Quote:
Originally Posted by pied pythons
yes, hormones will play a part in snake breeding...but unlike humans, they don't choose a mate as such, as in they don't mate with only the snake they think is sexy or has a nice pattern, or shiny skin etc...they mate due to stimuli in the environment and pheromones (sp.) in order to pass their genes on to the next generation... and unlike humans they do not feel love. It is merely sex to continue their race and pass their genes on, and is stimulated by the environment, and hormones...unlike humans who (mostly!) have children because they want to...and even if it is an accidental pregnancy in humans, they had sex because they wanted to, because we enjoy it.
I'm not saying animals dont enjoy sex, but it's not the reason they do it. There is no emotional reason behind breeding.
|
I don't agree with that. Of course they "choose" a mate, its those pheromones that allow them to select the "prime" mate, the fittest, stongest, healthiest snake available, so effectively "the sexiest"! In a viv during breeding they are often just offered one mate and that'll have to do, as their sex drive pushes them to mate regardless (due to seasonal factors etc). It would be interesting to see which female a male selects if say you gave him 3 to choose from. They are driven to achieve survival of the fittest, just like we do, thats why we find people attractive, their appearance and pheromones attract us to an "ideal" mate as we wish to have the stongest, healthiest offspring. We just call it love. We stay with them because we want to continue to produce the best offspring possible. Alongside that, we now make "educated" choices, we've developed beyond an only pheromonal attraction, in so much as, if a person is disabled or carries/develops an illness, we can see past that and remain with them, loyalty, long term attachment and love prevailling above survival of the fittest. We also make partner choices on superficial things such as money and status, these have become "attractive" due to the society we live in. Conversely, although chemically driven to mate, in additon, birds and fish also have superficial criteria, they select a mate with the most stunning plummage/patterns and display dances, nest building and choice breeding spots. Maybe they enjoy sex, who knows? But we enjoy sex because it feels good, it feels good because its supposed to, we'd never carry on our species if it didn't! We just learnt how to make contraceptives, so we could have our cake and eat it!
Back on topic though, why not handle the Royal? With gentle, persistent handling the royal may just 'learn' the OP isn't a threat. All creatures can be frightened of the unknown, of something that is bigger than they are and their natural response is fight or flight. Some snakes never will calm/tame down, but theres no harm in trying. I have to admit, I enjoy interaction with my snakes, I don't kid myself they enjoy it (hey, they might, who knows?) but they most likely tolerate it. But I don't wait for them to come to me, if I was waiting for my BRB's to come to me I'd be there all day! They will always prefer their cosy, dark hide to coming out into the light for me to handle them. Its like waiting for a horse to lie down and allow you to ride it, it would never happen. You have to tame the horse and it learns to accept a rider. You don't wait for the horse to offer you a ride, you saddle it up and mount. Handling a snake is purely for your pleasure, so you'll need patience and you need to demonstrate repeatedly that the activity won't hurt the snake, that its not under threat. Maybe try the worn shirt or sock trick, pop one in the viv, maybe in a hide it uses to allow the snake to associate your smell with security. Some folks swear by this, others think its daft, worth a go though! But from the sounds of the Royal at the moment, the placing of the clothing may be a dangerous enough activity! Get the missus to put it in!
09-05-2008, 02:53 PM
Linear Mode
