February 9, 2026, 5:11 am | Read time: 11 minutes
Tourists to Morocco and India are familiar with such scenes: A snake charmer plays the flute, a cobra rises from its basket and seems to move to the rhythm of the music. But do snakes really dance to sounds? Can they be “charmed” or even hypnotized, or is there a trick behind the spectacle, possibly involving animal cruelty? PETBOOK explains the truth behind snake charming.
Myth and Tradition: Snake Charmers Between the Bible and Tourism
The tradition of snake charming is ancient: Even the Bible apparently mentions snake charming, albeit in a different context: “The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies. Their poison is like the poison of a serpent, like a deaf cobra that stops its ear, which will not heed the voice of charmers, charming ever so skillfully,” it says in Psalm 58.
Hundreds of years ago, men in North Africa and India entertained by showing how highly venomous snakes seemingly in a trance rise from a dark basket to the sounds of their flutes and sway their bodies to the music. The profession of snake charmer has always been passed down from generation to generation, supporting entire families.1
Popular Tourist Spectacle with Downsides
Nowadays, the dancing animals are part of many vacation excursions, especially in Marrakech. Hardly any tourist in Morocco has not witnessed the spectacle. Some even drape snakes around the necks of brave tourists for money. But anyone seeing a snake dance for the first time might pause to wonder. Is it really possible for the animal to move to the sounds? Can it hear the music, and does it perhaps have a hypnotic or taming effect on the reptile?
Does the Snake Really Dance to the Music?
Snake charmers are confident that they can put their animals into a trance with flute sounds. Scientists, however, disagree: It’s not the music that causes the animal to rise from its basket and begin to dance to the flutist’s tunes. The flute playing leaves the animals completely indifferent. However, it’s not because snakes are deaf, as is often assumed. It was previously believed that snakes couldn’t hear because they lack the necessary ears.
It was assumed that the animals could only perceive sounds through vibrations received by their bodies. However, this is no longer the scientific consensus. Nevertheless, snakes do not follow the sounds of music during a “charming” session. So what do they follow? 2
Can Snakes Actually Hear?
Recently, it has been discovered that snakes can hear, and much more than previously thought. This is according to a study by the University of Queensland in Australia, published in 2023 in the journal “PLOS ONE.” To find out if and what snakes can hear, a team from the university played various sound frequencies to snakes. The researchers exposed 19 snakes of different species to three different sequences in a soundproof room. The study distinguished between sounds that either created vibrations or came from the air.
Meanwhile, the team observed the animals’ reactions. It turned out that the snakes reacted to all types of sounds. The specific reactions varied depending on the type of snake. A type of python, for example, mostly moved toward the sounds, while taipans, brown snakes, and so-called death adders tended to slither away from the sound source. Nevertheless, the researchers were convinced: Snakes can not only feel sounds but actually hear them. However, the researchers also noted that snakes can only hear low sound frequencies below 600 Hz.
This would also include human voices, which range between 100 and 250 Hertz. Therefore, according to the study, it can be assumed that snakes can at least hear when people scream or speak loudly. However, since snake charmers do not shout at their animals, the dance of the animal cannot be related to them conveying any “commands.” And it is also unlikely that the animals simply enjoy moving to flute sounds. 3
“Charming” Through Movement
So how else can a snake be “charmed”? Apparently, through movement and tricks, rather than enchanting sounds. As reported by the Swiss Vet Center Bern on its website, snakes in “charming shows” react to the movements the charmer makes with his flute. For those who watch not only the snake but also the instrument, it becomes clear: As the flute swings back and forth by the charmer, so does the reptile. The reason: Snakes are generally more visually oriented.
The cobra kept in the snake charmer’s basket emerges from its dwelling as soon as he opens the lid. The bright daylight blinds it, while at the same moment, the charmer’s flute is in front of its face. To better assess this potential threat and defend itself with a bite if necessary, the snake rises from its basket. It fixes its gaze on the constantly wobbling flute and follows it not only with its eyes but with its entire upper body. This makes it appear as if the snake is dancing to the rhythm of the music.
If the snake charmer works with a cobra, another detail comes into play that irritates the snake: Charmers’ flutes are often made from a bottle gourd, which vaguely resembles a cobra’s hood. The snake may therefore assume it has a competing conspecific in front of it. Additionally, some snake charmers attach tufts of fur or other small items to their flutes, further stimulating the snake’s hunting behavior.
Overwhelm Instead of Hypnosis: Why Snakes Don’t Bite
The reason snakes don’t simply bite the flute and end the show is apparently that they are “completely overwhelmed” and overstimulated at that moment, as biologist Mario Ludwig writes in a column for the Berliner Morgenpost. Therefore, they sometimes even remain in their dance. However, this has nothing to do with awe or even hypnosis, as snake charmers like to claim, writes the “Vet Center” from Bern.
The snake, with all the movements around it, ultimately doesn’t know what to do and waits to see “if a favorite emerges from the confusing and contradictory stimuli,” as biologist Ludwig also notes in his column.4
Additionally, the snake has likely already experienced that biting the flute is extremely unpleasant and painful—the animal could even injure itself, as described by the portal “Südostschweiz” in a report. The snake usually makes the mistake of snapping at the flute only once. However, if the animal does bite and instead catches the flutist, the situation is different: A snake bite can be very painful for the victim—and potentially even deadly.
Defanged for the Show: When Venomous Fangs Are Removed
Snake charmers, however, usually do not have to fear dying from the venom that a cobra might inject with a bite. The animals displayed in tourist markets like those in Marrakech or in busy squares in India have usually had either their venom glands or their entire venomous fangs removed before their performance. Only a few snake charmers, such as the nomadic peoples of North Africa, refrain from removing the venomous fangs.
Banned but Not Ended: Snake Charming in India
In India, there are still snake charmers who work with animals whose venom glands and fangs are intact. In 2017, a snake charmer from Jodhpur, India, made headlines when he draped a highly venomous cobra around the neck of a tourist, also from India.5
The head of the animal briefly touched the man’s neck and then bit him. The snake handler reportedly checked on him but did not call a doctor for the tourist. The tourist, bitten by the animal, eventually died hours later on the way to a hospital.
Partly because of such incidents, snake charming has been officially banned in India since 1991. Nevertheless, some snake charmers still practice in many regions.
Conservation Instead of Show: Why the State Intervenes
It’s not just the danger to humans that is a reason why India has officially banned this spectacle and continues to act against this tradition. Animal welfare also plays a role, as many of the snakes used belong to endangered species.
In 2017, a snake charmer was arrested for performing his act at a wedding using a strictly protected spectacled cobra. Local witnesses alerted the police after observing the snake dance. Local animal rights activists in India and Morocco, as well as the animal welfare organization “Four Paws,” have long criticized snake charming, calling it animal cruelty. The removal of venom glands or fangs is just one aspect. The animals displayed in their dark, cramped baskets on streets and squares are not kept in a manner appropriate to their species, according to “Four Paws.” 6
Charmers Insist the Snakes Are Well
Snake charmers, on the other hand, do not understand why animal rights activists and authorities are so opposed to their performances. For one, the income from tourist shows is often the only income a family has. They also cite their culture, in which snake charming has a long tradition. In a 2008 media report, a snake charmer from Morocco criticized animal rights activists: “These people have no idea about our art,” it says. “These reptiles are like our children. We take care of their upbringing, their diet, and their health. After all, we live with them day in and day out.”
The snakes are well-fed and cared for, the report continues. “We only feed them eggs, birds, and sheep hearts,” the snake charmer insisted. If a snake is unwell, it is even taken to a veterinarian. The claim that the animals have their venom glands removed is not true. “If that were true, why do some of us still die from time to time?” the snake charmer is quoted in the article. It is also not true that most snakes die shortly after being captured. He knows of a cobra that has been performing at a market for ten years.7
Wild-Caught Instead of Conservation: Where the Snakes Come From
Regardless of how the handlers keep the animals, the spectacle endangers entire ecosystems. The animals used for performances are usually wild-caught, either by the snake charmers themselves or by specialized snake catchers who remove them from their natural environment and then sell them. The ARD-Weltspiegel, for example, showed in 2014 how snake catchers from Marrakech obtain their initially highly venomous prey. They accompanied a handler and two catchers into the desert, where they caught a highly venomous puff adder. According to the report at the time, the snake would bring the catcher 100 euros when sold.8
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Dark Bags, Empty Habitats, and Removed Venomous Fangs
Countless snakes are therefore stored in dark bags in the snake catcher’s house until suitable buyers are found. The tourist spectacle thus depletes snake populations in the wild, especially already endangered species. Different countries and regions prefer different snake species. Usually, they are “spectacular” because they are venomous, such as cobras, puff adders, and sand vipers in North Africa.
In India, spectacled cobras, as well as Russell’s vipers and green tree snakes, are usually caught. They are then missing from the natural balance of nature. Additionally, as criticized by the French animal welfare organization GEOS in 2008, most snakes survive the ordeal for only a few weeks. The removal of venomous fangs also often leads to abscesses and other diseases, from which the snakes die painfully.9
The Veterinary Vet Center Bern also writes on its website that the snakes are consistently kept undernourished to keep their activity as low as possible. Well-fed, healthy snakes, on the other hand, are too lively to be used for snake charming.
Show at the Expense of Animal Welfare and Conservation
As exciting and exotic as snake charming may be for European tourists, for the animals used, it is pure cruelty. The animals are taken from their natural environment and are therefore missing from the ecosystem of their region of origin. They are also kept under conditions that are not even remotely appropriate for their species. Their teeth and venom glands are usually removed so they cannot pose a danger to their charmers and tourists. According to animal rights activists, many animals do not survive this procedure. Therefore, tourists should not spend money on this spectacle.