Let's start off by saying that there will likely be no definitive answer, but let me throw out one thought. I think that one measure that we could use for determining that a snake is smarter than other snakes is if they eat other snakes. Simply put, and anthropomorphizing for a minute, if you are a snake that is going to eat another snake, you need to outsmart him. So I think that snake eating species need to move right to the top of the list. As such, I think that Apodora papuana (Papuan olive python), the various Drymarchon (indigos and cribos) and mussuranas (Clelia or whatever a mussurana is called today), and Ophiophagus hannah (king cobra) need to be considered. If another snake wants to argue that it is smarter, then we can put them both in the same tank and see if they can figure out how not to get eaten



I don't even know if there ranges overlap, but I have heard these Papuan olive pythons are said to hunt down and eat amethystine pythons. If so, that's pretty smart. I can testify that they will strike in bluff when I approach them in their cage and quickly mellow once out and in hand. Some of the guys that I have played poker with weren't even smart enough to pull off a good bluff.

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