I consider all snakes to be individuals too, I think that's the least we can do. I've seen too many differences among siblings to think otherwise, & then when you
add in their experience of life, it's no different than the rest of us- a blend of "nature & nurture". I had a rat snake that learned & remembered (and obviously
enjoyed) threading herself thru the belt loops on my jeans...Silly sneks! I think it's just like human kids in kindergarten, actually...the more things they are exposed
to & the more successful experiences they have, the smarter they get & if wild, the better they survive. Climbing things is a challenge at first, but most get better at it
with practice. Incidentally, this is why it's so dangerous & harmful to suddenly feed live rodents to a snake that's been eating only pre-killed (f/t or fresh), many learn to
skip constriction & just eat. It would be nice if snakes could talk & tell us why they do some things the way they do, but for now, it's for us to figure out, whether the
quirk is just that, if it's learned behavior, or if it means there's a problem. They make us pay attention.
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