Do reptiles have emotions? Do snakes have feelings? These are all questions discussed and answered in this episode. Ricky Johnson is a reptile keeper out of the UK, an admin on the Facebook group, Advancing Herpetological Husbandry, and a content creator for the HerpHQ YouTube Channel. In this episode, Ricky breaks down two of his recent educational videos that were released on HerpHQ. The first video explores the complexities of the reptile mind including emotional intelligence and problem-solving abilities. The second video investigates the true natural habitat of leopard geckos and how wrong many of the common assumptions about their native range are. It wraps the discussion up with a quick review of the 2022 Advancing Herpetological Husbandry Conference.

Can a snake recognize a specific human? A research paper published in 2021 explores snake discrimination between humans. Reptiles and Research offers a scientific breakdown of the subject.

Explore the fascinating world of reptile sentience in this conference talk by Catherine Williams at the Society for Experimental Biology’s Animal Satellite meeting. Delve into the diverse realm of reptiles, examining their behavior, cognition, and pain processing mechanisms. Learn about cutting-edge research on reptile pain, including studies on juvenile pythons and the effects of opiates and local anesthetics. Gain insights into the peripheral nervous system of reptiles and how it relates to nociception. Discover long-term changes in reptile behavior and feeding patterns associated with pain. Enhance your understanding of animal sentience and its implications for experimental biology in this comprehensive presentation.

Anna Wilkinson, a researcher at University of Lincoln, is out to disprove early studies in the 1960s which claimed that reptiles are not intelligent. She accomplishes this by proving that the reptiles which appeared sluggish and unintelligent during early studies were too cold to think. When the cold-blooded animals are observed in a warmer lab setting, their cognitive performance significantly improves.