[Handling] Memory

[Aspectt]

How long will your snake rember you? I have been on trips and have jot been able to handle my boa is over a mnth he seems much more defsendive now I was wondering could he have forgotten me... and if he did what is a snakes memory?

[Noelle7206]

Re: Memory

No way to answer this....just like humans, some snakes likely have a better memory than others, PLUS, just like us, repetition probably improves theirs too. In other words, the longer your snake has known you, AND-OR

the more actual contact you've had with him/her during that time, the better chance that he/she will remember you. Keep in mind their cues are not so much visual, but tactile (actual handling...they learn both our touch

and our scent) and in many years of keeping many snakes, I find they seem to know me even when I don't handle them often. They stay 'tame' & don't bite or panic when handled even if only picked up like once a month,

but if you haven't had this snake for long before this absence, that is why he is now spooked. Give him more time...they definitely DO learn to recognize us and remember us quite well if we have spent some 'quality time'.

Something you could have done (& might try if there's a next time?) is to leave a well-worn unwashed shirt of yours in his cage while you're gone....something to 'remember you by'. A photo won't do it, LOL!

Something to keep in mind: snakes (even when captive-bred) are still "wild animals" that rely on their instincts for survival, unlike 'domestic' animals. That's partly why we love them too.

[Pandorasdad]

Re: Memory

I don't know of any real answer to this. You may get som anecdotal answers, but no real scientific ones.
I, for one don't believe that my snakes give a darn about me at all. Nor do I believe that they love me. They may be conditioned to know my scent, but whether or not that is "memory", I don't really know.

Sent from my HTC One via Tapatalk

[Noelle7206]

Re: Memory

They HAVE to have the ability to remember: they learn they way around in the wild and don't survive if they can't find their safe places (shelter from predators & climate). They are more difficult than most creatures
to 'test' (and few scientists WANT to work with snakes!) but some studies actually have been done to show this. (with specially designed mazes in the lab & with RF tracking devices in the wild)

I'm not saying my snakes "love me" nor was that the original question here, but we are definitely part of their world that they recognize...if we give them the chance, anyway. You do have to BE there, they aren't going to
learn to recognize you by reading a book....LOL!

And as a 'member' of the "glass-is-half-full" society, I believe optimism in this regard is far more productive than pessimism. We tend to find what we look for, or discount what we don't believe ahead of time & never find it.

[shelleyr123]

Re: Memory

There have been questions for years as to whether snakes can actually recognize individuals or are simply used to humans in general...some scientists believe King Cobras and possibly Mambas do show the ability to recognize individual people (i.e. their keepers) but there's no proof of this yet, and so far the jury is still out...

In my opinion snakes do not recognize individual people, but have "learned" not to fear people and to feel comfortable with a certain type of handling (confident and gentle)...people who are tense and fearful handling a snake will trigger fear in the snake, but I don't think it's a case of the snake reacting to a stranger, only that the handling experience is different and therefore scary...I have handed my snakes off to numerous other people who were comfortable with them and never seen any change in the snake's behavior from one human to another...certainly an interesting topic though

[shelleyr123]

Re: Memory

Just wanted to add that this whole thing reminds me of one of my favorite Terry Pratchett quotes--he's talking about reptiles and says that their world can basically be divided into 4 parts:

A) Things you can eat,

B) Things that can eat you.

C) Things you can mate with.

D) Rocks.

I believe that humans are comfortably at home in the "Rocks" category, with occasional visits to the other 3 if we make a stupid mistake--like startling the snake or sticking a hand into their enclosure after just thawing rats...

[Aspectt]

Re: Memory

Well I Take it I was just over reacting because last night he acted eerie but I am holding him right now and he does as he always has... or he might have been in one of those moods

[Pandorasdad]

Re: Memory

I'm not saying my snakes "love me" nor was that the original question here

I was not insinuating such.

But I am not one to ascribe human characteristics to my snakes. That does not mean that they don't have personalities. But I truly don't believe that the remember me as "Dad." They generally know that I am not a threat. That is conditioning, or even training if you will. But they still act on instinct more than emotion or memory. Finding food and shelter is instinctual behavior and can be observed from neonates.