# Eye contact with your python?



## ytamarin (Oct 29, 2007)

I'm curious about how good pythons are at making eye contact. 
This has come about because even though I know my python is not out to get me, he sure makes it look like he is. When I am holding him and just being still (seated, with him almost on my lap), he will look right up at me and slowly increase his 's' shape, creeping up closer to my face. Once he has suddenly struck out at my face after a time without me moving or anything. 
Just now I was trying to feed him, and he wouldn't take the mouse but instead decided to look at me instead. I put the mouse down beside him, he ignored it and stared at me. I had lifted the paper towelling up because he was under it, so I just lifted it a tiny bit more so he could no longer see my eyes. He lifted himself up higher so he could see me!
Do most people have similar experiences? Other pythons I have held have not been the slightest bit interested in my face, and definitely wouldn't make eye contact. I should mention that my python is still a youngen'.


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## Kathryn_ (Oct 29, 2007)

Wow, that's quite interesting behaviour. In a mammal i'd say that was quite threatening, especially since he's actually tried to tag you. Does he do it every time you handle / feed him, or just when he's in a foul mood? I'd say he's trying to let you know not to mess around with him, raising himself to your eye level and staring seems very much a "you might be bigger than me, but don't mess with me buddy" type thing.


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## bjbk18 (Oct 29, 2007)

one of my diamonds always looks me in the eye like that but has neva stiked well least i hope he wont. But at dinner time the only way he will eat is if i hold the rat with the tongs if i put it beside him he will not even touch it. Then when i try and pick it up with the tongs he strikes at that.


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## PhilK (Oct 29, 2007)

It's probably just looking at the big potential predator leaning over it.

Mine looks at me when I move around. They just want to make sure you aren't about to eat them. Turning their back on a potential predator in the wild would usually end in them being eaten.


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## ytamarin (Oct 29, 2007)

Well, he is always in a foul mood. He hasn't calmed down in the slightest since I got him. I just didn't expect a reptile to be so good at eye recognition (I moved the paper towel a milimetre or two just to cover my pupils and he moved up just as much to be able to see them again).
He obviously feels very threatened by me...but I'm surprised how alert he seems especially since snakes are supposed to have bad eye sight.


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## Wild~Touch (Oct 29, 2007)

The snake is probably just watching your eyelashes flickering (they focus on movement)

Try to relax a bit and maybe the snake will too


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## Gecko_ProCs (Oct 29, 2007)

mine stares me in the eyes and slowly gets closer to my face then looks up and slithers into my hair hahaha


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## Kathryn_ (Oct 29, 2007)

The vision thing is a myth, his colour vision won't be great but his ability to see shape and movement is roughly as good as yours, particularly if he's a climbing species. Next time he does it check out his pupils - if they're big and round, he's scared and you should probably just leave him be.


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## bredli84 (Oct 29, 2007)

sounds like my water, he wont eat if i am leaning over him. he will also strike at my face more readily than at my hands etc.
bredlislave might be right about them focusing on the movement of your eye lashes/lids.


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## ytamarin (Oct 29, 2007)

So you are saying I should stop trying to seduce him??


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## WombleHerp (Oct 29, 2007)

Gecko_ProCs said:


> mine stares me in the eyes and slowly gets closer to my face then looks up and slithers into my hair hahaha


 
hehe thats the same with george  he'll just keep climbing! love him sooo much!


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## firedragon (Oct 29, 2007)

Our spotted will stare at me then stretch out to my face usually eyes first, then flick his tounge all over my face feels pretty cool


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## bredli84 (Oct 29, 2007)

yellowtamarin said:


> So you are saying I should stop trying to seduce him??



u might be coming on a little strong....:lol:


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## dintony (Oct 29, 2007)

bredli84 said:


> u might be coming on a little strong....:lol:


 

Yeah, maybe play a little harder to get.


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## ALLANA (Oct 29, 2007)

Kathryn_ said:


> The vision thing is a myth, his colour vision won't be great but his ability to see shape and movement is roughly as good as yours, particularly if he's a climbing species. Next time he does it check out his pupils - if they're big and round, he's scared and you should probably just leave him be.




There pupils to my knowledge don't change because of there mood. Lighting is what changes the size of your pupils for eg, bright sunshine there pupils will be almost non visable or like cats eye's, and in the dark or at night with bad lighting there pupils are big and round. 


I think your snakes just trying to threaten you. Think of snakes such as GTS and cobra's they look there attacker or pray dead in the face. If you pick up a GTS they almost always follow your face (eye's) no matter which way you move. I guess when you think about it, your face is were your mouth is (the thing that's going to eat it). Not sure what you can do to stop it, I just suggest keeping him away from your face


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## ytamarin (Oct 29, 2007)

Haha yeah I keep him away from my face, hasn't got me yet!
I can understand why he's doing it, I started this thread mainly to find out if sustained eye contact is common between pythons and humans. He might have a very small brain and therefore not the greatest intelligence, but he keeps surprising me with things like this that remind me not to underestimate natural instincts and behaviours...fascinating!


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## Joshua VW (Oct 29, 2007)

I have a Darwin and she loves to sit in her branch all day, does that mean she has good eye sight?


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## ALLANA (Oct 29, 2007)

yellowtamarin said:


> Haha yeah I keep him away from my face, hasn't got me yet!
> I can understand why he's doing it, I started this thread mainly to find out if sustained eye contact is common between pythons and humans. He might have a very small brain and therefore not the greatest intelligence, but he keeps surprising me with things like this that remind me not to underestimate natural instincts and behaviours...fascinating![/quote
> 
> I'm not sure how common in pythons it is, meaning how your guy reacts but that's what I meant with the GTS and cobra's etc they all use the eye contact method like what he's doing, although these arn't pythons same idea . I guess thinking of a python ready to strike they usually stare at you in the face  And yes I agree snakes are a lot smarter than I think we give them credit for. Lizards are the same, almost always stare you straight in the face that's why the old saying when catching them don't look at them in the eyes:lol:


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## bredli84 (Oct 29, 2007)

yellowtamarin said:


> Haha yeah I keep him away from my face, hasn't got me yet!



i got nailed between the eyes by my water, was embarassing


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## Snow1369 (Oct 30, 2007)

i think it needs a pshycologist (sp?) he sounds fine to me don't be a wuss  You've got another thing coming if you get a nasty water  (especially if i picked it)


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## Snow1369 (Oct 30, 2007)

Acctually one of my childrens got my mate on the check, she liked faced for a while


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## $NaKe PiMp (Oct 30, 2007)

interesting observation,ive noticed they look you in the face,except when you offer food then they lock on to the prey item as if in a trance.
but different snake individuals behave differently,some seem alert and threatened,others seem
mellow and freindly and come up to your face and give it a little lick


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## PhilK (Oct 30, 2007)

Like I said, it'd probably just be keeping his eyes on the predator.


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## natrix (Oct 30, 2007)

I have several pythons but the only one that looks me in the eye is my big coastal , he never
looks threatening though , just mildly interested.


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## Kathryn_ (Oct 30, 2007)

Logan & Allana said:


> There pupils to my knowledge don't change because of there mood. Lighting is what changes the size of your pupils for eg, bright sunshine there pupils will be almost non visable or like cats eye's, and in the dark or at night with bad lighting there pupils are big and round.



You're right about light, but dilated pupils are also a sign of a sympathetic nervous system response - which is why it happens to scared people and people on amphetamines, and any other excited (eg hunting or scared) vertebrate. 

My mac shows me exactly what mood she's in with the rate of her breathing and the size of her pupils, just the way a cat or a human will. If she's breathing quickly and looking at me bug-eyed, I know to put her away because she's not happy being handled right at that moment. Other times her pupils are appropriate for the level of light in the room and she breathes normally, so I know she's chilled out.


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## Stroppy (Oct 30, 2007)

Perhaps you're just a little paranoid,,,, you hear about myths and legends about snakes,, especially serpent tales etc,,, myths about snakes date back beyond bibilical times,, and it's simply a matter of deciding wether or not you're gonna get drawn into any of those myths,,, or wether you believe that we as humans are a little more intelligent.

Don't get intimitated by your snake,,, because the snake will sense it an take advantage of it,,,, it's a bit like having kids.........lol or a wife...........even more lol

Good luck


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## bitey (Oct 30, 2007)

Stroppy said:


> Don't get intimitated by your snake,,, because the snake will sense it an take advantage of it,,,, it's a bit like having kids.........lol or a wife...........even more lol


lol good call stroppy :lol:


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## ytamarin (Oct 30, 2007)

Heheh you all seem to think I'm scared of my snake! Nah I love him to bits, I'm just really interested by his behaviours because, well, animals are interesting!
Snow you ain't choosing my water python I've made sure of that


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## Tatelina (Oct 30, 2007)

I didn't think their eyesight was that good...?


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## Just_Joshin (Oct 30, 2007)

Tatelina said:


> I didn't think their eyesight was that good...?


It's not.


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## $NaKe PiMp (Oct 30, 2007)

yeah its not the best

they use there heat sensing pits when hunting


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## Chimera (Oct 30, 2007)

Tatelina said:


> I didn't think their eyesight was that good...?



It's not however I believe a pythons heat sensitive pits are linked to the part of their brain that also handles vision. You may not be moving however your breath will create a moving warm object in the air.


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## ytamarin (Oct 30, 2007)

Chimera said:


> It's not however I believe a pythons heat sensitive pits are linked to the part of their brain that also handles vision. You may not be moving however your breath will create a moving warm object in the air.


So you would agree with the suggestion that the reason he focused so intently on my eyes was because of my eyelids blinking? 
Or do the eyes give off a different 'colour' in the radiation spectrum to the surrounding face? 
Or just an inbuilt ability to recognise eyes despite poor vision?


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## Chimera (Oct 30, 2007)

What I'm saying is that it would probably have nothing to do with what you can see. A humans body temperature is around 37 degrees, when you exhale while breathing comfortably the air has had an opportunity to heat up to over 30 degrees. The movement of that air is probably what your python is noticing despite you remaining still.

An interesting question to answer is whether a pythons defensive behaviour is directed toward a threats head to improve effectiveness (most animals are protective of their head and eyes) and whether heat plumes from exhaled air are used to identify this part of their body.


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## ytamarin (Oct 30, 2007)

Ok, yep, I understand that in regards to a python looking in the general direction of the face. I doesn't explain his accuracy though to my pupils - as I moved the paper towel up *slightly* he lifted his head *slightly* so he could still look in my eyes (I repeated this a few times to check that it wasn't just coincidence). If he was looking at the heated air around my face he wouldn't have needed to adjust his height to match my eyes.
The other possibility is that he just moved up as a reaction to the paper moving, nothing to do with what he was looking at at all...as in just sensing that I was 'hiding' because there was slightly less of me to see...


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## Kathryn_ (Oct 30, 2007)

What species is he? Like I said, if he's a climbing species and he's close to your face, there's no reason he wouldn't be able to see your pupils and deliberately make eye contact.


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## ytamarin (Oct 30, 2007)

Kathryn_ said:


> What species is he? Like I said, if he's a climbing species and he's close to your face, there's no reason he wouldn't be able to see your pupils and deliberately make eye contact.


He's a childreni, 11 months old and tiny.


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## junglemad (Oct 30, 2007)

i have heard you don't look rotties in the eyes. i have never thought about it with snakes


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## Lockie (Oct 30, 2007)

Well obviously he's possessed. Perhaps you could have someone perform an exorcism? I think it costs more if you want the exorcist to dance around chanting in the ancient language waving an incence stick.

Seriously though; stick with it. I'm sure he'll come around... My JCP did the exact same thing to me once - gradually got closer then struck at my face - he missed my nose by about 1cm!!! Eventually he got used to me and now I dont have any problems.

I often turn around from my computer and see Jasper watching me - he sits in his log with 1/3 of his neck out, looking at me lovingly... damn I think i've got a gay python....!

For Sale: 1 Jungle Python. 
- Likes mice, leather pants with the back cut out, and policeman hats. 
- Most active around Mardi Gras time. 
- Not suitable for breeding.

okay just kidding... hope all turns out well - i'm sure he'll come good soon.

regards,
Lockie


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