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how intelligent are snakes?

funnynonsense

funnynonsense

New member
um ...... yeah ...... how intelligent are snakes?

Just been thinking about it - how intelligent do you guys think our corns are?
Are they just eating, pooping, mating machines driven by instinct :eatsmiley or is there something more to them?

What do you guys think?
 
As much as science can prove and state that they are animals driven by instinct to eat, find shelter, survive and reproduce...I am sure there is much more that science just can't explain..They just might have an intelligence about them..granted no where near as smart as us..But I am sure there are things that go on in their minds..
 
I think they are intelligent but measuring it is impossible. You can't even accurately measure human intelligence. For example there was a thing awhile back that had dogs listed from most intelligent to the least. The entire thing was bogus as most of the tests were based around obedience. Obedience does not make intelligence. The sight hounds which are extremely smart get mistaken for being stupid because they are very independent (like cats). They were bred to be that way and to rely on themselves.
 
I'm not sure about a corn snakes I.Q. But I do know that cobras are considered very intelligent. Keepers have reported that cobras realise that the hook is not the threat, and follow it with their eyes up to the arm and then strike.
And King cobras know the person who tends to them and pose no threat when being free handled..(not something I would even consider attempting)
MIKE
 
I think we underestimate, all animal intelligence, we cant compare it to ourselves. But they have the ability to learn and understand. How many of you have seen your snakes learn when feeding day is?
 
My spotted pythons surprises me sometimes. He was scared of me when I first got him and he'd go the other direction if he smelled my skin. Now he doesn't even care and we've gotten used to eachother.

He also was fed in the cage before I got him. It took him one or two feedings to realise what the feeding bin was for and sometimes he'll actually sit up and almost beg for food when he's in it and I just lower it into his mouth. Then again sometimes he strikes at me when he senses the heat from my hand or face lol:shrugs:

If I have him out wandering the room, he'll get a several feet away from me and sit still for several minutes just looking at me. When he thinks I'm not paying attention anymore he darts away. Pretty interesting if you ask me.
 
When I want to feed my snake Maizey, and he isn't out, I knock on his hide and call him, then close the cage for a minute. When I come back, he is always out at the door!
 
But how much of that is a Pavlovian responce vs actual inteligence?

Just like nippy snakes calm down after a while of being handled.

I think with most snake actions its all a matter of association.
 
I know Kathy Love mentioned a maze learning experiment. I believe the snakes were able to learn and navigate the maze quicker with subsequent tries, which would be classed as demonstrating learning.
 
Lil,
So far that is the best support I've seen.

After posting my prior reply i thought about how it applied to the King cobra biting at the arm of the user not the hook, then it hit me. If i bite the hook it hurts and nothing changes, if i bit the hand/arm they leave me alone. I'd be interested to see snakes in a maze compaired to rats in a maze then say an octopus, just to compair the 3.
 
Reticulated pythons are considered to be one of the more intelligent snakes. It is common practice for retic keepers to touch the python with the back end of hook whenever they open the door. The idea is for the snake to learn that it is the keeper waking them up, and not a juicy rabbit. Once that response is learned, there is less danger that a retic will suddenly mistake the keeper for food, thus avoiding a nasty bite.

When I was a teenager, I had a bullsnake that was a bit nervous. I also had two collies which looked very similar to each other. But when the female collie walked near the cage, the snake was quiet. When the male collie walked in, the snake would hiss and strike. I always thought it was because the male collie had a propensity towards being jumpy and more active. The snake seemed to know this difference, even when the male was quiet for the moment. At least, that was my interpretation of it.

I don't know how much intelligence these responses show. But they seem to show an ability to learn something to be able to better cope with one's environment, which would seem to indicate some (not sure how much) intelligence to me.
 
Please consider that pavlov's research only showed that you can instill a set reaction to a set stimuli, and that the intelligence of the animal or baby did not matter much.

So from this; yes a snake can be taught or made obedient to certain actions though this does not suggest decission making or concious thought.
 
http://www.sfweekly.com/1998-02-04/news/snake-eyes/

One of Greene's experiments in snake intelligence tested whether baby hognose snakes' responses to a threat might change if the snakes thought the situation had changed. Animal intelligence researchers think an animal demonstrates consciousness and awareness if it finds solutions to changing and unforeseen problems.

Surprisingly, the little snakes feigned death only when they thought a "predator" (a stuffed owl) was watching them. "It's incredible," says Greene. "Their tongue hangs out on the dirt, they even sh*t on themselves."

But when the owl was turned to face away from the snakes, they immediately flipped over and began crawling away, only to repeat the whole performance when the researchers turned the owl around again. Obviously, the snakes were adapting their behavior to the changing situation.
 
kathylove said:
When I was a teenager, I had a bullsnake that was a bit nervous. I also had two collies which looked very similar to each other. But when the female collie walked near the cage, the snake was quiet. When the male collie walked in, the snake would hiss and strike. I always thought it was because the male collie had a propensity towards being jumpy and more active. The snake seemed to know this difference, even when the male was quiet for the moment. At least, that was my interpretation of it.

I don't know how much intelligence these responses show. But they seem to show an ability to learn something to be able to better cope with one's environment, which would seem to indicate some (not sure how much) intelligence to me.
Click to expand...

Kathy,
This is very interesting but I believe it may be a scent recognition. I own bulls, gophers and pines. These snakes are fine around me. Some times I may get them in a grumpy mood but this is to be expected. But typically I can hold them calmly. Now my girlfriend tries to work with them and its attack city all the time. They for some reason do not like her. I always joke about it.

Well I did a hands on a few months at a Wildlife park and they had a huge collection of native snakes. The main employee talked about having an aggressive bull snake. This thing hissed and hollared at her but when I picked it up it was calm and submissive in my hands, like my snakes. I thought to my self, this is interesting. I asked if I could take this animal out to the main area where my girlfriend was. As I came near her this snake went into attack mode. I handed it back to the keeper and same thing. In my hand it was docile. I placed it back into the caging for it.

We suspected that the reason it did this was both women were in their mid 30 's and it could have been a hormonal scent issue. But I am just guessing here on this.
 
tricksterpup said:
Kathy,
This is very interesting but I believe it may be a scent recognition. I own bulls, gophers and pines. These snakes are fine around me. Some times I may get them in a grumpy mood but this is to be expected. But typically I can hold them calmly. Now my girlfriend tries to work with them and its attack city all the time. They for some reason do not like her. I always joke about it.

Well I did a hands on a few months at a Wildlife park and they had a huge collection of native snakes. The main employee talked about having an aggressive bull snake. This thing hissed and hollared at her but when I picked it up it was calm and submissive in my hands, like my snakes. I thought to my self, this is interesting. I asked if I could take this animal out to the main area where my girlfriend was. As I came near her this snake went into attack mode. I handed it back to the keeper and same thing. In my hand it was docile. I placed it back into the caging for it.

We suspected that the reason it did this was both women were in their mid 30 's and it could have been a hormonal scent issue. But I am just guessing here on this.
Click to expand...
Nah, the hormonal thing puts us into attack mode!:rofl:
 
It's definately a tough subject to ever be 100% on. I'd be interested if they just used the eyes or head of the owl if they'd get the same responce.

Who knows for sure right. I know that I have seen many different personalities in snakes, even snakes from the same clutch raised the same way.

Maybe they do "think" and not just react.

Hmmmmm.......
 
I always guessed it was a scent thing with the bullsnake. But I think the reaction was because he knew the male might go crazy at any moment, not because it smelled like a male. But that is only my guess.
 
1) You can't measure intelligence accurately no matter what species (including ours).

2) I seriously doubt you are going to MAKE any snake obedient. You can lessen your chances of them biting you by adding specific stimuli they associate with a specific behavior HOWEVER it is still their DECISION to bit you or not. Response to stimuli doesn't mean that the creature is unintelligent. A child for example can learn if it cries his mom will give him a sucker for him to stop and next thing you know the kid is crying every time he wants a sucker. This shows intelligence in the child.

3) All throughout the day we make conscious decisions that would seem like a simple cause and effect to stimuli to an outside observer. What makes you think other animals are any different.

4) Most humans are to arrogant and stuck on themselves to look at other species intelligence objectively. (Not saying any of you are this way ... but it is a fact.)
 
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