Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I thought they couldn't, but I swear I saw my Kenyan Sand Boa move it's eyes.

My snake moves his eyes....

Then I'm not crazy! Maybe I'm thinking about the fact that they don't have moveable eyelids and I'm getting confused....

Thanks!

I'm almost sure that they can also move their eyes independently, and look in two directions at once.
For some reason a snake moving its pupil and looking straight at me is the only thing about snakes that creeps me out a bit.
It can be hard to catch in Kenyans because their irises are usually brown. If you see a light eyed KSB or a gold eyed russian or javelin you'll really see those eyes move.
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Peter: It's OK, I'll handle it. I read a book about something like this.
Brian: Are you sure it was a book? Are you sure it wasn't NOTHING?

>>I'm almost sure that they can also move their eyes independently, and look in two directions at once.
>>For some reason a snake moving its pupil and looking straight at me is the only thing about snakes that creeps me out a bit.
>>It can be hard to catch in Kenyans because their irises are usually brown. If you see a light eyed KSB or a gold eyed russian or javelin you'll really see those eyes move.
>>-----
>>Peter: It's OK, I'll handle it. I read a book about something like this.
>>Brian: Are you sure it was a book? Are you sure it wasn't NOTHING?
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Good luck and Happy Herping
Brian

Yeah, but why would you want to stare at a colubrid???

(Just kidding, I have 8 of the darn things)
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Peter: It's OK, I'll handle it. I read a book about something like this.
Brian: Are you sure it was a book? Are you sure it wasn't NOTHING?

>>Yeah, but why would you want to stare at a colubrid???
>>
>>Just kidding, I have 8 of the darn things)
>>-----
>>Peter: It's OK, I'll handle it. I read a book about something like this.
>>Brian: Are you sure it was a book? Are you sure it wasn't NOTHING?
-----

Good luck and Happy Herping
Brian

2 of them strike at the glass upon seeing me... I'll admit to staring at the rest...
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Peter: It's OK, I'll handle it. I read a book about something like this.
Brian: Are you sure it was a book? Are you sure it wasn't NOTHING?

Yes, snakes most definitely can move their eyes. And all the ones I’ve observed can move each eyeball independently of the other. If you’ll look at a snake at rest in a cage (one not distracted by you or anything else), you’ll probably be able to observe that it often has one eye pointed forward and one back; or one oriented upward and one downward. Seems like a fairly obvious advantage for being on the lookout for predator or prey.

Perhaps you’re thinking of the immovable spectacle which covers the eye. What were moveable eyelids in the long ago ancestors of snakes (and which persist in most lizards today) have through evolution fused to become the tough, clear protective scale we can observe when the snake sheds its skin. Actually, in the “ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny” vein, this process occurs during development of every snake in its egg. That is, a ring of tissue around the edge of each eye grows inward until it meets in the middle and fuses.

guess I just never noticed it on my Ball Python and it's just easier to see on my Kenyan Sand Boa
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0.0.1 Ball Python
0.1.0 Kenyan Sand Boa (normal) "Gimli"

if you see a picture where a snakes eye is obviously turned go to BOB CLARKS website.go to animals/hybrids.then go to forums/search/enter borneo bat eater/click onto the most awesome looking critter i have seen in a while

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