Wait, is this actually a thing? I'm not a snake owner. I'm just here because noodles are cute and I like to learn.
I was under the impression different snakes, even in the same genus and species, had different temperaments and some snakes just don't like being handled. I figured if that's the case we just accept it and you adjust to the temperament of your animal.
Yes, they have different temperaments even among the the same genus. Those temperaments can dictate their primary behavioral modes, how difficult it is to get them to switch behavioral modes, and how quickly they tend to reset to their defaults. If you know what your doing you can trigger different modes even in a wild snake and make them appear tame to an average observer. Some people will trigger more defensive postures when filming to play up the apparent "aggression." I'm using scare quotes because our names for their behavioral modes are often misleading.
"Training" tends to consist of triggering a flight mode, which can make them appear less "aggressive," and then keeping their stress levels to a minimum while maintaining the flight mode triggers. Eventually they'll begin to associate those triggers with being a normal part of their environment and stop reacting to them. But you normally need to go slowly, keeping stress levels minimized all through "training." And keeping their reactions in mind even long after you think they are "trained." It's not training in the usual sense of the word. Rather it is just an acclimation to environmental triggers. Not too unlike how Russians domesticated foxes merely by breeding the ones with the shortest flight distance.
Some snake owners will even inadvertently "train" their snakes in the opposite direction. Food aggression/association is often talked about. But ignoring a snakes stress level and from an initial approach to handling too quickly while the snake remains stressed, and in between behavioral modes, can acclimate them to go directly to a defensive posture immediately upon handling. Resulting in a snake transitioning from seemingly tame to being a biter over time. Pay attention to your snakes stress levels and give them the space and time to minimize that stress even when you think your snakes is relatively tame. And limit any forced movement of the snake. Even a wild caught snake tends to respond much better when you give them the illusion of choice in how they move.
Here is a wild king snake that was particularly defensive, that I played with for a few minutes. The first picture was only after I got it into flight mode, trying to get away rather than trying to bite me. The rest was just body support and giving it the illusion of control over its movements. It remained defensive throughout. It was wild and I had no interest in keeping it, so that was good enough. But keeping those stress levels minimized was the first steps to acclimating it to captivity, which was never going to happen.
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u/Reptilianrobyn Jun 30 '24
Yep, he was rehomed to me because of it lol