Snakes have an unusual sleeping pattern, different in many ways from humans. One main distinction is that their eyes remain open.
If you’ve ever come across one at a zoo, it can be scary, to say the least. It would seem to be staring straight at you, unblinking.
However, this isn’t any black magic, hypnosis, or juju. If you were wondering “why” and “how do snakes sleep with their eyes open?” you should know that it is simply a sleeping mannerism.
The snake’s eyes are not structured like that of a human, so they can’t close their eyes the way we do when we sleep.
Their unique eyes can’t blink as well, but snakes have natural mechanisms to protect their eyes from dust or any other harmful substance flying around.
Let’s get into the main sections on the snake’s sleeping habit.
Do Snakes Sleep?
Many studies have been on both snakes and reptiles in general, but there is a limited amount of research on the sleeping style of snakes.
This is because of how difficult it is to determine when the snake is asleep.
That said, a particular study that got popular concluded that all reptiles sleep, and as snakes are reptiles, they are included. The research was done in a German laboratory with 5 lizards as the subjects.
Findings of this study established that reptiles have REM sleep (i.e. Rapid Eye Movement sleep) and even dream.
Knowing when your pet snake (or any snake, even) is sleeping can be hard, but it gets easier when you know what signs to look out for.
The first step is determining the snake breed and where it falls in the diurnal/nocturnal categories.
The species of a pet snake is easier to determine than one at a zoo or lying in your yard, but if you can know if the snake is diurnal or nocturnal, you’d figure out when you can expect it to be asleep.
Diurnal snakes hardly sleep during the day and nocturnal snakes are more active at night.
Snakes sleep more during the winter than in summer. While they sleep up to 16 hours daily during summer, it can extend to 20 hours in winter.
They tend to sleep after a meal, especially a heavy meal. A sleeping snake will also be more inactive (do check if it isn’t stalking prey, though) and won’t flicker its tongue or acknowledge your presence.
Why Do Snakes Sleep With Their Eyes Open?
Unlike humans, snakes have no eyelids. This is one of the many differences between their eyes and ours.
Because they have no eyelids, they can’t close their eyes, nor can they blink. In the place of eyelids, snakes have spectacles, a membrane that covers the cornea. They are also found in some lizard species.
These spectacles protect the eyes from dust as the snake glides through.
Because they have no legs, these creatures are very close to the ground, coming in direct contact with dust, leaves, and other earth properties. These spectacles protect the snake’s eyes, even while asleep.
For snakes, the absence of eyelids is an advantage. It would have been almost impossible for them to see with eyelids as their eyes would have been constantly closed.
How Do Snakes Sleep With Their Eyes Open?
When snakes sleep, their retinas close. However, the fact that they sleep with open eyes makes people wonder how they manage.
Then again, humans only close their eyes. We don’t close our ears or nose, yet we’re able to sleep.
This is because the brain is responsible for sleeping in both humans and snakes, and it coordinates the process.
When a snake wants to sleep, it relaxes its body and muscles. The brain then reduces the visual focus on objects, much like sound seems to fade away when we are ready to sleep.
Can Snakes Still See When They Sleep?
It has been proven that some senses in the human body still function while we sleep.
Sound is one, and that’s why you could suddenly wake up because of your doorbell ringing, a dog barking, or someone snoring.
In the same pattern, the sense of sight in a snake still functions, but is reduced. The snake can see when asleep, but it won’t be able to focus on the particular object during its slumber.
You might pass your pet snake’s cage numerous times and not get a reaction when it is asleep. If what it sees is threatening, however, it will wake up.
Other Animals That Sleep With Open Eyes
These reptiles aren’t the only animals that sleep with their eyes open. Some other animals do, both on land and at sea.
There are different reasons these animals stay with their eyes open, one of which is to remain alert.
Here are some animals that sleep with their eyes open:
- Whales
- Dolphins
- Manatees
- Blackbirds
- Penguins
- Ducks
- Some domestic dogs
- Fruit bats
Related Questions
Do snakes cry?
Snakes don’t cry, but their eyes don’t stay dry. It produces tears like many other animals. However, the spectacles make it hard for the tears to stream up like that of humans.
Do snakes blink?
Animals that blink have eyelids that these reptiles lack. As such, snakes don’t blink. Their eyes remain constantly open as they go about their activities.
Can snakes hypnotize with their eyes?
Many myths persist about snakes. One such myth is that snakes hypnotize their prey before eating them. However, this hasn’t been scientifically proven. A more likely theory is that fear keeps the prey frozen.
Do snakes shed their eyes?
When a snake sheds, it drops off all old skin, including the scales in its eyes, which are also called spectacles. The eyes tend to look blue at that moment till the scales grow back.
Wrap Up
Snakes sleep with their eyes open, but it is nothing abnormal (though it can seem creepy).
Their eyes are structured to help them explore their environment as they slither across the ground, thus they don’t have eyelids.
These creatures only have protective spectacles. This is also why they don’t blink or cry.
