I think my snake loves me

[snakey68]

Absolutely not. We can know that snakes don't feel emotion as they lack certain parts of the brain, parts that humans and dolphins possess, that process emotion. Also, to say that you will with hold any decision either way until we have 100% certainty that they dont feel emotion is you putting yourself out of ever having to make a decision. Scientific findings typically find 95% or higher probability to be statistically significant, so setting the bar at 100% is rather convenient for you, isn't it?

I was beginning to lose all hope till you posted that lol

I seriously cannot get my head round what some people believe

[gsarchie]

Not really fast Kevin, as this thread is over 6 years old! Also, are you 21+? If so we are getting beers when I get home from Afghanistan in 2 1/2 months.

Snakey - I am with you about wrapping my head around what some folks believe. It honestly saddens me that 48% of the people on this site honestly believe that their snakes "love" them. :headslap:

[arialmt]

Emotions are chemical reaction that lock situations into long term memory. This requires physical parts of the brain that reptiles do not have. Conditioning on the other hand is simply adaptation, something all creatures do. My $.02

[iPanda]

I agree with conditioning. My snakes trust me, and remember that I do not hurt them. Though, playing devils advocate, the two base emotions that every creature has are fear and love (the boyfriend brought this up). So in THAT sense, yes. But not in the way that WE love. Their 'love' is merely trust.

[snakey68]

I agree with conditioning. My snakes trust me, and remember that I do not hurt them. Though, playing devils advocate, the two base emotions that every creature has are fear and love (the boyfriend brought this up). So in THAT sense, yes. But not in the way that WE love. Their 'love' is merely trust.

every creature has two base emotions fear and love, where did you gather that piece of information I am curious as to how you would substantiate that.

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Not really fast Kevin, as this thread is over 6 years old! Also, are you 21+? If so we are getting beers when I get home from Afghanistan in 2 1/2 months.

Snakey - I am with you about wrapping my head around what some folks believe. It honestly saddens me that 48% of the people on this site honestly believe that their snakes "love" them. :headslap:

Aye mate it is baffling and very worrying also headslapping seems like a plan .....48% target efficiency should suffice

And on a more serious note for a second , I commend your commitment and dedication your a brave man to do the job you do and its good to hear your getting home soon

[iPanda]

http://www.anapsid.org/tamingvh.html

basically, they have a hypothalamus, thus are capable of FEELING emotion, but they lack a way to express it. (that's the article in a nutshell)

[gsarchie]

Snakey - Thank you very much. I love what I do but it can be incredibly hard at times, like now at the tail end of a deployment.


This is straight from the article that you quoted iPanda.
"How do I know, the animal likes me or what I am doing?

The Hypothalamus is the part of the brain where most of our emotions come from. All reptiles have one, so they have feelings. Since they cannot talk, we don't know for sure, what feelings they have beyond the most basic ones.

The most basic emotions are fear, aggression, and pleasure. I don't think anyone will argue, that reptiles don't have these feelings and express them. They avoid what they fear, attack what makes them angry, and seek out what is pleasurable.

If you create an environment that is comfortable and pleasant, and you do things to your pet that make it feel comfortable and pleased, then the reptile will 'like' you in the sense that good things come from you, and therefore it wants to be with you.
In general, you will know quickly, if you do something your reptile does not like: it will try to get away or even bite.

Whether reptiles have more complex feelings, like 'liking', is a hard question, and I would give a guarded 'yes' for chelonians, but I don't know about others. In order to like someone, the animal has to distinguish between people and clearly prefer some over others. Chelonians do tell people apart, and they prefer some people over others. I noticed to my surprise, that there are people my friendly snake does not like for no reason I can make out.

One person relates that he has a very social turtle: When he reads a book on the floor, the turtle comes by and climbs on his back. He'll sit there for up to 15 minutes.

Make up your own mind, and you are probably right ..."

First the author makes some wild claims without any data to substantiate these claims, and at the end says make up your own mind, and you are probably right. If you believe anything that comes out of this person's mouth then I'd like to tell you why you should always vote the way that I vote and have the opinions that I have, as you appear to be easily swayed to ones viewpoint just becuase they tell you that what they believe is fact. Let me say that I'm not trying to be mean, I'm just trying to make a point.

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And reading this some more, the punctuation is horrible and the grammar could use a bit of work. This was not an article written by someone with an educatin based off of facts that they have learned through experience. It seems more and more to me that it is just full of someones opinions.

[iPanda]

punctuation has nothing to do with it. I don't believe they 'feel' like we do, but they have the capability.

[gsarchie]

Hmmm... you state that they have the ability to feel as fact while having no evidence what-so-ever to back it up. What is so hard about not making claims without the evidence to support it? You can believe something all you want, but belief alone won't make it so.

Case in point: I believe that there is a small porcelain teapot orbiting the sun in between Mars and Jupiter. What's that, you say that it's impossible but that you can't disprove it because a teapot is too small and the area too great to search? Well, I believe it and you can't disprove it so it is there.

That sounds ridiculous, right? Here's how real science works - someone that makes a claim, outlandish or otherwise, and then they bear the responsiblity to provide evidence to support it. It is not the responsibility of the rest of the scientific community to refute the claim. If you want to claim that snakes or any other reptiles have feelings, or even the ability to feel, then it is your responsibility to provide the evidence, not mine.

Dictionary.Reference.com defines delusion as: "a fixed false belief that is resistant to reason or confrontation with actual fact." In my opinion, believing that your snakes can love you is delusional. I used to say that multiple people sharing a delusion was called religion, but apparently it applies to 48% of ball python owners as well! LOL :headslap:

[Ogre]

I personally don't believe that snakes have emotions, and that said my fiance does. It used to bother me but I really don't care as long as my snake is 'happy' aka healthy, because thats all any animal wild, tame or human really wants. I also agree with gsarjchie that if someone wants to prove that snakes have emotions then they need to have evidence beyond, someone posted this on the internet. Some times it does seem like my snakes are 'enjoying' themselfs, but honestly its just me enjoying a beautiful creature.