Are snakes intelligent?

[Clovis]

Note: Snakes lack outer ears, but this does not mean they are deaf. They also smell with their tongues. reptilian anatomy =/= mammalian anatomy. For further information on how snakes hear, please see this article in Scientific American.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=A8A0FD9F-9AB0-7EDA-0EFCDBFB6244702B

 

[KingCrimson<3]

Interesting, but this actually reinforces the commonly held belief that snakes can't hear. Tapping on the glass, or footsteps on the ground create vibrations which may be sensed through body contact. This article simply suggests that the jaw plays a role in a snake being able to determine the location/direction of vibrations, it in no way suggests that snakes can hear voices.

 

[AliCat37]

Note: Snakes lack outer ears, but this does not mean they are deaf. They also smell with their tongues. reptilian anatomy =/= mammalian anatomy. For further information on how snakes hear, please see this article in Scientific American.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=A8A0FD9F-9AB0-7EDA-0EFCDBFB6244702B

They don't actually smell with their tongues, the tongues just help pick up scent particles that are then run along the jacobson's organ- many mammals also have this, notably horses and cats. But for any sake, whenever a little kid asks me what they're doing with their tongues I do say they're smelling 5 year olds don't care about the technicals of it all haha.

 

[AliCat37]

I guess I would say my snakes recognize me, as I am the only person who ever opens their cages, feeds, cleans, waters, handles etc. I know my boa recognizes me for sure, and he always tries coming back to me when he is out with other people. Again, not trying to anthropomorphize too much, but he seems the most "intelligent" of the 4 species I keep. But like I said in a previous post, they're not smart animals. They're mostly instinctual, and I believe the recognition comes from them knowing that you are not a threat, any new person registers as something scary to them and they automatically want to seek safety. My corns probably don't come to me as much because they just try to get in a hood or sleeve.

 

[Clovis]

In an an attempt not to derail the thread on my "snakes can hear" rant, I started a new one.

http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1386709#post1386709

I still say more intelligent than they are given credit for.

 

[enchantress62]

This is all very interesting. I have two snakes now. Frank, my baby corn and Baloo, my baby BP. I know most people think a snake is a snake but my two are very different in personality. Frank is shy and hides most of the time and when I pick him up he's hyper for a little while. Baloo, on the other hand, is a clown. She constantly cruises around her viv poking her head in every nook and cranny. She loves to climb and hangs from her branch in funny positions. When I pick up Baloo she's calm and seems content to wrap around my hand as if on a branch. Sometimes I wrap her in my shirt like a cocoon and she seems to like this. She hides for awhile then pokes her head out and looks around as if to say, "Wow! So this is what freedom looks like." hahahaha

 

[Sierra1167]

My bearded dragon poops on the toilet paper I put in her viv. I put in about 8 squares 2 wide/4 thick. She lines it up and goes, although sometimes she gets some over the edge.

Wow...you are lucky. Mostly my dragons go wherever and whenever the mood hits them! Including but not limited to the food dish!! uke02: All except my blind beardie, Ray. He pretty much refuses to go anywhere except outside in the grass. Thank goodness he is brumating as I live in NE Ohio.

 

[Iulia]

I'm pretty sure my snake is as thick as a plank Wild corns could not possibly be as stupid or they would never survive.