This is a fun thread!

Personally, I wouldn't stick my hand in my 12ft Burm's cage. I also use a hook on anything over 5ft. Mine doesn't watch you when you enter the room, but if you approach his cage, he becomes very interested. I'm not sure what kind of response it is because I haven't had him long enough to read him on that intimate of a level, KWIM? Most of what I see from him is, "I am bigger than you, I am the Snake Lord...you silly humans are here to do my bidding." He's very huffy and seems to just tolerate us for the most part.

I do believe that reptiles are easily conditioned...that's why we use hooks with snakes. They learn to associate certain behaviors that we throw at them with feeding or handling. I have an alligator that is clicker trained for feeding and I'm the only one who feeds him. Oh yeah, he knows it's me when I walk by his cage in the evening! I get a much different response than other people walking by his cage. We also have tegus that are either clicker trained or paper trained for feeding. When my Colombian tegu is on her paper in the kitchen, she knows it's feeding time. (Same for the Argentine.) Snakes generally have a weaker sense of vision, but have a great sense of smell. I believe that they recognize us as well. Each of our bodies will throw a different outline to them coupled with our unique smell. If one person consistently feeds them, they can be recognized by the snake as "The Feeder Who Provides Manna From Heaven."

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