It’s common practice when keeping pets to provide an environment that either closely mimics their natural environment outside of captivity or to give the pets stimulating toys to prevent the onset of boredom and even anxiety or depression.
For pet snake owners, however, it can be challenging to know whether or not a snake can suffer from boredom as they are not the most engaging or ‘playful’ pets, even at the best of times. Therefore many people often wonder whether pet snakes can get bored or sad.
Many people claim that pet snakes do not have the emotional intelligence to feel boredom or sadness; if you suspect signs that your pet snake is displaying these emotions, they are more likely to feel stressed, anxious, or fearful. However, if you provide your pet snake with regular feeding and a spacious enclosure with cool hiding spots, your snake should be happy and content.
There are currently not enough in the way of studies to accurately interpret specific emotions in snakes, which include boredom and sadness; however, in this article, we are going to look at a range of studies and factors that could indicate your snake is showing either of these emotions and how you can potentially prevent it.
Do Pet Snakes Get Bored
Pet snakes can’t get bored, according to numerous sources. A popular YouTuber posed this exact question to his audience. While the majority seemed to think that pet snakes can get bored, scientific research (though limited) appears to state otherwise.
It’s been shown that snakes do have dopamine receptors; however, there is not enough evidence to suggest that the dopamine response is enough to elicit excitement or boredom to anywhere near the same level that humans (or common pets like dogs) experience.
Bored might also be the incorrect term to use in this instance; an enclosure that does not have a suitable hiding space or an environment that doesn’t closely mimic a snake’s natural environment outside of captivity is likely to cause stress and lead to defensive behavior.
Do Pet Snakes Get Sad
A study has shown that 75% of pet snakes in the UK will die within one year of ownership due to the stress of being held in captivity. Therefore it’s not necessarily that a snake is sad or lonely but rather that it is stressed and anxious about being kept in captivity.
Snakes are, by nature, lonely creatures as they do not seek affection or companionship, and it would be a mistake for pet owners to expect the same level of friendship and love from a snake as they would from a dog.
A snake’s brain is not wired to provide this level of connection, and it’s tough for most snakes to associate the owner as their owner, despite what loving snake owners might tell you otherwise.
Therefore, what we might perceive as sadness, loneliness, or boredom is just a snake being comfortable in its unique way. However, there are certain things that snake owners can provide to ensure that they are living a scandalous life in captivity.
How to Keep Your Pet Snakes Happy
As you might have gathered from the above, we don’t yet completely understand a snake’s emotional behavior, and it’s often difficult to tell if your pet snake is showing affection, love, boredom, anxiety, or stress.
That is unless it shows the apparent sign of fear by hissing and attacking (this is probably the only emotion we can know for definite that snakes display).
While it’s true that your pet snake might not feel bored or sad, there are certain things you can do as an owner to help it feel comfortable, contemptuous, and, dare we say, happy.
The basis of ensuring your pet snake lives a comfortable and happy life is to focus on the environment in which you give it to live.
This enclosure or terrarium should have a few key features, from special lighting to warmth and a cool and dark area for the snake to hide.
The enclosure should also be spacious enough for the snake to fully stretch out (which will be difficult if you own giant pythons, for example) and include greenery that allows it to resemble a jungle and offers branches for the snake to utilize and wrap around.
Besides the enclosure, regular feeding will help your snake identify you as the owner and provide a positive association resulting from delivering food.
Finally, if you believe your pet snake is feeling bored or sad, you can provide it with some snake toys. These are not traditional toys you would give to a puppy to play with, for example, but rather toys that enable the snake to go about its natural movements.
Snake toys include large branches or logs to wrap around, a small pool or bed of water to swim in, and hiding beds to enjoy in the cool shade.
While these might seem boring toys to a human, these items will keep a snake relaxed and comfortable in captivity.
Summary
While it’s unlikely that your pet snake is bored or sad, especially if you provide it with basic needs of regular food and a spacious environment that closely mimics the wild, we can still take steps to ensure that pet snakes do not get bored or sad (even if we aren’t entirely sure if this is an emotion they feel).
Snakes, for the most part, do not like human (or other animals) company and are lonely creatures by nature; therefore, do not assume they are bored and never try to force contact with them if it makes them uncomfortable.
The best way to maintain a snake’s happiness is to provide it with a spacious environment that specifically caters to its needs, a large branch to wrap around or a shaded area might seem ‘boring’ to a human, but this is natural for a snake. As far as we know, these basic needs keep a snake happy.
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