Do snakes have good memory?

Emily1188 said:

I've said this before, and I stick by it.

Snakes have very functional implicit memory. However, I see little evidence that they have much episodic memory at all.

So basically, while your snake might learn that it gets fed when in the shoebox, it doesn't have recollections to "the very first time I get fed in the shoebox" or "that one time, when the mouse was black instead of white".

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This makes the most sence to me. There is a very strong urge for humans to put human emotion as motivation behind an animal's behavior, but in reality this is not nearly so often the case.


What about the 'heat rock' issue? We are told not to use these with snakes as they can coil around them and burn. If such an event were to happen, would the snake coil around the rock again, repeting the same injury in the same way?
Because after such an event any good keeper would remove the harmful object, that would be something that wouldnt happen again. But if the snake were at a later date reintroduced to the "burning rock", (just for discussion sake) would the snake remember its previous injury? i would not think so...perhaps i'm wrong and would love to hear why.

I personally belive that repeted actions in the same way, at the same time, by the same person would be rememberd by many 'lower intelligence' creatures. I've had aquarium fish that would do tricks such as swim through a hoop in the water, or get 'excited' when i come near the glass. In both of thoes cases the behavior that the fish would show was TOTALLY food motivated. :laugh:

I get alot of satisfaction out of my snake knowing that I am not a danger to him. It makes me feel good that he 'remembers' that when i am picking him up, he will not be eaten. I dont think that this is 'trust' or 'affection'...but it still makes me warm and fuzzy on the inside that he knows the GIANT that grabs him daily isnt going to hurt him...lol:wavey:

I get alot of satisfaction out of my snake knowing that I am not a danger to him. It makes me feel good that he 'remembers' that when i am picking him up, he will not be eaten. I dont think that this is 'trust' or 'affection'...but it still makes me warm and fuzzy on the inside that he knows the GIANT that grabs him daily isnt going to hurt him...lol

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I agree. It's a real privilege to be trusted by a snake, when it works so much on instinct and it's first one is to keep itself safe from predators.

RosieReal said:

There is a very strong urge for humans to put human emotion as motivation behind an animal's behavior

What about the 'heat rock' issue? We are told not to use these with snakes as they can coil around them and burn. If such an event were to happen, would the snake coil around the rock again, repeting the same injury in the same way?


Because after such an event any good keeper would remove the harmful object, that would be something that wouldnt happen again. But if the snake were at a later date reintroduced to the "burning rock", (just for discussion sake) would the snake remember its previous injury? i would not think so...perhaps i'm wrong and would love to hear why.

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I think we are giving the snake too much credit for figuring things out. The cause and effect concept is beyond a snake’s ability. The snake will sit on a hot rock and cook itself to death. And if he doesn’t dye the first time he will come back and try again tomorrow.

There certainly is some learning taking place. A snake will “learn” that woodpiles are a good place to look for mice. They will learn the conditions that surround your feeding ritual. My snakes know the difference between cleaning day and feeding day and they behave differently depending on which it is. But these are not thinking animals. They are not going to reason or figure things out. A snake will rub his nose on a screen for days and days trying to get out. He may one day be successful but it won’t be because he figured it out, he just wore out the screen. Or his nose.

bitsy said:

I agree. It's a real privilege to be trusted by a snake, when it works so much on instinct and it's first one is to keep itself safe from predators.

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Thank you for this statement. I totally agree with it and it was very well worded.

My snakes don't seem to care about me. They know I am not going to eat them, but that's about it. I am not habitual about feeding days so I notice no change in them on feeding days. Only after I have the mice thawing then they "smell" dinner.

I do think they get familiar with their habitats, and seem to know where certain places are, and have their favorite pooping spots though.

RosieReal said:

I get alot of satisfaction out of my snake knowing that I am not a danger to him. It makes me feel good that he 'remembers' that when i am picking him up, he will not be eaten. I dont think that this is 'trust' or 'affection'...but it still makes me warm and fuzzy on the inside that he knows the GIANT that grabs him daily isnt going to hurt him...lol:wavey:

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I feel the same way. Great post.

RosieReal said:

What about the 'heat rock' issue? We are told not to use these with snakes as they can coil around them and burn. If such an event were to happen, would the snake coil around the rock again, repeting the same injury in the same way?
Because after such an event any good keeper would remove the harmful object, that would be something that wouldnt happen again. But if the snake were at a later date reintroduced to the "burning rock", (just for discussion sake) would the snake remember its previous injury? i would not think so...perhaps i'm wrong and would love to hear why.

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Snakes, like all vertebrates, are capable of learning through classical (Pavlovian) and operant conditioning. In this case, if the snake received a burn from a heating rock, it would be possible for the snake to associate rock with pain. However, you have to bear in mind that if the burn does not occur instantly (i.e. snake touches rock and recoils in pain), but rather occurs after the snake has been sitting on the rock for a length of time, the pain may not be associated directly with the rock.

Even when the snake has formed the association "rock = pain", it may injure itself repeatedly if the rock is the only source of heat available, which is another reason why these types of injuries may reoccur.

I tried to rep Wade, but it told me no! He is spot on when it comes to snakes. They do not "figure things out" in the cognitive sense. They simple move through life, and their reptilian brain notes the results through very basic learning mechanisms that are designed to keep them alive. With all animals (us included!) but reptiles especially, I think of their environment as a strainer that sorts behaviors. The snake simply does its instinctive thing, and the environment determines which behaviors hurt, bring food, are scary, etc, and the snake avoids those that hurt, and repeats those that bring food. There's no cognition behind it when it comes to snakes.

As my roommate says about snakes, "They're lines. Literally." :roflmao:

i think they are smarter than we think they are, dont get me wrong, I'm not saying they are little Albert Einstein.

wade said:

I think we are giving the snake too much credit for figuring things out. The cause and effect concept is beyond a snake’s ability. The snake will sit on a hot rock and cook itself to death. And if he doesn’t dye the first time he will come back and try again tomorrow.

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but then again have you seen the tv show jackass, cops, and so maney other.

Emily1188 said:

So basically, while your snake might learn that it gets fed when in the shoebox, it doesn't have recollections to "the very first time I get fed in the shoebox" or "that one time, when the mouse was black instead of white".

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You are probably right, but several folks have commented on the risk that a snake will get "stuck" on a particular rodent (ie ASFs) after only 1 feeding, and I am pretty sure someone said that some snakes may have an aversion to colored mice or white mice after only 1 bad experience. How would that work?

I agree with Bitsy & Rosie. These are very well worded so I won't repeat what they have already expressed so eloquently.

The_Thunderer said:

I've heard that snakes have a memories comparable to a goldfish... I have seen too much consisitencey in them to think that's true, though.

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I won a goldfish at the state fair when I was three years old and he lived to be twenty three (he died this past summer). He had a lot of personality. He would follow us around, he would splash his water to get our attention when he wanted food, and he would come up and "kiss" our fingers if we put them in the tank. He was an awesome fish and I will always defend the intelligence of goldfish.

Nanci said:

DYK I thought goldfish were sort of smart. They can be taught behaviours, at any rate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_Iznh9VbsY

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sorry to just pop in but I HAVE to just add that was an awesome link!