Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i have a baby gopher snake and a baby red racer (coach whip) both caught on my farm, i decided to put the gopher snake in the cage with the racer while cleaning out my extra tank... well an hour later i looked back in there and they were curled up togather, and now they wont stand to be seperated! i know the coach whip is mean as hell, he strikes at the glass when i walk by, but could it be possible for these 2 diffrent snake species to actually like or "love" each other?

Snakes don't have any type of social structure. They also give no care whatsoever to their young...as the young are able to care for themselves as soon as they are born.

So...snakes really have no reason for protective, companion and possesive instincts that people would call "love".

Snakes feel most secure (safe from predators and other threats)in a tight place, so most likely they simply always curl up together because it makes them feel safe...as if they were in a tight hiding place.

` Don't close your mind to any of them!

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To the possiblility that any of those animals "love" or even "like" each other, at least in the way humans define those emotions.

If to "love" or "like" means simply to enjoy it's presence, just like they'd enjoy the presence of a nice hiding place or a nice branch to climb...simply for security or for sensory stimulation...than sure. I mean, let's face it, we put snakes in a sterile environent void of much at all to stimulate the senses or cause curiorsity. That being the case, it would seem natural that a snake would tend to "enjoy" anything that relieves the "boredom" of captive life...so...they snuggle up with snakes from another part of the globe.

It's just impossible to put it in human terms. I don't believe for a second that snakes feel emotions like "love" as humans do.
They have no use for it.

` I'm not quite sure why you answered my post with this answer. Were you aiming at the originator of this thread?
` As for me, I won't deny, or admit to believing in, notions about an animal whose consciousness is so different from mine. I have though, definitely seen snakes, and even tropical fish for that matter, get angry, and stay that way for some time. Blow on a tarantula, you'll see a pissed off invertebrate.
` You state that they can't "love", or even "like", but you state that they can be curious, and enjoy. Also, you stated that they can be bored? Either you're cutting it pretty fine, or you're contradicting yourself.
` You did manage to get something of mine in there, though. You should keep in mind that many different, and distant parts of the world have similar climates. Also, most tropical snakes ( not to mention temperate snakes ) can tolerate, and thrive in, a much wider range of habitat conditions than most closed minded folks would allow for. Sick, and contagious critters, are entirely another matter.
` Besides all of that, the originator of this thread did not say that the snakes felt love "in the way humans define those emotions". It should be understood that, "what you're talking about is what you're talking about." If you start talking about biting, do you have to explain the difference between human, and Elapid bites, for example?
` I do however understand your title to your post. A closed mind, even a "pretty closed" one, is a thing to fear.

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