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hazliyaSo, after ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
elenuial headed downstairs, I went over to Bowie's cage, picked up him, grabbed a book, and sat in the sun on the couch. I plopped Bowie in my lap, thinking he'd appreciate the warmth and texture of the sweater-dress-thing that I wore, and started reading.
As I finished reading, I looked down, and Bowie was still contentedly sprawled out across my lap.
This is a huge freaking deal for the following reasons:
- Kingsnakes are twitchy. They're either sleeping or zipping, which means that Bowie was asleep for an hour.
- Kingsnakes don't sleep out in the open, compelled to find shelter for defense reasons. They zoom around until they find a dark, snug place to hide.
- A stretched-out snake is a vulnerable snake. They much prefer to be curled up and ready.
- Milk/kingsnakes don't bask. Which means that the sunlight wasn't doing anything for him.
- I haven't taken him out to explore since yesterday, and he's a super nosy baby.
- He was out in the open, and not flipping out to go hide somewhere.
Add this all together, and this is pretty atypical snake behavior. Especially for a snake as young (and therefore vulnerable) as Bowie. Which means something else.
Bowie trusts me entirely.
Enough to make himself totally vulnerable for an extended period of time, just because I'm there. He somehow knows, without the use of language, that this alien creature a thousand times his size wouldn't lay a finger on him.
And that just stuns me.
He's a snake. One of the furthest critters from humans in almost every way, especially when it comes to communication. And while I know that I've never given him reason to think I'd ever hurt him, I haven't seen any acknowledgment back from him until today.
And this isn't just being tame or used to regular handling. A lot of tame snakes will tolerate humans and that's it. This is a clear, understood "I know that you can squash me but I also know that you never will" on his part. Total trust.
I have a snake.
elenuial headed downstairs, I went over to Bowie's cage, picked up him, grabbed a book, and sat in the sun on the couch. I plopped Bowie in my lap, thinking he'd appreciate the warmth and texture of the sweater-dress-thing that I wore, and started reading.As I finished reading, I looked down, and Bowie was still contentedly sprawled out across my lap.
This is a huge freaking deal for the following reasons:
- Kingsnakes are twitchy. They're either sleeping or zipping, which means that Bowie was asleep for an hour.
- Kingsnakes don't sleep out in the open, compelled to find shelter for defense reasons. They zoom around until they find a dark, snug place to hide.
- A stretched-out snake is a vulnerable snake. They much prefer to be curled up and ready.
- Milk/kingsnakes don't bask. Which means that the sunlight wasn't doing anything for him.
- I haven't taken him out to explore since yesterday, and he's a super nosy baby.
- He was out in the open, and not flipping out to go hide somewhere.
Add this all together, and this is pretty atypical snake behavior. Especially for a snake as young (and therefore vulnerable) as Bowie. Which means something else.
Bowie trusts me entirely.
Enough to make himself totally vulnerable for an extended period of time, just because I'm there. He somehow knows, without the use of language, that this alien creature a thousand times his size wouldn't lay a finger on him.
And that just stuns me.
He's a snake. One of the furthest critters from humans in almost every way, especially when it comes to communication. And while I know that I've never given him reason to think I'd ever hurt him, I haven't seen any acknowledgment back from him until today.
And this isn't just being tame or used to regular handling. A lot of tame snakes will tolerate humans and that's it. This is a clear, understood "I know that you can squash me but I also know that you never will" on his part. Total trust.
I have a snake.
