The rat snakes were used as part of live animal show and after being released on the stage they would crawl to "tree" and raid a nest. The show was based on demonstrating natural behaviors of various animals and how they related to create an ecosystem. It was pretty cool.



There are actually lots of examples of reptiles that have been trained. Most of them have been so for husbandry reasons but some have been trained for shows. There have been green mambas, as well as many species of crocodiles, that have been trained to shift from their enclosure to a shift box to facilitate cleaning and other enclosure maintenance as well as medical procedures. Komodo dragons have been trained to follow a laser pointer and station while maintenance was being performed. I also know of Cuban crocs that have been trained to come when called (yes, I have seen this demonstrated and out of three crocs only the individual that was being summoned would respond) and station at their keeper's feet and then return to the water when told. All of this training was done by using positive reinforcement given for performing a behavior (food is pretty powerful motivator). I personally am not a huge fan of training just for trainings sake or for shows but I do believe whole heatedly in training for husbandry purposes. I have seen first hand how animals trained to perform certain behaviors can make life easier when caring for them. They have essentially been trained to participate in their own care.



Training can also act as a form of enrichment for the animals as it creates variety in their daily routine, activity levels, food presentation, etc. Some may view this anthropomorphic but I could easily see how an animal (even a snake) that has myriad choices to make in the wild (even if those choices are made only by instinct) could become "bored" in a sweater box or cage. Even an animal like a BP, which spends most of its time in wild in hiding, will spend some time exploring and/or hunting. So I think anything that we can do to create some variety in their lives while meeting their basic needs is a good thing. To me this includes activities like breeding but it could also include adding scents to thier enclosure, varying feeding schedules, substrate changes, etc.



So, this got a little long winded but these are just my thoughts; for whatever they are worth. These and $0.50 will get you the paper.



Rob



>>i think you're on the money on this one, my BP for example is very head shy. I am in the process of "training" him to be less so, thus modifying his natural behaviour. gently stroking up his neck till he starts to tense up then i back off. over time it appears to be working. BTW what did the guy with the rat snake teach it to do?

>>mike

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