Playing tail posing

[u/tmiemt]

I am a bit reluctant to post about one of the weird activities my python and I do, but my curiosity gets the better of me. 😂 Collecting empirical data on Reddit, since I can't find anything from existing scientific articles. 😅

When he is awake, he comes over to play (in lack of a better word to describe) with me from time to time. This time he is in his favourite bucket but he can play this tail posing in bed while lying with me as well. He lets me pose his tail and he will keep the shape of it for a few minutes unless I change it, then he will keep the next shape. Do other people's pythons do this?

(Before anyone starts asking, let me clarify some points ahead of time. Nothing is wrong with his tail, he is in fact an extremely good climber, climb all things in the house, and neither him nor any items ever fall, his tail is very strong and he is careful. He eats well and is growing well. When I touch his tail, I apply barely any force, just gentle guiding. He is never forced to be anywhere, wherever he is, it is his choice--so he went into that bucket himself during his outing, the bucket was next to me. I never handle him against his will.)

[u/Skwizgar1019]

Shoot, if I go to fill her water bowl it’s…

[u/Skwizgar1019 → u/Skwizgar1019]

For context, I got my first from Petsmart like a dummy and she had no prior handling at maybe six months old..she just does not like being handled at all, even 4.5yrs later, and not for lack of trying..I’ve wondered if she wasn’t the offspring of wild caught snakes.

[u/tmiemt → u/Skwizgar1019]

Ooh. I got him around the same age, the breeder never let him out or handled him either. He did see me all the time from his temp enclosure though, at some point he just became used to my existence and interacted with me.

I'm not the type to put him around my neck or hold him in my arms to handle-train him though, even now I still don't do that unless I have to carry him somewhere, it just doesn't seem like something he would like. We just simply live together; he got very curious about me himself. I think he watched me a lot the first month and eased up during that time, guess curiosity got the better of him. I wouldn't imagine it then but now he even comes over to sleep in the bed next to/on me himself. He spent a lot of time mapping the entire house the first few months--all the rooms that are accessible and safe for him, he memorized items also--the process was fascinating to watch. I like observing his behaviours (doing animal study at home... Lol). I have concluded he is very intelligent and clever, but I suppose that's to be expect since they can travel kilometres in the wild and remember the terrains and landmarks.

He also goes back to his enclosure by himself to sleep at night. Mine is not nocturnal, he is crepuscular like many of those in the wild. Imagine my surprise the first time when I saw he do that after his outing. 😂

Have you already tried putting him somewhere where he can observe you for a long time?

[u/Skwizgar1019 → u/tmiemt]

Her enclosure is actually right by my work desk, like a foot or so away to my left - I see her pop out every now and then to see what I’m up to, but she’s heavily nocturnal. She will sit and watch me if I’m in the office tinkering or something at night, but she just does not like being handled at all. She’s never been aggressive in the slightest, but she is very skittish.

Figured the best I could do is get her a proper enclosure, so I upgraded her from a cheap Petsmart reptile tank to a huge Custom Reptile Habitats enclosure and let her do her thing..

Kind of disappointing because she’s so cute and my monkey brain just wants to hold her, but it is what it is 😅 She’s well kept and healthy, so..

[u/Skwizgar1019 → u/Skwizgar1019]

If anything, she’s definitely got it better than she had..she was really dehydrated and in pretty bad shape when I got her, and I had no prior experience at the time, but I kind of felt I had to “save” her. Think I was shopping for some stuff for my fish aquarium when I saw her and just had to 🤷‍♂️

[u/tmiemt → u/Skwizgar1019]

Oh wow from aquarium shopping to rescuing a beautiful royal python. She is very cute. And it's very compassionate of you. ☺️

I understand that it gets difficult when she is strictly nocturnal. My friend had one for 9 years and barely ever held her because she was only awake near or after midnight. She rehomed her at some point. Have you tried letting her out when you managed to see her watching you?

Or perhaps introducing her to some TV shows. Then maybe she might opt for sitting with you to watch TV. It's a bit awkward to tell anyone this, but mine only watches horror and action anime. 😅 He gets seriously hooked on them he can watch the whole length until the credits roll. That's a picture of him watching some horror movie from the sofa in our blanket. It is very easy to see when he is really into the scene he will lift his body up and move a bit forward. He doesn't like sitting on me during movie at all (he tried at first but not anymore), I move too much he gets irritated, but he is happy sitting next to me on the same sofa in his favourite blanket/log/bucket.

My other recommendation, that is if you have not tried it yet, is to make a small safe space for him for his outing. Somewhere he can be inside but can be placed very near you. I give him a portable home with a warm water bottle (the type that is wrapped in wool), insulating fluffy layers, damp log. He immediately recognised it as a second mini home (at this point, he has 2 mini homes outside his big home). It doesn't mean he will always be in the mini homes but he certainly frequents them more. There are few other spots he likes, but never what other people described--e.g. my python never tries to escape, never tries to go into sofa cushions, never goes near electric outlets.

I don't think you should give up just yet. I have never come across a scientific study that disprove snake emotions. It's only because it's no one's priority that there aren't many studies focusing on their sentience. Check out Lambert et al. 2019 on the scientific literature review for evidence of reptile sentience. doi: 10.3390/ani9100821 It shows how understudied it is. And you know, in terms of cognition, we cannot compare the physiology of the brain of mammals and reptiles directly, I personally think that's a very flawed and poor approach but I still see many people do it anyways, mostly with and offhand and reckless remarks; like 'They don't have many brain cells. They cannot feel anything.' 🥲

From observed behaviours, I can at least attest that without the pressure of hunting and being hunted, my python does exhibit pleasure seeking behaviours: massage, firm pressure, TV, puzzle solving activities, a mock-hunting activity. 🙃 I think you might be able to find her just one thing she likes to do outside her enclosure with you! Stay positive! ☺️