Great post HaikyFin, I couldn't agree more myself. In my response I wasn't so worried about what a hypothalamus does or whether or not a snake had one but more with the fact that the article that was quoted is completely unreliable in terms of having accurate information.
Tigerlilly -
1) If me and others trying to educate people with things that we have learned through our education and professions comes across as us walking around with our noses in the air then I would suggest to thicken up your skin just a tad. Nothing that I read came across as condescending in any way. I am guessing that you just don't understand how frustrating it is to have people say things that are simply not true when it relates to something that is important to us and that we are knowledgable about. One of my professors in college conducted research and subsequently wrote a paper that showed that Canebrake Rattlesnakes were not a subspecies of Timber Rattlesnakes but are in fact the same species. As a result I always hate hearing people talk about "canebrakes."
2) Taking your snake for car rides is exceptionally irresponsible and is not good for your snake. As stated by HaikyFin, reptiles are not social animals. Even being handled at home for short periods is stressful however not stressful enough to cause adverse health effects. This is evidenced by the fact that handling can cause WC snakes to go on a feeding strike for months at a time. Aside from being stressful a snake free in a car could easily cause an accident. What if your snake left its "favorite spot" and distracted you from the road long enough for you to drift into another lane or utility pole? What if the snake became agitated and bit your head or slithered across your eyes? Putting your snake into the water to go "swimming" is also excpetionally irresponsible. Please, share with us how you can tell that the snake has had enough swimming? Finally, your snake wasn't "mad" at you for putting it into a box, it was incredibly stressed out and felt unsafe/threatened, and defended itself the only way that it knew how, by striking at you. Also, what were the "tank issues" that caused you to not be able to properly house your snakes? I hope it wasn't a cardboard box, unless of course you taped it completely shut to ensure that escape was impossible.
If you honetly think that your snake has feelings, in light of overwelming scientific evidence, then by definition you are suffering from delusions, plain and simple. I think that my snakes are awesome and get a great amount of enjoyment from keeping them, and this is in no way diminished by the fact that they don't have any emotion for me what-so-ever. I always say that I don't care what people believe about their snakes as long as they are kept safely and humanely. I don't feel that you keep your snake in a safe manner and would ask you to please start doing so. If you must transport your snake for the purpose of moving or seeking medical care for it then please put it into either a pillowcase or into a tub with a lid secured. If in a clear tub I would cover it with a sheet so that it can't see what is going on outside of the vehicle, as this would just be added stress.
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