snakes and music

[fateamber]

I know snakes can't hear and i heard somewhere that they can only feel vibrations if their bottom jaw is touching the ground but when i play certain kinds of music my snake (Akasha) comes out of her hide and starts moving around a lot. Also when she is eating if i play certain kinds of music she will regurgatate her meal but dosnt with other kinds of music so can they feel the vibrations in the air?

[Neil]

Snakes are very, very sensitive to vibrations in the air and on the ground. Any load music will upset your corn but especially music with a strong bass line.

[fateamber]

I know the post makes me seem really cruel to my corn but i do try to lower the bass and keep the music not to loud but its really strange cos the music that is more rock seems not to bother her (my corn) as much as country music does. Also because snakes feel the vibrations and sound is just vibrations can't snakes hear?

[Neil]

I'm not sure if they are completely deaf but they can't hear most things.

[13mur 6]

mm... I wouldn't say snakes are deaf, they just hear in a different way. They do have trouble with sounds on the higher frequency scale (bird chirps, machine beeps, something that doesn't really cause material to vibrate, your voice, I mean the snake won't understand a word you say or hear it for that matter). They do respond very well to ANYTHING that causes any sort of vibration at all (if I put my snake on a table and tap the table lightly she responds by coiling into an S). If you have your speakers set on something that could transfer the sound to your snake's cage (like the ground), then she could probably "feel" every single beat of whatever you're listening to (sound will get transfered through the floor and along walls and to your snake cage).

Rock with alot of electric guitar and cymbal (is that spelt right?) smashing might not bother your snake, since it's on the higher frequency range and it doesn't transfer too well. Country will almost always have some drum beating and the range of sounds acoustic guitars produce seem very harmonic with most materials (every play guitar in a carpeted room? compare with violin, or singing, big difference, hard to muffle a guitar, just the quirk of the instrument I guess). Try playing Limp Bizkit, I guarantee you're snake will hear it (tons of bass and you can always hear it through the wall).

I've sort of remedied the problem of my snake being disturbed by sounds by putting her cage ontop of a folded towel (which also acts to mitigate the heat from my heat pad, bottom of the UTH touches the table so allows for sufficient heat dissipation preventing overload). It muffles the sounds transfered to the cage to the point where I can walk over to my snake's cage without it reacting (can't hear me).

Hope that helps

-13mur 6

[CowBoyWay]

that vibration dampening very well may be desirable, especially if kept in the same room as a full blast surround sound , ain't she sweet, feel that bass a boomin, from the movie / cd bumpin along, type enviroment.
Ideally it would get to live elsewhere in another, quieter part of the house :)

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[13mur 6]

I think it's the shoes that prevent humans from feeling ground vibrations (they muffle alot of stuff, that darned rubber). I walk around bare foot in my house and sometimes run outside my house barefoot in the summer on my lawn and stuff and I can easily feel ground vibrations from my feet especially when cars or trucks pass by (like when I have the walkman blasting in my ears and can't hear). I'm pretty sure you could probably feel it too, so can't really say is somethign humans "lack", it's just that humans have become so accustomed to and heavily dependant on visual and aural perception that alot of our other "senses" have become "rusty" and genetics phases it out over time so that it becomes only a residual sense.

I think the reason why alot of music lovers like huge booming bass so much is that they can feel that vibration go through their feet and up their bodies.

There are many senses that aren't recognized as a sense, for example, when you're in a room alone and someone stands behind you, you get the feeling you're being watched and you can usually tell that there is another person in the room (for some people this sense goes into hyperdrive in the dark and makes them extremely paranoid and easy to frighten. This is due to that "rustyness" I've stated before, since their senses have been dulled to the point that when the time comes to actually use that sense, they can't do it properly and every single slight stimulus creates a huge reaction). There's also a distance recognition sense in humans that seem to work with fast moving objects, things that make people duck, or jump, even when the object coming at them is coming from behind. Another very "taken for granted" sense we have is gravitational field and orientation. If I blind folded you and put you on a lazy suzy and turned you, you'd know you've turned, and obviously, if I flipped you upside down you'd know you're upside down.

-13mur 6

[fateamber]

So snakes can hear certain kinds of music, but do you think they don't like it or do you think they don't really mind it?

[13mur 6]

I don't think snakes like music in general. To them they can't tell the difference between a bass guitar twang and a foot step. Probably a whole lot of bass guitar twangs or drum beats will sound like an on coming stampede. So, nope, I don't think snake like music. It probably scares the bejesus outa' them.

-13mur 6

[fateamber]

Thanks for the reply, i've always been sort of careful not to turn my music up too loud but now i will be extra carefull - I don't want to scare her!

[Filovirus]

sounds to me as if it's a taste thing... when i hear country, all the achey breaky heart crap.. it makes me wanna throw. !!

[sumguy]

Live in a garden apartment (partially underground). Whenever the lawn crew comes by on their mowers, my juvy sticks her head out of her hide to see what the ruckus is. Doesn't seem stressed, just curious. Goes back in when they're done.

[13mur 6]

I think half my snakes come out to investigate when I'm playing on my electric bass. Some of them will even take a poo and go back into hide, I guess they think I suck pretty bad :D .

-13mur 6

[Chip]

Are you talking Willie Nelson, Hank Williams Sr., Johnny Cash, Jimmy Martin type stuff? I bet not. I'm certain corns have evolved to tolerate, if not appreciate the sounds they have that have been created in their range for generations. I suspect it's that dastardly watered-down pop that passes for radio country. Perhaps you should try some of the classics; and while gaining an appreciation for life's finer things, can also have a barometer for your snake's reactions.;)
I'm kidding of course. Snakes don't like low-frequency vibrations anymore than I care for a fickle love with a cheatin' heart.:)

[limey]

Yeah ring of fire makes my snakes happy :-) my mother bought me up listerning to johnny cash :-) just that some off my mates here in plymouth think i am nutz ahh the things we can legitimatley blam our parents for even if were getting on ourselves hehe

[8Corn*Freak8]

I have my snakes cage on the desk and same as my speakers. If I make a shelf on the corners of my room and keep the desk away from the wall would that cut down on the stress of the music or should I just not play music in there (last resort):(

[13mur 6]

8corn, yeah, I wouldn't leave your snake next to your speakers (sorta like having real noisy neighbors, you know those guys who have to blast their 800watt speakers day and night so loud you can year it 3 blocks down?).

Carpet sorta drowns out music (but not if your snake is on the same surface as whatever's producing the music). And if you don't have carpet you can just put the tank on top of a towel or something soft.

-Lemur 6

[8Corn*Freak8]

i got carpet...:)

[CornSnake Fever]

I think Ellie likes the music when its on. It doesn't seem to bother her at all. She always comes out of her hide and hangs out when it's on. I think snakes Knows the diffence in sounds and vibrations. She also knows when I approach and when my husband does. I think Snakes have better senses for whats going on then what we give them credit for.


Ellie's Proud Mom:)

[13mur 6]

I'll have to disagree with you on that cornsnake fever. If something is causing your snake to come out of hiding and hang out, usually means something is either perking up its curiosity or it senses that it's no longer safe to be hiding in one place and not necessariy because it "likes" the sound or smell. Smell of food, sound of foot steps, smell of dogs, cats, sound of TV or music, any other vibrational or olfactory stimiulus may give your snake a signal to do certain things. Sound of foot steps may perk its interest as it may relate it to recieving food. Though don't get me wrong, I'm not saying your snake hates music.

Try imagining it like this, your dog is barking up a storm and the guy across the street comes out of his house and looks in your direction and he can't scowl at you because he's just had plastic surgery, he can't come over to your house because there's a fence in the way and he can't yell at you because he's had mouth cancer and lost his vocal chords. You may think he's standing there looking at your dog because he likes the barking, but it could actually be him wanting to strangle the hell out of the dog because he can't sleep.:)

-Lemur 6

[CornSnake Fever]

I guess that would be one way of looking at it.LOL:) (love the analogy)
You might be right.

Ellie's proud Mom :)

[clumsly]

it might just be that your conr is very snesative to the music.