You can see her tongue-flicking and essing up. This is my Boa's reaction to food in its enclosure. They will be much more inclined to follow the movement in a forward direction, inching towards it. In contrast, if the movement has sparked their interest because they think it is food, their reaction (on top of tongue-flicking) will be more forward. For example, my Ball python is 10 years old now, and in the 8 years I have had him, he has struck only twice out of self-defense. Some species decide to bite very quickly, some species are known for being general assholes, but most commonly kept snakes are pretty laid back. However, if the threat doesn't go away, they might bite. Of course it depends on the species and disposition of the snake, but if they feel threatened, most of all they just want to be left alone. Snakes that feel threatened are not likely to give chase. This is a point where it is easier to tell defensiveness apart from a food-response. This might be very subtle, like tracking the movement just with an eye, or they might just follow it with their head. However, if they are agitated, they will be much more inclined to follow any movement around them. They'll go about their happy business, whether that is sleeping (likely) or exploring (depends a bit on species).Īs you can see above, she is just moving around, minding her own business, tongue-flicking every now and then and ignoring my movement with the camera :) If they are relaxed, they might very well just ignore you. How does the snake react to your movements. This is about the situation when you are near the snake, with the cage open for example. Many short flicks.Īt this point, it is still hard to distinguish food-mode from angry-mode, but that will come with: Movement around them Mostly I would describe it as much more agitated. When they have to be more aware of their surroundings, for example if they feel that they are in danger, or that there is food somewhere nearby, they will be flicking a lot more. If they are relaxed and moving around, they'll just flick lazily every now and then to take in their surroundings, to check if there is anything interesting somewhere. The way they use this is very indicative for their mood. Each time they do that, they smell their surroundings using an organ in the top of their mouth. For this they use their iconic tongue-flicking. So they rely very much on scent as sense. Having their head closer to their body also means that it is easier for them to protect their head.Īll in all, I'd say it isn't the best indicator for their mood. My Ball python will also do this as a part of their defensive posture, even when they have no intention of striking. This kinda looks like an ambush position, but that does not reflect her attitude when the cage is opened, so I'm going to chalk it up as idle. My Boa will just idly hang down her branch. Sure, having this 'S'-shape in their body will mean that if they strike, they can suddenly cover a bigger distance, but that doesn't mean that always if they coil up like this they want to strike, and neither do they always coil up before striking. 'Essing up'įor example, the "essing up" which my boa constrictor will sometimes do is a defensive/offensive stance, and suggests that it might strike, Even snakes can have wildly varying personalities. How exactly these moods look differs immensely between species and even specimens. There are roughly three kinds of moods you need to be able to tell apart in snakes:
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