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RE: black mambas
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by Nightflight99 on November 30, 2004
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The Phantom hit the nail on the head. All Dendroaspis polylepis can be very skittish, nervous and perform incredibly acrobatic maneuvers. However, as Viperman stated, longterm captive specimens tend to require a more or less significant stimulus to display this behavior. Fresh wild-caught specimens will often get defensive immediately - gaping and striking at the smallest disturbance, whereas longterm captives and captive-bred *tend* to be less sensitive in that regard.
Nevertheless, it is crucial to understand that D.polylepis are a) highly individualistic and b) very calculated. Even captive-bred adults will display a fearsome defensive behavior if presented with the appropriate stimulus, which may or may not be readily identified by the keeper.
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RE: black mambas
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by CuriousOne on December 29, 2009
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Hey there,
Found this site via google. Cool place. I have no
snake experience...but this topic did catch my
attention. I'm interested in something other than
their venonmous nature though.
In a couple of the posts there was reference to the
Black Mambas have some developed form of thought
process and being calculated in their actions.
Is this anecdotal? Have there been studies on the
topic???
If someone could talk on the topic of their
intelligence level I think that would be very
interesting.
--CuriousOne
------------
"Snakes...why'd it have to be ...snakes" -Indiana Jones
"Asps...very dangerous...you go first" -Sallah's reply (Indy's companion/friend)
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RE: black mambas
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by pictigaster1 on December 29, 2009
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Wally you ask for people to fill in there profile why don't you fill in yours and every one else who has not.This seems like a AR question.If someone sells a mamba to a person that has not been run through a series of question then that is a sad day.This hobby is in serious trouble with idiots doing just that.To someone qualified it should be easy to get one there in lies the problem who standerizes qualifications of this order.
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RE: black mambas
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by LarryDFishel on December 30, 2009
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Archie, please note that you are talking to a previous incarnation of Wally's account that hasn't been used in 3 years (this thread is 5 years old). His current account is fully filled out.
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RE: black mambas
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by LarryDFishel on December 30, 2009
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CuriousOne, I'm not personally aware of any studies on snake intelligence although I haven't looked very hard.
As I've said before when the same subject comes up regarding King Cobras, I think a lot of the intelligence is in the eye of the beholder. Like kings, mambas have attributes (round pupils, a tendency to "stand up", fast movements, etc.) that cause people to perceive them as being more similar to humans than many other snakes are. Due in large part to our own arrogance, we tend to assume animals that we see as similar to ourselves are more intelligent than others.
I have very little hard evidence to back up this hypothesis...
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RE: black mambas
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by Cro on December 30, 2009
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Curious One, as stated by Thomas, D.polylepis, and other mambas can be "calculating" in their actions.
They are alert snakes, and seem to be aware that they are in a cage, and where the door of the cage is located. They are also known to spend hours searching every nook, cranny, or seam in a cage in an effort to find a way out.
They have been known to rush a cage door when it is opened. And that behavior is not something that happens every time the cage is opened, but, rather when they "sense" a opportunity for escape. Perhaps the keeper opens the cage door a little wider than normal, or, perhaps the mamba is a bit closer to the door, or, perhaps the keeper is not fully alert on what he is doing. Those types of things seem to be what triggers the escape behavior. And that taking advantage of a opportunity, is what could be considered calculating.
How much this is intelligence, and how much of this is a acute awareness of their surroundings is hard to say.
These snakes have large eyes and excellent vision. This probably allows them to take in more information about their surroundings than snakes with smaller eyes that live on the ground. Being Arboreal gives them a much larger field of view to receive information from.
I do not think any formal studies have been conducted on intelligence in mambas. What you will find are accounts from zoo keepers who have worked with them. Many of those zoo keepers will tell you that they see something in mambas and king cobras, that they do not see in other snakes. If I had to pick a word, I would much rather use the term "awareness" than intelligence.
Best Regards
John Z
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