You know you are really into snakes when you wait for your snake to close her cute little eyes first.
Unfortunately, you would have a really long wait, because snakes cant close their eyes. But snakes do sleep. Just not necessarily at night.
Many snake owners wonder if they can sleep with their snakes (just like pet dogs or cats).
It is not a good idea for your pet snake to go to bed with you .
Lets take a quick look at the main reasons why.
7 Reasons It Isnt A Good Idea To Sleep With Your Pet Snake
You might not expect the reasons why it’s not a good idea for your snake to sleep with you.
Here are the seven main reasons to leave your snake alone in his enclosure while you sleep.
You Can Fracture Delicate Bones In Snakes
Snakes have fragile bones. It is very easy to flip your snake over and break one of its vertebrae.
Big vet bills could follow.
Sleeping with your snake is more likely to injure your snake than your snake is likely to injure you.
If Your Snake Has Eaten Recently, It Could Throw Up
It takes snakes a while to eat. They also take a long time to digest their food, usually two or three days.
During that time, the prey animal is being broken down by stomach acid.
A snakes stomach acids have to digest the outer layers of the animal before they reach the inner organs.
If you were to roll over on your snake in the middle of the night, it might throw up in the bed.
Snake vomit can smell horrible and may also contain Salmonella.
Most Likely, Your Snake Won’t Sleep With You.
Most people are more active during the day, but most snakes are more active at night.
Most snakes (we list a few exceptions in the Frequently Asked Questions section below) would wriggle away from you as soon as possible.
If your snake didnt crawl away to check out your puppies, your kittens, or your kids, it might curl and hide behind a baseboard, or maybe in your shower (as once happened to the writer of this article).
There wouldnt be any cuddle time and your snake would just be worn out the next morning.
Your Bed Is Not At The Right Temperature Or Humidity
If you don’t like to sleep at 32 C (33° Celsius), with a vaporizer, your snake won’t be happy in your bed.
Even if your snake were to crawl under the covers with you, it might still be too cold, but not damp enough.
Comfortable sleeping for you is not at all the same as comfortable sleeping for your snake.
Big Snakes Need Supervision
If you have one of the species referred to as the Big Four, a Green Anaconda, African Rock Python, Burmese Python, or Reticulated Python, trying to sleep with them is essentially letting them roam around without supervision.
Its an invitation for your big snake to find a way to slither out and explore the rest of your house.
That would include the sleeping quarters of your kids, your guests, or Grandma and Grandpa in the mother-in-law suite.
Or maybe your big snake would find its way outside. Your snake could be endangered if your neighbors call Animal Control or the Police.
Dont let big snakes escape at night.
Snakes Pee And Poop Wherever They Please
It is impossible to train your snake so that it can be housebroken.
They will relieve themselves whenever and wherever they feel like.
Reptile excrement is often very smelly and can be a problem when you’re trying to sleep.
Snake Mites Can Also Bite People
Its rare for pet snakes to bite their humans, except at feeding time. (Many snakes dont have very good aim, and will bite the hands of their owners feeding them, or other snakes in their enclosure.)
Ophionyssus Natricis mites, which infest snakes, can infest humans as well.
These mites cause breaking out in red, oozy, pus-filled pustules that are similar to a very bad case of acne.
Unlike acne, acase study in a medical journal reported, these mite bites are very itchy. Humans won’t stop scratching their mite bites but snakes can’t.
Some snakes seem to have a special bond with their human owners.
Most snakes eventually get used to humans and feel less afraid of them.
Your snake will cuddle if you are warmer than their heating lamp.
Frequently Asked Questions About Sleeping Snakes & Sleeping With Snakes
Q. How can I tell if my snake is sleeping?
A. Snakes don’t have eyelids so they sleep with their eyes closed. A brille is a protective membrane that covers the eye of a snake’s eye. The brille comes down over a snakes eye while it is sleeping.)
Snakes never get shut-eye, but you can guess when they are sleeping.
- Time of Day There are just a few species of snakes, like hog-nosed snakes, patch-nosed snakes, sipos, and racers that are more active during the day than at night. Other snakes may be sleeping if they are inactive during the day.
- Seasonal Differences In the summer, most snakes sleep for 16 hours. They may spend as much as 20 hours a day sleeping during the winter.
- Position A snake that remains in the same place for long periods of time without moving is likely to be asleep. However, they may also stay motionless when they are hunting.
- Brumation Some snakes go into a kind of winter hibernation called brumation. If you open your snakes enclosure when it is brumating, it may just ignore you. A brumating snake may be confused for a while if you pick it up, but will return to sleep once you put it down.
When you suddenly wake up from sleep, you can become startled. Your snake can also be startled.
You should be careful with any snake that suddenly wakes from its sleep.
Q. Q. Why does my snake love to sleep in his waterbowl?
A. It is not uncommon for snakes to take a rest in their water bowls. Some species, like anacondas and water snakes, spend much of their lives in the water and like to have a water bowl large enough to rest almost completely submerged.
But sometimes soaking is symptomatic of a health issue.
- High temperatures Snakes rely on heat from outside sources, but most pet reptiles can’t tolerate temperatures above 38 C (or 33 degrees Celsius). If your pet is not a water snake or an anaconda, and is still sleeping in its water bowl while you are away, ensure that the temperature isn’t too hot.
- Humidity Control Snakes need high-humidity environment. This is particularly true for viper boas, rainbow boas, and viper boas. They may seek refuge from their water bowls in order to keep their skin moistened if the air in their enclosures becomes dry. You can reduce humidity by increasing air circulation, but not so much that it causes fogging. If large patches of condensation appear, increase ventilation.
- Mites Mites are to snakes what fleas are to dogs. Sometimes snakes soak in their water dishes in an attempt to drown mites. If your snake seems to be soaking excessively, check for mites.
- Snakes need more water to keep hydrated as they shed their skin. Your snake may spend less time in its water bowl if it has a moist hide box.
Q. Q. My pet python came up to me and sat on my bed, while I was asleep. Was it being affectionate? Was it trying to eat me?
A. A. Or even if it were, youre probably too large to make your pythons lunch.
For a moment, let’s say that a python other than your pet crawled into our bed and stretched out beside us. The python wouldn’t be measuring you to determine if you were prey.
Pythons look at how wide their potential food is, not how long it is. The average width of a human shoulder is 15 to 46 cm.
Very few pythons can swallow animals that are between 15 and 46 cm in width. If your python is stretched out beside you, it is not trying to find out whether it is long enough to eat you.
A python may, however, regard you as a potential source of heat. Pythons are cold-blooded.
They can’t generate their own heat. The human body can produce its own heat. Your python might just want to share your warmth.
The amount of heat it can absorb from you is maximized by stretching along your side from head to toe.
