pet snakes

Snakes get a bad reputation due to the Bible, many of them are venomous and several of those that aren't tend to resemble those that are, and people tend to like animals that are usually fluffy and cuddly and snakes aren't.
 
Snakes get a bad reputation due to the Bible, many of them are venomous and several of those that aren't tend to resemble those that are, and people tend to like animals that are usually fluffy and cuddly and snakes aren't.

That's a good rundown of it. Also, as a question of my own, are snakes capable of feeling any sort of companionship?
 
On the other hand, Hellenistic era Greeks would keep a snake or two around the barn to keep mice down. Probably because Egyptian domestic cats were uncommon.
 
Snakes aren't trainable and either can't survive the cold or hibernate for the winter. Thus, there's no usefulness in having them about the home for people to grow used to using them for companionship.
 
That's a good rundown of it. Also, as a question of my own, are snakes capable of feeling any sort of companionship?

They don't have the same neurochemicals than mammals do, so they don't feel "love", but they certainly can become accostumed and even eager to the presence of a friendly... entity, let's say. Not the same as a dog or a cat, but then again, all animals are unique. They are not 'domesticable' per say, but you can take care of them and they'll be... mostly neutral.

Some pythons (very passive) and smaller non-venemous snakes (more active, but harmless) have achieved popularity as pets in recent years. And I can see rich rulers having them as symbol status. However, to properly take care of them, you need a more modern understanding of their behavior and care (most snakes in cold climates need heating and UV lamps), since they're somewhat delicate.

Also, yeah, snakes are literally Satan in the Bible, and most cultures don't hold a very high opinion of them, since some (not all) are venemous and not very charismatic. Then again, some cultures did respect and even worship them. Maybe they could be interested enough to domesticate a few.

Not very likely, but it could happen.
 
Another thread to jam Mesoamerica into!

I don't know whether the archetypal Mesoamerican royal menagerie contained snakes (I would suspect it did, although I can't seem to find it in my sources), but they did certainly play an important role in the pantheon. If, for some reason, the popular imagination is seized by a pseudohistorical Aztec craze analogous to Egyptology - maybe an earlier archaeological interest in Teotihuacan or the classic Maya, possibly bolstered by a more stable Mexico - I could maybe see European elites become fascinated by snakes and snake imagery. That might be a bit of a stretch, though.
 
well, this thread has convinced me that anti-snake bias is unjustified. I'm going to go out and find a rattlesnake and pet it and see if it follows me home....
 
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