tree that kept shaking you or moving branches really close to your face, you'd be scared too.

This debate on whether or not snakes can love or hate is getting really old. Its like debating whether my dog can do algebra. Emotions are not intelligence, I understand that, but it is comparable. Reptiles lack the mental capacity to form complex emotions. Can they trust that this warm rock (you) won't move out from under him..maybe. Can they love you...no.

On the contrary.. Retics have been known to show a preference to one person and aggression or fleeing reactions toward another.

Different species have different intelligence levels. Some operate on instinct alone, while others demonstrate a level of recognition and memory that others don't.

[sgath92]

Agreed. Reptiles do have the right brain structures to have some form of emotions. I'm not saying they have the same range of emotions and cognitive ability that you'd find in a more advanced brain like that of an African Gray but the prerequisites are there for some basic emotion-capabilities.

There have been experiments where radioactive dyes have been bonded to GnRH's in snakes which allow you to see brain functions, structures and fibers under imagery. Using colubrids they've seen the amygdala [the brain structure that serves as the "emotions computer" in mammals including humans] doing things during their mating process, during fear responses, etc. which implies something is going on in there deeper than impulsive reflex responses to real-time stimuli.

For years there was this theory in evolutionary sciences that mammal brains were simply built-up "reptilian brains" that were given additional structures by the evolutionary process. It's long been shown that birds have brains that structurally look like reptile brains with the addition of more things we know little about and that mammal brains are like bird brains with yet more things that we know even less about added onto them.

So maybe, just maybe, what's going on in there is they have a bad or good experience with something and that triggers a basic emotion that's either good or bad. As a result of that, when a future situation presents itself the snake's amygdala starts sending "good" or "bad" vibes using basic, primitive emotions instead of using a higher cognitive process like the way our brains use memory recall.

i.e. a human might think upon walking into a dentist office about the time they went to the dentist at 5 and how they forgot to use Novocaine and started drilling into a cavity without any painkillers and that hurt really bad yet despite that a human could use reason to overcome that and conclude "but I rather not loose all my teeth" whereas a snake might only get a primitive "I hate this" feeling followed by defense mode without any overriding logic.