I mostly agree with this, except you lost me at snakes hearing & recognizing our voices. When snakes show preference for handling by their owner versus strangers,Originally Posted by jcorsaletti
... while I don't believe snakes necessarily "love" or "hate" I do believe they establish a sense of comfort and familiarity with their handler. they learn our smell and touch and the way our voice sounds. I've read that snakes can in fact hear noise and not just sense vibrations, while it may be very slight I believe they recognize our tone and the way we speak just as a dog would. which would explain why some snakes are finicky when someone other than their owner is handling them
it has everything to do with familiarity of our touch & scent (their best senses that we know of) & nothing (IMO) to do with our voices. I say this because I've had this
happen, but without talking, and even IF they can hear a little, it would hardly be their best sense. I don't think snakes love or hate us...they either learn that we are
safe to be around or that we cannot be trusted and they resist out of instinctive fear. Then again, there was that one very misguided male rosy boa that kept working
his spurs on my neck...
I do know that snakes learn & remember us though, which suggest a little more intelligence than many want to give them credit for. And I say this because if they were
simply "instinctive" creatures, wouldn't we have to re-tame them with every approach? But that's NOT the case...my snakes are not handled often, much less "constantly"
-yet they obviously "know" me and aren't afraid & defensive. And another thing: it appears this suspension of instincts holds for meeting other people...most of my
snakes have done "meet & greets" with total strangers (including chaotic children) and have been fine with it. That suggests "trust" to me, & trust requires thinking, ya?
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