How soon after a regurgitation can I handle my snake?

[LivingwithBalls]

It's not necessary for you to reply to anything, but until this post you sounded like you had the intention of ignoring everyone's advice, hence the snippy responses. You were curious as to why people were getting short with you, and that's why.

I don't know my snakes think of me as a big scary monster. I do know that she displays stress behaviors such as searching when I handle her.

Actually we do know they are less intelligent than a dog and more intelligent than a clam. There are different types of learning and memory that define what we typically think of as intelligence.
The clam displays only what we call basic Hebbian Principle-- the ability to form an unconscious association between two unrelated stimuli. Even flatworms can do this, and they lack brains only having diffuse neural ganglia.
The dog displays long-term memory and object permanence. A dog's conscious behavior will change after being in a situation to manipulate a desired outcome such as getting a treat. They also display knowledge that something exists even when it isn't in their direct line of sight (the towel test).

The snake falls somewhere between these. While they can certainly form Hebbian associations and consciously modify their behavior based on short-term memories and perceptions, they lack object permanence (mine can't even grasp that a mouse's head still exists when she is looking for it and is laying on it)

I'm seriously loving this chance to drag out all my neuro coursework knowledge!

Again I apologize if I'm sounding snippy, by no means is that intended.

Is searching out of curiosity or fear? I would have to say it depends. If the snake is frantically trying to slither away quickly, it's probably fear. If it's slowly moving around, licking the air, periscoping, an occasional yawn, it's probably just cruising it's new surroundings. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Thanks for the the science!


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[The Snakery]

an occasional yawn, it's probably just cruising it's new surroundings.

In species such as the dog, yawning is actually a sign of anxiety and/conflicting emotion/reasoning. Not including the wake up from a nap yawn of course.

[LivingwithBalls]

In species such as the dog, yawning is actually a sign of anxiety and/conflicting emotion/reasoning. Not including the wake up from a nap yawn of course.

Yes, t were talking snakes


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[The Snakery]

Yes, t were talking snakes


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Not the point but I suppose being intentionally obtuse is your thing.

Again, good luck with your BP. Hopefully you find someone to give you the answers you want.

[LivingwithBalls]

Not the point but I suppose being intentionally obtuse is your thing.

Again, good luck with your BP. Hopefully you find someone to give you the answers you want.

Oh what was your point? And thanks


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[DVirginiana]

Again I apologize if I'm sounding snippy, by no means is that intended.

Is searching out of curiosity or fear? I would have to say it depends. If the snake is frantically trying to slither away quickly, it's probably fear. If it's slowly moving around, licking the air, periscoping, an occasional yawn, it's probably just cruising it's new surroundings. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Thanks for the the science!


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I'm not 100% sure on that. With a high-metabolism snake like my garters, I'd say the searching behavior is less an indicator of stress than with the BP since they spend more time in the wild out and about. I also think social behavior is a bit more advanced with them since they are one of the only species that seem to actually calm down with cagemates; they will actually follow me around (inside their tanks) to beg for food.
With the BP I tend to see the searching as more out of stress since she'd be spending all her time under a rock basically in the wild. Plus, they're solitary except for breeding.

I don't know with 100% confidence that those are the exact motivations behind the behaviors, but it's a pretty good educated guess.

[LivingwithBalls]

I'm not 100% sure on that. With a high-metabolism snake like my garters, I'd say the searching behavior is less an indicator of stress than with the BP since they spend more time in the wild out and about. I also think social behavior is a bit more advanced with them since they are one of the only species that seem to actually calm down with cagemates; they will actually follow me around (inside their tanks) to beg for food.
With the BP I tend to see the searching as more out of stress since she'd be spending all her time under a rock basically in the wild. Plus, they're solitary except for breeding.

I don't know with 100% confidence that those are the exact motivations behind the behaviors, but it's a pretty good educated guess.

Yeah, we can't really know for sure, it really bothers me lol. Sometimes I go to handle him,and he is just not impressed. Other times he wraps around my hand and will stay that way. He lets me know when he's had enough, and I respect that and will put him away.


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