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Snakes have feelings too!

ClutchItAllDay

ClutchItAllDay

New member
I just feel like my pet snake has feelings. Weird to explain but like when I hold him and watch tv he will be just fine. But when I pay attention to whats on tv and don't move my hands much he tries to escape like he feels like he is being ignored. I usually pay alot more attention to him know cause it seems to calm him down. Lol. Let me know what you guys/girls think.
 
I think that the snake just hopes you aren't paying attention and can get away.

I don't think snakes have emotions, but I think they have feelings as far as "I am safe" "I am cold" "I am hungry" etc.
 
Not to be a downer but snakes are pretty simple creatures. I don't believe they have feelings. They are pretty much instinct driven. Like Alicat said, more of a I'm hungry, I'm hot, kind of thing.

I snake will never love you and will never want attention from you. They are very solitary creatures. They do tolerate handling but do just fine if you ignore them for a week.

Personally it's one of the things I love about them. If life gets busy I don't have to worry about needing to give them attention. When things slow down they will be there and really not care one way or another.
 
How do you guys know snakes don't have feelings? I'm not saying you're wrong, but who decided that?

I kinda think that all of the hatchlings I've held have feelings, but it was probably me projecting emotions onto them.
 
I don't know the biology of snakes, but I do believe they can learn. They may be "simple", but there are new studies to support this idea of learning (read in Corn Snakes, by VetMB Lance Jepsen, 2013). Also, one thing I never got... if snakes get used to us handling them, are they not *learning* that we are not going to eat them, thus they do not fear us any longer? Just food for thought. :) Might make a post about this, actually.
 
Well, if you can simplify love into "I feel safe with you and you take good care of me," then it is easy to say that they can and do love us. Mine really would rather be on me or my husband than anyone else. Is that love, or is it just "These people are the most familiar and I know they treat me well."

It really is hard to say, because at the end of the day instincts are also known as gut feelings.
 
Even a goldfish can learn but it doesn't get warm and fuzziness when we are around.

But that's ok it's just how they are. Snakes tend to sit on people because they are warm IMO. I guess my snow corn knows my scent and I am familiar to her. She does try to come to me when I have other people hold her.

I don't consider this love though. it's not the same sort of bond I have with my dog.
 
I know my kingsnake in particular is plenty able to feel anger... :laugh: He starts off calm, but if we try to tease-feed him too much he *will* lash out at us and not the mouse.
 
HVani said:
Personally it's one of the things I love about them. If life gets busy I don't have to worry about needing to give them attention. When things slow down they will be there and really not care one way or another.
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I agree! I love this about snakes.
 
Aozora said:
I know my kingsnake in particular is plenty able to feel anger... :laugh: He starts off calm, but if we try to tease-feed him too much he *will* lash out at us and not the mouse.
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Definitely gave me a good laugh!
 
Snakes aren't human. but just because they don't express love like humans do doesn't mean they don't have feelings and can't love.
As far as I know there is no proof that they don't, so why go around telling people that they can't love.

Let's all make our own observation. you know your snake better than anyone else does.
 
I find my reptiles to know me as okay. When other people hold them, they resist and try to come back to me, but then when I take my BP back, he sits there grumpy with me haha. My corn snake though will freak out with other people holding him, but when I take him back, he calms down. I don't know if they go as far as loving me, but they do know you're safe as other people have said.
 
The thing is there is proof. Scientists have studied their brains and have come to the conclusion that they are very primitive and do not feel complex emotions like love. They do feel things like fear, pleasure, and pain. But that's ok if you ask me I still enjoy me. I just feel it's necessary to realize they really could care less about me. That doesn't mean I don't love them, I just have no expectation of that emotion being given back to me.

I guess it doesn't matter in the end. I just feel people should not humanize their snakes too much. Personal opinion.
 
I think that it's all in the eye of the beholder as cliche as it may sound. I mean really if you have a bond with a pet (whether," love" is in the equation or not), there is obviously some kind of connection. How do you define that? If they prefer to come to you over someone else, if they are just chilling in their cage and you put your hand in and they crawl on to be held, if you are holding them and they just remain calm in your hands and relax in a comfortable position, if they curiously look upon you while you hold them jutting their body out putting their face closer to yours. I mean, maybe these aren't "feelings" per say, but they are obviously evoking some sort of thought process as to, "I have a connection with this individual, or I think of them as a caregiver." Obviously not in those words. But, if they are able to make that connection, which I believe whole heartily that they are based on my experiences, then I think they are completely capable of, "feelings".

That being said, why is someone in a white coat who sits in a lab and is taught to be critical and use scientific approaches to finding meaning in things better to judge this than people who spend years with the hobby? Yes, they may find the answer based compiling data and scientific logic (which is claimed to be, "fact"), but I think they miss a lot of the stuff we are able to catch based on hundreds to thousands of exposures and situations. Sure, we attach feelings because we want to and care about our pets, but I still think we are just as qualified as hobbyists to come to our own conclusions and back them with evidence.

Just my two cents.
 
I think that it's all in the eye of the beholder as cliche as it may sound. I mean really if you have a bond with a pet (whether," love" is in the equation or not), there is obviously some kind of connection. How do you define that? If they prefer to come to you over someone else, if they are just chilling in their cage and you put your hand in and they crawl on to be held, if you are holding them and they just remain calm in your hands and relax in a comfortable position, if they curiously look upon you while you hold them jutting their body out putting their face closer to yours. I mean, maybe these aren't "feelings" per say, but they are obviously evoking some sort of thought process as to, "I have a connection with this individual, or I think of them as a caregiver." Obviously not in those words. But, if they are able to make that connection, which I believe whole heartily that they are based on my experiences, then I think they are completely capable of, "feelings".

That being said, why is someone in a white coat who sits in a lab and is taught to be critical and use scientific approaches to finding meaning in things better to judge this than people who spend years with the hobby? Yes, they may find the answer based compiling data and scientific logic (which is claimed to be, "fact"), but I think they miss a lot of the stuff we are able to catch based on hundreds to thousands of exposures and situations. Sure, we attach feelings because we want to and care about our pets, but I still think we are just as qualified as hobbyists to come to our own conclusions and back them with evidence.

Just my two cents.
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thats exactly what I was trying to say. I just really suck at writing :p
 
I got your points Michiel. You were kind of what inspired me to write this this morning because I felt very similar to you. I got what you wrote just fine. I'm a Communication Major, so stuff like this is natural to me. Just don't ask me to do Math... I failed Business Pre-calc at Mason... twice... lol.
 
lol, yeah I would do much better with math, also english is my second language....I moved from Holland about 7 years ago :D
 
AliCat37 said:
I don't think snakes have emotions, but I think they have feelings as far as "I am safe" "I am cold" "I am hungry" etc.
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Yes, they probably have feelings/emotions but probably not verbal "I am" thoughts.
The feelings are triggered from external stimuli, like mice or or other sexy snakes.
They might also feel hunger and act/hunt as a result of that internal stimuli.

They do have sensory sensations, they see and register temperature and pain and react to such stimuli.
Snakes have instincts that tell them how to react on sensory stimuli, but not verbal or cognitive ability to reason logically.
 
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