Reptile & Amphibian Forums

In the field I've noticed that different species of snakes seem to have different levels of "intelligence" compared to others. I'm not talking about reasoning skills or anything like that but Racers, for example, seem to be very alert and intuitive. In a study of a small population of racers that I periodically helped out with it looked as though the racers could pick out individuals who had visited the dens and handled the snakes most often and would watch them specifically and seemingly ignore us non-regulars. Ratsnakes, on the other hand, come off as being dumb as bricks. Obviously different species are going to behave differently and have different reactions to the same situations but have any of you picked up on similar trends? It would be interesting to hear of other people's experiences.

Diurnal snakes seem to be more aware, and it makes sense to their survival to be that way. I have found that gartersnakes for example (also diurnal) can be very interactive to human keepers. So yes, some types of snakes seem more inquisitive. To humans that implies intelligence.
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Mark

You can probably attribute a lot of that to racers having better vision also. I had one when I was a kid that would catch lizards out of the air when I threw them in his cage.
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What goes up must come down...unless it exceeds escape velocity.

Intelligence in wildlife is a very interesting topic. At times I catch myself believing that my snakes recognize me, but I know its just the snakes associating me w/ food. I understand what you mean when it comes to racers, but they are what they are
: an active, alert species.

yeah. I guess I used the word "intelligence" pretty loosely. It's just really interesting that racers seem to be able to pick out individuals that they recognize from a crowd of 5 other people. In this case it isn't food but a determined threat which must have caught the snake's attention. The particular snakes that were able to do this I believe were all ones that had transmitters surgically implanted. A process like that must leave quite a mental mark on some types of animals. If they have very acute eyesight they they may see people as distinctly from one another as we can or even better.

The coachwhips I keep show borderline problem solving intelligence. It's almost creepy at times.

Kevin

Good point. Certainly better vision makes for more awareness.
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Mark

Whether an inquisitieve and alert nature denotes intellect is debatable, but you've definitely got to throw Gopher snakes into the mix when discussing those attributes. I've observed the ability to "learn" (or @ least associate one activity w/ another) in these snakes. For instance, when I come home from work in the morning (I work nights) I've noticed the vibration of the opening/closing of my door will bring the snakes out of their hides and get them to stare @ the exact spot on the couch where I sit every morning, whether I am sitting there or not. I have, however, also observed similar behaviors in my W. Hog (in the bedroom staring @ either the bed or the computer chair) and w/ my friend's King and Corn (staring @ his chair in the living room when he comes home).

reako45

For sure snakes know whats going on in thier imediate environment, I had a 5 minute game of pee-ka-boo with my cribo the other night that gave me the shivers cause she knew where I was going everytime.

Well, in my experience with snakes(thousands in 40 years of exp.) I don't see much in the way of "real" intelligence. I find that they are an extremely simple animal, that govern most of their lives by a few simple instincts. For example, a snake will kill a rodent by constriction, then search the ENTIRE cage for sometimes minutes wondering were the mouse is, the whole time being right there in it's own coils. But by the same token, I also understand why they do that,...it's because they are extremely excited from the scent of the prey item, and because the prey item is no longer moving. Snakes are not very smart at all, but they don't give up, and are very persistant at what they do, this is what has kept them thriving for many millions of years.

Oh!,...and yes, racers are VERY "tuned-in" to anything that moves. They are diurnal(daytime) hunters with large eyes that can see VERY well when foraging for prey, while many other types are geared towards waiting for their prey, and ambushing it.

best regards, ~Doug
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

i love me snakes but i always figured an animal that lays in the road isn't all that bright.

n/p
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"Better to be silent and thought a fool, than to open mouth and remove any doubt!"

I'll jump in with my opinion (many) snakes are very sensitive to heat and odors, that said each of us will have a certain signature, for whatever reason a given snake may associate that signature/person with a past experience. (i don't know if snakes can form long term memories or not) but i would guess so. a simple i know this thing, and it is not a threat to me/ i know this thing and it might try to grab me/ i know this thing and it has warm things that pick me up and takes me to interesting areas to explore. I'm not a snake whisperer so i'm just guessing.
cheers
Mike
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Jayne "The Hero of Canton", Ball Python
Edmund Slackbladder, Mexican Kingsnake
El Diablo "They haven't built a cage I can't get out of" Pueblan Milksnake
(Currently serving 25 to life in a Maryland Supermax)