Questions and Answers Q: Can reptiles become tame ?
Short answer: YES. Long answer: Most will, some won’t. Reptiles have not been selected and bred for gentle temperament, even though some heavily captve bread species, like corn snakes, seem mellower than wild caught specimens. Some species/individuals are more likely to get used to you than others. Some species/individuals will get non-shy and eat from your hand but will never let you touch them. Some species/individuals will tolerate handling in return for food, others will hate it. Some species/individuals will run, others will bite and some will be really tame and develop a taste for having their neck scratched. When buying a reptile, if you want it to become tame, buy and animal that seems calm and friendly. Unless you are prepared to invest a lot of time and effort without promise of success, don’t go for the more ‘challenging’ animal. Some species start out friendly as babies and will develop a rotten temper when they get older. Reticulated pythons have that reputation. But sever
