Can reptiles be tamed? V 1.0

[morti]

Originally Posted by razeraze

Do you have evidence of this? I heard it was a genetic defect that a small percentage of rattlesnakes are born with out a rattle. This means they can not warn off enemies and have to resort to biting.
Tame is a strange word I guess I use "well behaved" more than tame. I have seen plenty people bitten by "tame" domestic animals.

I can tell you from my experience in the field that the vast majority of the Timber Rattlers (Crotalus horridus) in Meade County, Kentucky have full rattles, but they are really difficult to provoke to use them. They tend to be really tractable and easy going too.

[crocdoc]

Thanks, Tom! I'm not sure I'd go that far, but thanks, anyway.

I recall hearing somewhere that timber rattlers were less inclined to rattle than species from more open country, anyway. Is this true or just another one of those myths?

[hisba]

I've been conditioning my snakes with a spray of water and a touch of the hook to the head so they know I am taking them out of the cage instead of food coming in. It's been working well over the last 4 years since I started doing it. Some used to be very defensive and required a 'screen' and hook to get them out. Now I can just tap their head with the hook and then reach right in and pull them out with my hands. I just see that as conditioning, not that they have 'become' tame. I do believe over generations if breeders selectively breed the docile ones it may lead to babies *in general* that are also more docile. Of course they all seem to have their 'moody' days. I think the remark about feral cats/dogs is also a good point... they still have to be interacted with, usually at a young age, to be 'tame'.

[razeraze]

Dave you are one of the few people who dispels the animal planet shows, and much of the dirty secrets about the reptile community. You are also one of the few who lives in the area of the species you keep (making your observations invaluable).

As for the rattlesnakes I had a website stating there was a genetic mutation resulting in adult snakes with out rattles, how ever I have not been able to find it. Perhaps anyone who works closely with this species can point me in the right direction.

Morti and MPGT thanks for the valuable information and observations.

[RioBravoReptiles]

The simple answer is NO, reptiles cannot be tamed. I believe that what is called 'tame' behaviour in reptiles is something else entirely. On this thread BW has come closest to explaining it..
.
The most pertinent observation I've made in many years of keeping reptiles and observing reptiles in culture is this: Many inexperienced keepers somehow end up with boas and other reptiles that seem ill-adjusted! More experienced keepers (even including those same people who found reptiles to be problems when they entered the hobby) miraculously come across reptiles that are entirely manageable! The animals are the same. It's the keepers and their experiences, techniques and their expectations that have changed, not the reptiles.
.
Want a tame pet? Get a pet rock! but even that could injure you if placed on a shelf above your head and something causes it to fall. Animals aren't tame, even Cocker spaniels, they are what they are.. people place labels on their behaviours that please them.. and not always in ways you anticipate! For example.. some people like to believe their 6 foot boa is a family member.. others want to declare them too dangerous to be experienced by yourself! both opinions are off the mark. People are nuts and unpredictable, not boas.
.
Want to keep reptiles? Cowboy up a little bit and get over the search for a TAME pet.
.
That's what I think about that.

[TammyJamaica]

I certainly think that reptiles can be "tamed", as in, they can get used to their keepers and not panic at the sight, smell or touch of them. I also think that they may not lose their original "wild" side, and this will come out in the right circumstances.

I had a turtle that learned to come to me for food. I would wrap the food in a plastic bag, so there was no smell, and sit in a chair across the patio from her pond. (This was after previous sessions when I would sit in the chair with food and throw it in the direction of the pond quite a few times, and she would come out of the pond and take the food, and go back into her pond with it.)

This turtle would now come out of her pond and come to me over quite a distance, all I had to do was go and sit in the chair. When she got to my feet, I would take out the food from the bag and give it to her. She expected it from me even though she could neither see not smell it. If I did not sit in the chair, she would not come out of the pond.

This turtle showed me her "wild" side by an unfortunate habit she developed, of grabbing pigeons by their heads as they tried to drink from her pond, (the "pond" is a large metal basin with rocks to climb out on!) pulling them down into water as a crocodile would, and drowning and eating as much of them as she felt like (which was hardly any at all as she was not driven by hunger, being regularly fed with lots of protein).

Of course some reptiles can be "tamed". Some need more handling than others, some never really get "tame" enough to be trusted!

[razeraze]

Gus, as usual you hit the nail on the head.

I don't trust any animal and the less brain cortex layers they have the less I trust them. I think "tamed" lures people into a false since of security which is a recipe for disaster.

Crocdoc: I believe you were the one who told me there were more otter attacks at your work than crocodile attacks, because of this complacency. Please correct me if I am wrong.

[Stargazer]

Can we get a good definition of the word "tame"? Naturally, if some snakes are more docile than others, it would make sense that this trait could be bred into them after many generations of breeding for it. Does that make them tame?