Which snake is the smartest?

[Luvyna]

My current enclosures are 8 feet long with two doors. I used to place cardboard on the end opposite the critter before feeding. I would toss the rat on the cardboard. After doing this many times I noticed the boas would get into eating mode as soon as I put the cardboard in the enclosure. Since I was reusing the cardboard I thought maybe the retained scent was setting them off. (I used to breed rats in the basement...I noticed just going in the basement without touching anything and then going in the snake room carried enough retained scent that only a masochist would try to interact with the boas right after being in the basement.)

So I decided I would try virgin cardboard to eliminate retained scent and do this before having any contact with the rats. Just placing virgin cardboard in the enclosure resulted in the boas being ready to eat. BCO had the strongest reaction which I correlate to them being absolutely fearless and they were always the first to the carboard before the test.

These are some interesting observations! I feed my BP on cardboard as well in his enclosure. I put it down in front of his hide and he sticks his head and neck out onto it in an "S" shape. He seems to know that cardboard means food is for sure on the way, and he also seems to have learned to associate the vibrations of someone walking up and down the stairs to the basement (which are right next to my room where I keep my BP) with the imminent arrival of a rat since I keep the frozen rats in a freezer in the basement. Either of those two things is pretty much guaranteed to put him in food mode!