Can snake feel? love? care?

[empty]

ok i was browsing on the internet about this "can snake feel" and i saw a website where there is a poll and now i wanna ask u guys,

i think they can love, no like mother and son love, or like girlfriend love, but they can i dont know why maybe am been stupid cause i want to believe that my snake can love me or know who am i, what do you think?

[sift]

Your snake can recognize you as a not-threat and may learn to associate you with food and warmth (two good things in the snake's world) but it cannot love you.

[ShaunM]

The inner optimist would want to agree with you empty, but logically i hafta go with sift on that one. It will associate you with food and warmth, and it could very well love those things. But they will always behave based on instincts, not on emotional bonds. Too bad tho.

[Frogsnbugs]

NO a Snake is just a Reptile that is only looking for food, warmth, and preferably left alone. As Mark says, when people get bit, A snake is a snake! They are originally from the wild and really aren't going to change much. They may recognize you but that's about it.

[empty]

ok but who says that snakes can love?... they are living creature with a heart, its like we are overestimate love, i know the snake arent smart, but you dont need to have a big braing to care or love, i think our snake can smell us and can know who we are, and feel safe and secure, and thats why they like to be with us...

[ShaunM]

like to be with us yes... but prefer to be left alone from everything, but in close proximity to their next meal. I would define love in this case by their actions.

Ie: A dog that loves you will come to your defense if it see's you being attacked, even at a risk to its own well being. A snake won't. Ever. It's survival instincts outweigh any possible emotions it could ever have.

[empty]

we are not comparing dog vs snake, dogs can think (i like to think that) i had a rottweiller and i know how a dog is gonna behave, but its about snake, of course they wont defense you but i think they can care about you and love in their own way...

[Spankenstyne]

While I believe there is more intelligence & thought process going on than most believe, I don't for a second think they feel emotion in any human sense.

[Anita_kat]

No, can a fish love? sounds stupid right? well sad to say but reptiles are not far from fishlike...

Weird how I'm saying that and I am in no way an evolutionist...

anywho back on topic.. they are instinctual animals.. and they do things solely based on there own needs...

If my dog snaps at me she spends the next 2 hours sucking up... even if she didn't hurt me. She knows she did something bad. A snake could snap at you and not care less if it rips a chuck of flesh off. Its only care is self preservation.

I do however think that they can become accustomed to our presence and get used to not seeing us as a threat. And I'm sure they can tell the difference between individuals quite well... they do have an excellent sense of smell. They might even trust people that work with them more then complete strangers.

For example, My one 5 year old BP always tries to come back to me when I give him to other people. He's still good with other people. But I'm pretty sure he recognizes me.
where as if some other random person is closer he ignores them.

[Sorozan]

I'm afraid reptiles use you like a bad high school girlfriend, in the end they're only out for themselves. One of my corns will immediately start looking for food whenever her cage is open or if the lid so much as rattles (despite being touch trained ie: poke=no food) because I'm associated with food...warmth and companionship be damned! She's hungry!

Though I've noticed my snakes when out of their enclosures are usually calmer with me or my boyfriend than someone else, I think this is more due to our being recognized as a non-threat than anything. They'll still allow others to touch and hold them without any problems.