Do snakes "love" their owners?

[Angelica]

I'm curious -- I've had just about every pet you can imagine, but never a snake ...
Do snakes respond emotionally to their humans? I KNOW my cats love me ....
Cats purr, come up for pettings or to be held ... How do snakes express their feelings?

[thelmalu99]

Angelica, I have never had a snake as a pet either, but I believe that all animals are capable of knowing who is their "owner", the person who cares for them and shows them affection, and that they are capable of showing affection in return.

I have a pet turtle, and even though he is not snuggly and cuddly like my cats, he definitely knows me from anybody else. He is more comfortable around the people he knows than around strangers. He shows plenty of social behavior, but I also believe that it is because he is not caged. He roams the apartment and is free to interact with us.

As far as love, well there are people who will argue that cats and dogs don't really love their humans, either. These people will argue that these animals are simply responding to the person who feeds and cares for them. Personally, I don't believe this.

My turtle likes it when I hold him close and scratch his head. Sometimes he will close his eyes and lean his head into my shoulder. I believe that this is his way of showing affection. He doesn't always do this, but sometimes my kitties also don't feel like being held. My turtle certainly doesn't show affection the same way my cats do, but it doesn't mean he doesn't love me. He just shows it the only way a turtle can, LOL.

I may be silly, but I like to believe that he loves me just as much as I love him. To a snake owner, it's probably the same.

[lizbud]

Thelmalu,

I didn't know how much Yertle interacted
with you as a person. That is sooo sweet.
I will never think of a turtle the same way
again.. I think you're probably right that
any animal will respond to kindness & caring
attention, but do it in different ways.
Maybe not exactly what humans think of as
love, but I'm sure they know when someone
cares for them and makes them comfortable.

[ARWMAX]

Well Angelica, some snakes will love you sooooooooo much, they'll hug you neck real tight, sucking all the living daylights out of ya, be careful kid, some of them are deadly, on the other hand, I do agree they have feelings, just not as complex as ours.

[tazz1227]

Yes they do show love in their own way. We have a 15 foot Burmese Albino python and she knows when my boyfriend is there. He makes this noise and she comes to the top and he sratches under her head and she loves it. When he lets her out and they are on the floor she lays in his lap. Yes, do believe they can show love.

[Logan]

Yikes!! I guess this is good info, and I'm glad that the snake lovers get some loving in return for their good deeds! To each his own, I guess.......no snakes here and there never will be, but I'm glad that there are people who do love them and agree to care for them.

[ARWMAX]

I'd love to have a snake, but I don't have the heart to feed it mice, I'm all right with bugs, just not mice. I had a small mouse, it some how leaped out of it's tank onto my dad on several ocasions, but finally one day he eat through the tanks screen lid, and managed to escape. I dont know why he wanted to leave so bad, I always took the best care of him.

[tazz1227]

How do you think I feel? I have two big fat rabbits and that is what Sasha (the snake) eats. My boyfriend used to think it was funny until we brought the "kids". Now he feels bad.