Well, let me start off with a disclaimer. I am NOT a scientist. And I am NOT a herpetologist either. On top of that, I am a newbie when it comes to snakes.

However, I think ball pythons do have some sense of preferences or some trust factor.

When I got my 9 month old BP a few weeks back, he was not shy with me at all. He appeared to be well raised. He seemed to trust me and was not even head-shy right from the beginning. He was a little bit skittish though, he still is skittish sometimes. But he has never ever hissed at me or struck at me. And I handle him almost every day.

However when my roommates approached him (without even touching him) he curled up into a ball, and would not uncurl until they went away. Lately, he appears to "trust" them too. He no longer balls up and is not shy of my roommates (who are not as confident about even touching him)

As I said earlier, I am not a scientific scholar and I don't know how to interpret his behavior. But like someone said earlier, they do have individual personality.

Having said that, we all agree that they are no dogs or cats as far as cognitive abilities are concerned.