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Are reptiles truly interactive pets, or are they more like fish? For instance, can you play games with them, or not so much?

Hello, They are not interactive in the sense you can play games with them or make them do tricks like a dog…(Though you can “tap train” a snake so It knows when it shouldn’t expect food… so I don’t see why you couldn’t train them to do other things with extreme patience).

They are also not really “affectionate” the way some mammalian pets can be….They are not social animals by nature and they do not need or necessarily relish attention and handling.

That said you can handle snakes safely and that dose make them “interactive” pets. They are really interesting animals to handle…And to me the fact they don’t necessarily need it is quite appealing. As pets go they are quite low maintenance animals which makes them good pets (disclaimer: Even so they can never be purchased on a whim without thorough research.)

The extent of how interactive the snake is to handle varies greatly from species to species though….

Using my own snakes as an example:

Leon my cave racer would probably rather be left alone to be honest.. As would Solo my ball python. Both are quite shy animals and when I go to pick them up the ball python curls into a ball and Leon will Sometimes try to dart away or just sit there depending on his mood. They are perfectly fine when out there tubs and do not behave aggressively or bite…. They obviously trust me to an extent and are quite calm being handled. The python was very very shy when we got him but is now more relaxed and explores more when out.

GLados my Leucistic black ratsnake has calmed down a lot since I got her with regular short handling sessions but I really have to be alert at reading her signals or she will not hesitate to bite me. Different snakes have different boundaries.

Biscuit the house snake flinches slightly when picked up but doesn’t try to move away. She is a very chilled out lady and while I think she would happily just sit in her tub forever she doesn’t object to handling at all and falls asleep in my partners hoodie while they are working.

Then there’s Levi the Russian rat snake … I really want to know what goes on in this snakes head to be honest as he is quite different to the others.

He actively comes out to me when I open his tank and when I spot clean he climbs all over me and smells my hands. He is just… very bold and totally unafraid of me but seriously hasn’t got an aggressive bone in his body.

When out and about he will sit on my shoulders for ages or he will just try to explore me and everything around him. He is a very curious but docile snake and seems for a snake to be pretty intelligent too. The species is known to have a lot of personality which is why I got him as my first snake.. I ramble even more about how cool Russian rat snakes are here.

Wow. So I hope You enjoy this essay I wrote… To sum it up… They are more interactive than fish, but not as interactive as some mammalian pets…

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