How can you tell your BP likes you?

[TheMadLeper]

So how can you tell your bp likes you? I think mine likes me cause she usually likes to cuddle next to me and sleep, doesn't mind me touching her head all that much, and seems to feel comfortable sleeping with her head on my hand,and seems generally at ease around me.

I'm asking cause i'm handling her right now and she seems a little more apprehensive then usual, so maybe she doesn't like me as much as i thought. She is alot more jumpy around me tonight. How do you know YOUR snake likes you? Anyone have expierence with a snake not liking them?

[boafa]

snakes don't like people, they just tolerate us.

[starmom]

Snakes don't have an emotion center in their brain; they are all instinct.
That said, your snake will sense things from you. Maybe you are not as calm tonight or are apprehensive about something and the snake is picking up on that.

[Sonya610]

Don't take it personally, it may not have anything to do with you, she may be going into shed or something else may be up.

I don't know what they feel, or don't feel, they live in their own reality. But I do hope with enough careful handling my BP will learn to be relaxed while being held and hanging out as he gets older. He may not get ecstatic over it but I hope he will be truly okay with it and not just barely tolerating it.

[Sonya610]

Snakes don't have an emotion center in their brain; they are all instinct.

I understand where you are coming from, and it does seem very likely that our snake companions view their world, and experience interacting with others very differently than we do.

However I don’t buy into scientific theories about how animals perceive their reality based on their brain structure. Scientists know very very little about how brains work.

Keep in mind a few decades ago it was “scientific fact” that human infants could not feel pain; surgeons would perform major surgeries without anesthetic because they knew that the screaming and thrashing were just random, meaningless, involuntary reactions caused by infants nervous system, and not signs of agony.

Similarly because avian brains are constructed differently, the scientists knew that meant birds, including parrots, had very very low iq’s and virtually no capacity to feel emotion. Now they say while the brain structure appears primitive, apparently birds use it differently and some have the i.q.’s of 5 year old children.

As far as I am concerned, when it comes to brain structure, scientists make things up as they go along. They have no clue. Oh…and did you know up until a few decades ago many doctors knew that menstruation cramps were purely psychosomatic? Yup, they knew it had to be in the “woman’s head” because it was a proven fact that no male doctor had ever experienced that phenomena.

Maybe you can see my point. : )

[littleindiangirl]

As far as I am concerned, ... They have no clue.

Wow, just a few short decades ago?!

[Gloryhound]

When he keeps striking and biting me repeatedly!

At least I know he likes how I taste!


Honestly, I have to go with the instinct thing here. They tolerate us and they can even learn that you handling them does not pose any threat to them. In the end though they would much rather be in a nice comfy hide waiting for their next meal!

Does anyone think the male and female ball pythons have to like each other before doing the dirty deed, or is it just natures call?

[Sonya610]

Does anyone think the male and female ball pythons have to like each other before doing the dirty deed, or is it just natures call?

I would bet some breeders here have stories about BP's that for some odd reason refused one partner but accepted another (was it like/dislike?).

And along those lines, do people have to "like" eachother, and if so how does one define like? It seems often it can be defined as "it seemed like a good idea at the time". : )

[python.princess]

I would bet some breeders here have stories about BP's that for some odd reason refused one partner but accepted another (was it like/dislike?).

And along those lines, do people have to "like" eachother, and if so how does one define like? It seems often it can be defined as "it seemed like a good idea at the time". : )

You're comparing ball python breeding to one night stands?

FYI- humans get pleasure out of sex. Ball pythons don't. Can't really compare the two.

[littleindiangirl]

I would bet some breeders here have stories about BP's that for some odd reason refused one partner but accepted another (was it like/dislike?).

And along those lines, do people have to "like" eachother, and if so how does one define like? It seems often it can be defined as "it seemed like a good idea at the time". : )

Or, in simple terms, the BP didn't find the other animal as a good mate. Maybe weak genes, maybe some other sign we don't understand or can identify. But that this animal isn't a strong and good mate to copulate with and produce offspring.

It's about survival, not fun.