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Can corn snakes tell the difference between people?

K

kalena

New member
We have 7 corns (all but one are 09's) and I handle all of them every day. While several of them try like the dickens to get away from me, none of them has ever "rattled" or struck at me. Once out of their vivs and in my hands, they always calm down and are very tolerant - resigned to the fact that mom is going to hold them, tough luck. My daughter Jennifer handles the snakes on a regular basis, but not nearly as often as I do. Just yesterday, we both washed our hands (so we smelled the same), and she went to pick up our striped male - Noodle. She immediately pulled her hand back out. She said, "Did you see that?? He rattled his tail like a rattlesnake!" She tried again, and sure enough, he pulled back into an "S" and rattled his tail. I reached in and he immediately stopped the defensive stance and went on the run under the substrate. I grabbed him and pulled him out, and he was calm while I held him. Jennifer then went on to hold some of the others, and they were fine. Then we got to our tiny little female ghost, Luna. I picked her up, she tried to escape as usual, but then calmed down once I had her. I handed her to Jennifer, and she went WILD. Lurching, darting, spinning her upper body like a helicopter rotor in Jennifer hand - it was bizarre! I took her back, and she was calm again. I handed her back to Jennifer, and she went nuts again. Jennifer has never abused the snakes, and only handles them in my presence. Is it possible that the snakes can tell people apart??
 
I would definitely say yes, they can. I'm usually the only one to hold my snakes but sometimes my mom will hold them. Tavi, the oldest corn will usually climb onto my arms when I'm getting her out & then will climb all over me. But when my mom tries to take her by having her climb onto her arms, she almost always jerks away.
 
I believe they recognise their usual keeper and when given a choice will go to them.

To my mind, it's about them recognising the keeper's smell (in the same way that a dog or cat would) and associating that smell with a) being handled safely and not being hurt, b) the appearance of food!

Those factors will always be preferred over an unfamiliar smell, as the unfamiliar person may be dangerous (or may not have a mouse about their person!).
 
bitsy said:
I believe they recognise their usual keeper and when given a choice will go to them.

To my mind, it's about them recognising the keeper's smell (in the same way that a dog or cat would) and associating that smell with a) being handled safely and not being hurt, b) the appearance of food!

Those factors will always be preferred over an unfamiliar smell, as the unfamiliar person may be dangerous (or may not have a mouse about their person!).
Click to expand...


I believe this is called Pavlovian Conditioning.
 
I would have to agree with Bitsy's take on it. Nothing quite so dramatic as you have described, but Ray seems to be more comfortable with me, as I am the primary handler and feeder.
 
Luna is our newest, youngest and tiniest baby - only 7 grams. So it doesn't really surprise me that she is skittish - I was just really surprised by both hers and Noodle's reactions to Jennifer. But right now, I *am* the Human With The Mice, so I guess Jennifer will just have to deal with it for awhile! We only (!) have 5 other snakes that willingly go to her!
 
I agree with the general opinion here, I'm pretty sure they recognise different people. Autumn is fine with me (primary handler, sole feeder) but the only other person he will come out of his viv and talk directly to is my mum. Although my fiance and my friend speak to him, he never reacts to any one else. Anyone else think there may be a vocal recognition?
we both washed our hands (so we smelled the same)
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is it possible that even though you washed your hands smells from something else on a long sleeve or something could still show a difference between you both?
 
I am firmly in the recognition camp. My wife and I have a couple of our snakes that are our favorites and generaly she handles Shiva and I Tek. Both are noticably more restless if we swap. None of our others seem to distiguish between us as we handle the rest together.
 
My snake tells me apart from the rest of my family. Like one day, i was showing my cousin my snake and i put her on a table. My cousin thought the snake was going to fall off, so she put her hand and he just backed up his head slowly. I put my hand in the same place and he came right to me. I have also noticed that when someone walks into the room, my snake stops smelles the air, and then after a while he goes back to doing what he was doing. He doesnt get all crazy with my family, but when i put my hand out, he comes to me.
 
We only have one snake right now, so she gets everyone's attention. I am the one who clean the tank, changes water, fluffs shavings, and feeds her. I am also the primary holder, but she will completely forget me if daddy is present. Last night he took her out of the tank as I got the mouse ready and she never let go of his finger as she ate. I even thought she'd make a play for his fingertips, but no she just wanted to hug daddy and eat at the same time.
 
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