....domesticated. Unless I missed it, we still have not established our definition for this discussion. If your definition of domesticated is predictably tame then yes, some species of snakes can be domesticated. By predictably tame I do not mean the snake will never bite (even dogs and cats will bite at times and they are considered tame and domesticated) just that the animal can be handled somewhat consistently with the reasonable expectation that it will not bite. If your definition of domesticated includes the animal in question returning affection then no, I don't believe snakes can be domesticated.



Personally, I think tame and domesticated are two different things and I think that some species of snakes (like BP) are closing in being domesticated. By that, I mean, with all the morphs that are available and being combined we are now starting to make animals that are significantly different than their wild counterparts. Even if you may come across a given morph in the wild (as evidenced by the various imports that have proven out over the years) the liklihood of finding combinations (like a killer bee, for example) in the wild is probably close to nil. Domestication, in this case, has nothing to do with their tame demeanor as I think most would have considered ball pythons tame many years ago when there were only "normals".



As for whether or not a snake can be trained, in my opinion the answer is yes. I have seen rat snakes that were trained and could be counted on to perform a specific set of behaviors in response to specific cues as predictably as any other animal that is trained. I guess that too, however, comes down to what your definition of a trained behavior is. Another discussion, perhaps?



Rob

[ Hide Replies ]

• can a snake be domesticated? - mldolan, Tue Mar 11 20:45:58 2008
• RE: can a snake be domesticated? - j3nnay, Tue Mar 11 20:52:39 2008
• RE: can a snake be domesticated? - FatBoyBallPython, Tue Mar 11 20:53:59 2008
• RE: can a snake be domesticated? - mldolan, Tue Mar 11 20:55:46 2008
• link? - robyn@ProExotics, Tue Mar 11 22:16:19 2008
• RE: can a snake be domesticated? - ravencassidy, Wed Mar 12 03:12:25 2008
• RE: link? - mldolan, Wed Mar 12 03:17:28 2008
• RE: can a snake be domesticated? - mldolan, Wed Mar 12 04:29:26 2008
• It depends on your definition of..... - Rob Lewis, Wed Mar 12 07:25:03 2008
• RE: It depends on your definition of.... - mldolan, Wed Mar 12 11:56:34 2008
• RE: link? - mldolan, Wed Mar 12 12:56:09 2008
• RE: It depends on your definition of..... - winnipeguy, Wed Mar 12 14:03:29 2008
• Reptile training....kind of long.... - Rob Lewis, Wed Mar 12 14:58:55 2008
• NO - jyohe, Wed Mar 12 16:24:54 2008
• RE: It depends on your definition of.... - mldolan, Wed Mar 12 17:39:40 2008
• RE: It depends on your definition of.... - Paul Hollander, Wed Mar 12 18:05:30 2008
• Cats especially! n/p - brhaco, Wed Mar 12 20:35:47 2008
• RE: It depends on your definition of.... - winnipeguy, Wed Mar 12 23:13:33 2008
• RE: It depends on your definition of.... - Rob Lewis, Thu Mar 13 06:34:31 2008
• I'll define domesticated. - HydraZulu, Thu Mar 13 13:44:03 2008
• tamed? - robyn@ProExotics, Thu Mar 13 18:09:33 2008
• RE: tamed? - HydraZulu, Thu Mar 13 20:44:27 2008
• ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, - jyohe, Fri Mar 14 15:34:21 2008