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Handling after feeding - Newbie question

J

josephamor

New member
So I fed my snake on saturday morning, and it went pretty well, no problems. He's been under his hide on the warm side since being fed, and I haven't disturbed him ,except to peek in from outside to check and see if he's still under there. My question is, do you think tomorrow afternoon would be an acceptable time to lift his hide and interact with him? Should I wait for him to emerge when he's finished and comfortable enough to come out? If his lump is gone tomorrow, is it ok for me to handle him?
 
The basic rule of thumb for most people is to wait at least 48 hours before handling to prevent a regurge and to give them time to digest. So you should be in good shape to handle him tomorrow. :)
 
He should be fine to get out now. If I were to wait for my snakes to emerge from hiding to handle, I'd never handle a single one of them. You would have passed the 48 hour mark this morning.
 
I strongly disagree.

They are in hiding because that's where they want to be, so I leave them alone until they are ready. I don't consider my snakes "pets" and if I want to handle an animal all the time, I will pet my cats, not my snakes.

The snakes can't chose for themselves and I think it's cruel to disturb them like that.

When they come out of hiding they are ready and active.
 
Tick-Tag said:
I strongly disagree.

They are in hiding because that's where they want to be, so I leave them alone until they are ready. I don't consider my snakes "pets" and if I want to handle an animal all the time, I will pet my cats, not my snakes.

The snakes can't chose for themselves and I think it's cruel to disturb them like that.

When they come out of hiding they are ready and active.
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I have to say the bulk of people that own snakes are going to disagree with you.

My snakes are pets. 90% of them slither up my arm after I lift their hides, or come out and into my hand when I open their tubs. They are very curious about what is going on. Plus it's interesting for them to get a bit of an explore in, then back to tubs.

I've got 40+ snakes and that applies to all of them.

No they are not like a cat or a dog, but many of them do respond well to human contact.

TO THE OP:

Yes, 48 hours is the rule of thumb, or sometimes I wait until after I see poo.
 
So you are saying that snakes have feelings and relate to people and care for them? That is new to me. I have never seen any studies that supports that.

I think that snakes can get used to handling and can get used to not being bodered by it - but if they could chose for themselves they would rather not be handled at all.

Yes, my snakes come out of their cage themselves as well (I never force them) - but not because they love me ;-) They come out because they are curious and want to explore (and maybe, just maybe find a mouse) - that is their instinct and that is how they find food and survive in the wild. They are not attached to me, they have just learned that I am "safe" and I will not harm them and when my arms are there it means that they get to do some exploring.

I am absolutely sure that if I allowed them to come out by themselves and roam the house, without me handling them, they would much prefer that. But they know that that is not the case, so the price for being allowed to explore is being handled by the gentle giant.
 
My corn loves to come out, when i pick up her hide ofc she is wondering whats going on.once she realizes its me(after me giving her a still hand to smell) she always practically jumps out of her cage! Lile a dog junping up to greet u after a long day!!! :grin01:
 
I firmly believe that snakes do respond and show some kind of a bond at times. Not all of them, but certain ones very much so.

It is not the same kind of emotion that a dog might have, but there can be something there.

To think they mindless creatures is a bit narrow minded. They have some emotions, just much much more basic then a traditional cat or dog way of thinking.
 
Well, I will look forward to see some studies and some proof of that some day - or maybe not. Until then, I am in disagreement - even though it would be nice if you were right. But I'm not much of a Disney-person, I believe in facts.
 
Tick-Tag said:
Well, I will look forward to see some studies and some proof of that some day - or maybe not. Until then, I am in disagreement - even though it would be nice if you were right. But I'm not much of a Disney-person, I believe in facts.
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Do a survey of keepers, or heck even a search for it on this forum, you will find a large number of keepers that agree snakes have some level of emotion.

Again, it's no where near "dog level," but it's there.

Not a Disney-person, just going on my 10+ years with reptiles of many species. I don't expect them to perform tricks or anything, but I have several snakes that actively seek out and seem to enjoy contact.

I have a ball python that I can put to sleep in my lap just by gently scratching his back with my nails. LOL!
 
They would not have any use for emotions in the wild and I generally believe that animals don't have anything that they don't need. The live alone and they do not take care of their babies, so why would they need emotions?

It's in human nature to look to for emotions and search for things that are not there and people tend to be very subjective about emotions, so a search for romantic statements is not really trustworthy.

I know a lot of breeders that would say that you are wrong and that you are seeing things that are not there - but I guess we won't know for sure until there is some kind of proof.
 
Tick-Tag said:
They would not have any use for emotions in the wild and I generally believe that animals don't have anything that they don't need. The live alone and they do not take care of their babies, so why would they need emotions?
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Well they do use "emotions" in the wild.

Example: Snakes sees a large predator and flees. It was self preservation and fear that sparked that reaction. Hard wired things in the brain for a fight or flight. If they were mindless, then they would just sit there and be eaten.

Snake sees another snake. No fear. Then interest in the other snake turns to mate? Threat?

The levels are not the same as we have emotions, but more basic and primal.

Same when you are handling a snake. The snake processes out that there is no harm and the situation is safe or the snake is afraid and tries to flee.

I AM NOT OVER ROMANTICIZING IT.

The levels are basic and primal, but exist. To say my snake wags it's tail and turns circles when it is excited to see me is a falsehood. To say I have snakes that respond to me tapping the tops of their vivs and crawling up my arm is a fact.

But we can agree to disagree, however I strongly urge to conduct a survey.
 
Here's what I believe, and I'm sure I'll catch a ton of crap, but if you're not mature enough to have an adult conversation about this topic, then please don't respond.

My personal belief is that most snakes are not very keen on human interaction. Most snakes don't really gain anything from human interaction. I work with a lot of snakes through work and in my personal collection. I read body language every day, and it's become almost second nature now, reading a snake or any animal for that matter, when I look at it.

As far as what species are more intelligent and tolerate handling better, Asian Ratsnakes for sure are more intelligent. King Ratsnakes, Radiated Ratsnakes, Beauty Snakes, they all seem to posses a type of intelligence and can identify keepers and will tolerate handling better than say Garter Snakes which are (from my personal experience working with Natricine snakes), much less intelligent. Most of your New World Ratsnakes (Corns, the obsoletus complex, etc), are relatively intelligent, but I don't believe that they actually posses the intelligent that Asian Ratsnakes or Elapid hold. Cornsnakes, are by nature docile animals, and usually tolerate handling extraordinarily well. Personally, I don't handle mine very often because they do just fine without it. It is a matter of opinion, and my personal opinion is over handling can stress a snake out and in general handling is not something they particularly enjoy.

I have noticed that some species like Reticulated Pythons, are very intelligent, but a close relative of theirs the Burmese Python, is not particularly smart. When I say it comes from my observations, I mean behavior study. When I watch a Retic, it will look right back at me a respond, usually by coming in closer, increased tongue flicks, and sometimes lifting it's head about the ground to see what I'm doing. Retics also learn to identify their keepers which I have never seen but I know many people who this has happened to. With Burms, it's a different story, they are concerned about food and when I open a Burm cage they want to eat me 99% of the time. They don't make eye contact or seem very interested in me being around unless I'm feeding it.

Snakes in general are not particularly intelligent individuals, they do have the capacity for some primitive learning, but they're not going to come to you for handling. As far as emotions, I don't think they necessarily posses a ton of emotion. I don't believe they can feel something like loss, or elation. Snakes are very hard to read even for people that have been doing this for a long time, and because they're faces are so emotionless, it's very hard to get a real feel for what's going on in their heads.
 
josephamor said:
My question is, do you think tomorrow afternoon would be an acceptable time to lift his hide and interact with him? Should I wait for him to emerge when he's finished and comfortable enough to come out? If his lump is gone tomorrow, is it ok for me to handle him?
Click to expand...


The answer to your question is YES. You can handle your corn snake.
 
Carinata said:
Here's what I believe, and I'm sure I'll catch a ton of crap, but if you're not mature enough to have an adult conversation about this topic, then please don't respond.
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David I agree with a good portion of what you said, but a statement like that out of the gate casts a very negative pallor on it.

Taunting or daring is really not the way to go about starting a post. You get more flies with honey, not spiting in the eye before you start talking.

I SAY THIS BECAUSE I AM TRYING TO HELP YOU! You often have very good information to bring to the table, consider the presentation a little more.

HOWEVER..... the information you posted was very though provoking and it's nice to hear what other thoughts people have about snake interaction.
 
I was just trying to cover my butt. I don't want it to look like I'm just looking for an arguement. Thanks for the kind word, though :)
 
BloodyBaroness said:
Well they do use "emotions" in the wild.

Example: Snakes sees a large predator and flees. It was self preservation and fear that sparked that reaction. Hard wired things in the brain for a fight or flight. If they were mindless, then they would just sit there and be eaten.

Snake sees another snake. No fear. Then interest in the other snake turns to mate? Threat?
Click to expand...

I guess I should have been more clear.
Of course they can fear - that is a basic instinct (more than a feeling) that will secure their survival. And I said earlier that they are curious creatures as well, again an asset that will secure survival.

What we don't agree on is the more gentle "feelings", attachment, love, fondness, what ever you want to call it. I don't believe that they have that, because they have no use for it - it will not secure the survival of the species.


BloodyBaroness said:
Same when you are handling a snake. The snake processes out that there is no harm and the situation is safe or the snake is afraid and tries to flee.
Click to expand...

I agree, but not being seen as a threat is for me very fare apart from the snake having gentle feelings for you.
 
Again, not saying they have feeling for me. They just know I'm safe.

I think we might be having a language disconnect.
 
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