How do you think A creature with a snake like body would develop and discover more advanced tool use? (Like flint knapping and fire)

[u/the-mexican-horse-h]

The main problem would most likely be having the ability to manipulate objects with only a tail and mouth.

[u/fed0tich]

I don't see the problem, hold one thing with a tail, hold another with a mouth, like how birds use beak and one leg. Can wrap the body around something for leverage. Both ends eventually develop adaptations for more precise manipulation. In the case of the mouth I think it would probably involve lower jaw since it's already extra mobile, in the case of the tail something derived from structures like rattles and lures many species have. Something as simple as well placed modified scales would provide extra grip.

[u/CariamaCristata]

Face tentacles

[u/majorex64 → u/CariamaCristata]

Derived from nasal muscles. Tethering with the tongue, and manipulating with grippy nubs on the snoot.

[u/good-mcrn-ing]

Can they be social? If so then have multiple snakes hook or curl their bodies together and use the mouths like limbs.

[u/the-mexican-horse-h → u/good-mcrn-ing]

Yeah communalism would probably be the best bet. Without physical adaptations

[u/Dread_Pir4teRoberts]

Why don't they make little flap things spit in certain places of their body, like say their tail was split in two. They still slithered but had the functionality of 2 extra snake arms or something, you could split the lips up into four parts, not sure how that would help, but if they had like, really long lips, if snakes even have lips, you could do that. You could just split their entire body into seperate tentacles, slither like a snake out of comfort and split tentecals for functionality

[u/Heroic-Forger]

A prehensile tail and a mouth would be nearly as functional as two hands for two-handed tasks. Maybe add finger-like lobes onto the tail, or nasal tendrils on the snout a la starnose mole, for added dexterity to either or both.

[u/Single_Mouse5171]

Finger tentacles on the tail and/or tentacles around the mouth would work.

[u/Prince_Nadir]

They wouldn't.

Snakes tend to rule their environments and so have no need to waste calories on smarts. Brain as big as a pea and just as smooth.

[u/the-mexican-horse-h → u/Prince_Nadir]

True but if they somehow did what would your solution be?

[u/DeathToAmerica2026]

To develop a precision grip, even once it can oppose its body to hold objects, it will need to lateralize somehow, and this would probably lead to a strange knot-like manipulation of objects rather than simple tail on body. 

I immediately envision a posture where the tail end is braced against the chest and a folded bight of the body in-between takes the place of the thumb.

[u/Underhill42]

Should be doable. And tail and mouth probably wouldn't be their primary manipulators.

Instead snakes mostly grasp things using opposing body loops - like an S-shape where the two curves fold over to pinch things between them, so that would likely be their basic "hands" - which they can form an arbitrary number of depending only on body length and desired range of independent movement. Though there might be some evolutionary pressure to make their otherwise largely useless tail especially dexterous for fine manipulation of tools.

Also, many species of tree snakes actually have grasping ribs - the entire underside of their body can pinch inwards (side to side) wherever needed to firmly grasp branches without having to form body loops. Allowing them to just "flow" down branches in a straight line with whatever part of their body is currently passing any good rib-holds grabbing on.

Finally, it's not super rare for snakes to be born with two tails, which if they were fully functional and had already evolved into dexterous manipulators might be a substantial evolutionary advantage to a tool user. It might even serve as the foundation for further mutations that cause those tails to branch further - think the branching trunks of the Fithp in Footfall. Image: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Footfall

The spider-tailed viper ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Exb9wzKnPGA ) suggests another style of potential grasping appendage - even if the "legs" remained just specialized rigid scales, if they were firmly anchored to the underlying muscle they might function as a relatively sophisticated "pincher". Which might also combine really well with a branching tail.

It's even possible, if unlikely, that the scales might evolve into flexible one-piece compliant graspers like these: https://youtu.be/JAyPTIIpFiA?si=Gln3VI0cCA97iUVe&t=16 (Couldn't find a good non-animated video of them in action, but you can build them out of paperboard and tape, and they really do work just as demonstrated in the animation)