How Much Can Snakes See?

Are snakes blind? (spoiler, no). What colors do they see? Do they have good distance vision? Does your ball python even use their eyes? What about that colored nightlight, can snakes see a red light? What about the shape of their pupils - that tells us whether it's venomous or not, right? We're going to answer all these questions and try to approximate how a snake sees the world.

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This channel is all about the care of ball pythons (and some other snakes), health, breeding, genetics, handling, behavior. We'll cover everything I can think of that has to do with keeping ball pythons. Lots of layman term science, and some laughs. Subscribe and click the notification bell and get notified when a new weekly video is posted:
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[joeldpalmer]

Kent: "... snakes can see directly into your soul" 🤣 🤣 🤣

[fog]

You are a very highly underrated snake channel. I am really enjoying your videos.

[Hamburglar]

I’d love to know how all the senses play together. The vision, smelling, smelling with the tongue, and the heat pits. That’s got to be wild!

[der]

I have no idea why your videos have the number of views they have. The production value, information and creativity are off the charts. Please keep going I know this channel will become a huge success.

[Meraxes]

I think they also start to lose their vision as they get old, my 27-year-old ball python definitely can’t see as well as he used to

[EyseaSol]

I was curious about this, and your video popped right up. I've seen info on how they move, breathe, eat, and their sensory organs. Yet nothing about their regular vision. Thank you. Also, had the same thoughts about snakes in different environments, desert, forest, water. Sleep/active patterns too. Very interesting!

[brewkeepyr]

Loving your channel! Very entertaining as well as informative and educational. I would like to clear up one issue however. Snakes eye caps are not colored. They are clear. Their iris is what gives the eye it's color. So regarding the black headed python, their eye cap is not actually black. What is black is their iris. If you look close enough at 11:22 you will see a glimpse of the black headed pythons pupils. A snakes iris usually matches the coloration of the scales around it's head. This is a part of their camouflage. If the eye cap was colored, then snakes would be either blind or partially blind. This is also why when your snake sheds, the eye caps are clear while the rest of the scales show coloration and patterns. If a snake had black eye caps, it would be completely blind. My apologies if someone had already commented.

[sobasmom]

Very enlightening. I loved seeing Ron and all of Soba's siblings. Soba is the spitting image of Ron. I love his green eyes. Speaking of eyes. Poor Soba scratched his eye cap. Poor guy. Having to wait for him to shed it off before I can determine whether or not to take him in and have it checked out. I don't know how it's affecting his sight, he followed his target and found his treat just fine. He's doing so well!
I believe Kent. Eko and Stella's eyes look powerful enough, they could see into one's soul.

[MorgottTheGraceGiven]

I wonder if black marks over the eyes might actually help nocturnal and crepuscular snakes see in the dark like it does for mammals.
If you look at animals like raccoons, ringtail cats, the slender loris, or any number of nocturnal cat species, you’ll notice that they have have dark fur and skin around the eyes. Usually in the form of a mask, or a stripe like a normal BP. The most commonly accepted theory is that for these low-light predators, the black allows for more light to be absorbed around the eyes, and reduces glare.
Having a black stripe over the eyes could serve the same purpose in snakes, allowing them to take in more light, with an added bonus of also absorbing more heat in those areas. More light to the eyes and more heat to the head would definitely help a low-light predator stay alert and sharp while hunting.

[sociosserpentsjordan]

Great video as always Bob and that cracked me up at the end when Kent said he was going to wear a red tracksuit LOL

[oscarbp]

7:48 I have fairy lights in my bedroom and that’s where my ball python stays, do you think you’ll be fine with like fairy lights that aren’t too bright? I mean the lights are just bright enough so that I can see around the room.

[snakemannn]

Another great vid bro, ,,, i do appreciate your educated ways of teaching, ,, well respected '

[Akhatchntails]

Awesome video definitely a topic of interest to me!

[codycoleman]

I kept hearing you talk about CHE and I wasn’t sure what it was but that makes a lot of sense, I’m glad I watched this video today! I will be getting one of those for the new enclosure next week. Right now I have a UV/Red Light “mini deep” that just came with her from the previous owner.

[TheCoryAyers]

Love your videos, Bob. Question: how often and for how long do you handle your dwarf retics?

[WolfieDawn]

Omg sir I love your videos and Bear is the cutest in my opinion though I do like The Inspector's inquisitive nature! I don't have one yet, but I'm hoping to have a pied ball python myself in a few months!

[mrherc]

And here I was thinking Bob would have his brother Kent do the snake eyes dice roll trick...

[viciouscube]

Great vid 👍I wonder if theres much of a difference in sight between terrestrial vs aquatic snakes/reptiles 🤔

[Lissyhead]

Hilarious AND educational! Loved this video!

[avaogara]

another great informative video didn't know what colors they see blue n green .wow..Stella on ladder .so darn cute!