We’re mammals, they’re not. There’s an awful lot of space between us. To be able to make contact across the space feels rather special.
I had my little painted turtle for 18 years, my iguana for 17. They had enough time to learn a lot.
All it takes is love and patience: those two can accomplish much.
I have a video I took many years ago at the Cleveland Zoo of a tortoise that hung around at a corner of its enclosure just soaking up all of the petting and attention it got. They’re not so different from us mammals. 🙂
True, turtles do learn to like you. Our turtle kept hoping our cat, Henry, would feed him. But Henry never came across.
I didn’t realize or know that about reptiles. I knew they could become a bit tame, but what you describe with your pets, now that is special. To receive love from a reptile like that…a bit of heaven.
From Genesis, we can derive that all of the animals were created to live in peace with one another, and with mankind. It’s heartwarming when we can win the trust of animals, even domestic animals, but especially animals that we would not normally think of as pets. I watch several YouTube channels featuring wild species of felines kept as pets, such as I_am_Puma, I_am_Puma and Bobcat TB. It’s fascinating to see a mountain lion that is as docile as any house cat. But I digress.
Reptiles are capable of learning to be tame, too. I’ve seen a handful of examples. Snakes, can be tamed, although the definition of tamed might be fairly modest. The lady that has the Bobcat TB channel used to keep venomous snakes, such as Mambas and Cobras, and apparently was able to handle them without being bitten. I believe this is possible, but it seems exceptionally risky. I live in a place where venomous reptiles are fairly common, and I’m happiest when I don’t encounter them.
That being said, the Arizona Coral Snake is exceptionally beautiful and not known to be aggressive. If you ever encounter one, keep a safe distance, and you will see a snake of exceptional beauty. Likewise, the Gila Monster, while I’d never consider these beautiful, has striking orange pigment that is incredibly bright.
One thing is for sure, the iguana in that picture sure has a pretty girlfriend. 🙂
I knew somehow who had a houseful of venomous snakes. I wonder how long a burglar would last. Sure, the snakes all had glass cages; but I’m sure he had a way to let them out.
I think I’ll stick to lizards and turtles.
Many years ago, I visited a home where they had a prairie rattler in a terrarium. Prairie rattlers are nasty, nasty snakes. I wouldn’t want one of those escaping into my house.
I did once have a DeKay snake who escaped in the house, never to be seen again. They’re such beautiful and sweet-tempered little snakes.
I can’t help wondering why anybody would want a prairie rattler.
DeKay snakes are the definition of harmless. Prairie rattlers, OTOH, are about as mean-natured as anything I’ve ever seen. I got in a fight with one, nearly 40 years ago, and to this day, it’s an ugly memory. When I say fight, the word was carefully chosen. This stinkin’ snake approached me, rattling, and wanted to bite me. It took a while to kill it, but that was one hell of a fight.
We just don’t have anything like that in New Jersey. We do have a few rattlers, but I’ve never seen one.
We have diamondbacks here, but I haven’t seen one in years. The area I live in is slowly becoming more populated and I think that the rattlesnakes are moving out.