I agree with both of you in the fact that you should never stick your hands in the cage. We always use a hook to at least get their attention to let them know there is no food coming into the cage.

What I meant by "tail wagging" is a very slow movement from side to side, not like colubrids when they are imitating a rattlesnake. We have corns, so I know exactly what you mean.

I agree with Mike in the fact that you have to learn to read your snakes. There is a definite difference in "feed me" mode and "curiosity" mode. With ours, "feed me" mode - they have their nose on the glass just waiting for that door to open. In "curiosity" mode - they tend to lift their heads to see what you are doing.

I don't buy into the theory that reptiles in general do not have emotions or recognize individual people. They have a great sense of smell. I used to have a 12 foot male burm that when I would take him outdoors, place him in the middle of the yard and walk a short distance away, sit down. He would raise his head as if to find me, then could crawl directly to me and curl up on me.

We had a pair of iguanas that were raised together for several years. The male died on the floor of the cage, (cage was 4X4X6 feet)the female came down and stood over his body. After removing him, she stayed in the area where he had passed for several days. After that she became so mean no one could deal with her anymore, so we gave her to a local pet shop for display only.

Maybe I am looking into this too deeply. These are just my experiences and am not looking to start any debates or arguements.

Randy
-----
Randy and Michelle
Art In Scales
(719) 439-4199
info@artinscales.com

[ Hide Replies ]

• Curious - jsmusmc, Mon Dec 10 12:03:12 2007
• RE: Curious - GrotesqueBurgess, Mon Dec 10 15:45:58 2007
• RE: Curious - artinscales, Mon Dec 10 23:11:20 2007
• RE: Curious - rottenweiler9, Tue Dec 11 10:11:07 2007
• RE: Actually, could be either one. - HappyHillbilly, Tue Dec 11 18:19:55 2007
• RE: Actually, could be either one. - artinscales, Tue Dec 11 19:49:31 2007
• RE: Actually, could be either one. - HappyHillbilly, Tue Dec 11 22:38:02 2007
• RE: Actually, could be either one. - laurarfl, Wed Dec 12 07:03:02 2007
• RE: Actually, could be either one. - rottenweiler9, Wed Dec 12 11:25:22 2007
• RE: Actually, could be either one. - laurarfl, Thu Dec 13 08:27:34 2007
• RE: Actually, could be either one. - rottenweiler9, Thu Dec 13 10:43:37 2007