Whats the deal with giving your snakes names?

[harpercat]

I love my pets and simply can't imagine not giving a pet a name. It's the most natural thing in the world. Whether or not the amimal itself responds to it is immaterial, it's just part of acknowledging the pet's importance as another member of the family. Is a snake any less important than a cat or a dog? Of course not.

[EasternGirl]

I think my chihuahua is starting to think his name is "Oh for the love of God dog!" or possibly "No" . We did a little test run the other night and since his name is Presley, we tried calling him Parsley to see what would happen. He answers to Parsley too. Lol...

[katach]

They don't necessarily hear the name but the tone and inflections in our voice. Try calling him something completely different with the same about of syllables and using the same tone and inflections, I bet he would come to that also.

[d_virginiana]

I give my snakes (and my other animals) names primarily so other people know who I'm talking about when I want to tell stories about them. I communicate with one of my dogs using almost only clicks/growls (yeah, when we're around other people I use words, but seriously, that system worked quicker than verbally training any of the other dogs I've ever had) and body language. She's the one that goes out in the woods with me, so talking or yelling for her to come is counterproductive when we're trying to sneak up on wildlife. She knows her name, but I almost never use it.

I'm more than a little obsessed with animal behavior, so I always try to communicate with my animals in ways that they can understand and not assuming they're experiencing things the same way I am. They're still members of the family though. Even the millipede.


And also... Bawbag? Who's idea was that??