Quote Originally Posted by Nuttybuttercup View Post
I agree with you Cherry, i dont expect my balls to act like dogs and be veryyyy affectionate and i dont expect them to think about me all day. Lol. I think they do have the capacity of of having feelings and learning though. When humans are babies - same as puppies or any other young animal - you have instincts and you have what you are taught. The snake has the instinct to be fearful of people and it will be unless you can teach it/prove it that you are not harmful. Sooner the better. But yea i also do think that my older ball enjoys being handled, not "tolerates" it. Words are not the only way to express feelings, so my snake didnt "tell" me anything. The same way you can tell if a dog or cat likes being pet or played with you can tell if the snake is rejecting your touch. Besides, its cooped up in a box all day, anyone/thing would want to be able to stretch out and move once in a while.

Update on the new one- he hasn't struck out at all since
Ahh well, I don't know if anybody will ever know what an animal is really thinking. You can learn what your snake does and doesn't like, depending on how long and how often you handle them I guess. When I first got Pretzel I got told she was head shy and that combined with having her recoil whenever my fingers went near her head made me cautious about that. But then with more handling and patience she lets you touch her head and tickle her chin after about five minutes. Whereas Pringle "nuzzles" and doesn't mind me touching his head at all from the get go. They both have different reactions to different actions, whether or not they like it? I dunno. I think some reactions can be confused with like, affection and/aggression. I know a couple of people who are like "Oh look shes hugging your wrist!" or "Oh my god she's trying to constrict you and eat you!" when realistically, she's probably trying to steal my body heat! It's funny to say when she's in my pocket and sticking her head in and out, it does make me laugh and say to Grant "look, she's playing hide and seek with yooooou..." But really, shes curling up in my warm pocket because it's warm haha I think she probably recognises my smell, and associates me with feeding and security but not sure what else