Bonding with snakes?

My snakes love me and I love my snakes

No in all seriousness, its like everyone has said. I know a few of my snakes seem to tell the difference between myself and my husband and even perhaps my son. Piglet was our first snake he has been loved on by everyone since he was itty bitty. He will come out and "greet" you and doesn't seem to be mind being handled. Geno is the same way. I have two okeetee's that do not like being handled or messed with at all. I still handle them once a week and check on them daily.

My husband's bp will hide all day with me being at home but the minute my husband comes home and in the room, he comes out of his hide to greet him. (or so it seems to me).

I have two very affectionate cats that will actually head butt my hand for me to love on them. They come when called and sleep with us. I can see snakes are not like cats and dogs and do not need that affection. But they do need attention.

I believe snakes at least sort of 'like' you, or 'bond' with you in the sense that they eventually recognize your scent/voice, and trust you not to hurt them during handling lol. Maybe they'll even seek your warmth during handling. But the consensus is right, snakes are not capable of love, so that's about as far as it goes.

I have a snake who refuses to be handled by anyone other than me and sits on my throat when I talk.

I've pretty much accepted that that's as close to 'love' as we'll ever get, and you know what? it makes me just as happy to know she's at least okay with my existence =]

my first cornsnake Rune was a very "sociable" chap...he didn't seem to mind being held and would craw up my arm when i would be doing something in his viv and out he would come. he would find a place and just hang out and "watch" the world. my new little one Kiyo also seems to be a world watcher. when i pull her out (not very often at this point...i also only handle after 72ish hours after feeding) she wanders around checking things out, and does this cute little wiggle/shimmy thing on my arm which is what endeared her to me in the first place. she is starting to become a bit more curious in her viv as far as when things are going on, i will see her peeking out of her hide watching what's going on.

All snakes are different and react differently in different situations. Snakes may recognize their owners to an extent, but I think it has more to do with how the person handling them acts.

My Indigo seems to show a preference for me over others when being handled. Probably just because he's familiar with me, but it is flattering that he will come back to me given the chance if someone else is handling him. Makes me feel like he likes me.

Originally Posted by bitsy

If a snake is cannibalistic, they won't differentiate between blood relations and other snakes. I don't believe that any snake recognises "family".

Oh, they do have an excellent sense of smell, so I think they do learn to recognize things by their smell. Humans who are safe, snakes who are related and hence safe-ish.. Many animals use their sense of smell to determine who is a sibling, and even remember the same nesting site. And there's of course there's the social behavior that has been demonstrated in some snakes, which would suggest they do recognize a non-threat, probably by sense of smell too.

I think animal behavior (human too - often!) is all about benefits. Well, the whole evolution is based on the idea that who has best traits for reproducing as well as possible. I think the most simple example of beneficial social behavior is reproduction. The second most simple would be "safety in numbers". I think these two can be seen in snakes.

On the topic of enjoying being handled, I don't think it's completely impossible. Enjoying some feeling is one of the "rewards" that guide animal action, for example eating things and having a full stomach feels nice. We know that snakes do sometimes prefer to spend time in close contact with other snakes, and they do sometimes prefer to spend time on a source of warmth. I would guess these probably have some positive feedback to encourage these, which would also mean they might sometimes enjoy being in close contact with a nice and warm human, too. And, I heard someone has a corn who likes to have his chin rubbed?

I seem to belong to the pro-handling group. I think it's a good opportunity to visually inspect the snake and see if it behaves as usual, and it gives the snake new stimuli and some exercise.

My snake is curious, likes to be "out", and recognizes me (I think). She wakes up in the morning and cruises around the tank because she knows I will take her out then. She also "cruises" after school and in the evening, though the morning and evening times are popular times for snakes to be active. When she sees me outside of her tank, she comes out of her hide and climbs straight up the wall. Estelle will often sit beside be under a blanket and watch everything I do. I handle her almost everyday, and she is very tame. I usually never take her out when she is sleeping; she generally wants to come out on her own. I love Estelle!

Originally Posted by legitimatehypnotist

I believe snakes at least sort of 'like' you, or 'bond' with you in the sense that they eventually recognize your scent/voice, and trust you not to hurt them during handling lol. Maybe they'll even seek your warmth during handling. But the consensus is right, snakes are not capable of love, so that's about as far as it goes.

I tend to agree.
Also, ou can handle you snake a few times a week, no problem. But.....that also depends on the snake. Knowing it.