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Much of our current livestock and other "companion" animals that have been domesticated are bred for gentleness so that we as humans can handle them and work with them. The original breeders of every domesticated variety chose some trait to breed for and picked their broodstock accordingly. The earlier statement about the dogs was right on the mark. Dogs,cattle, horses, barnyard fowl, etc. And many of them are not considered very cerebral( ie. act on instinct). It follows that it is possible for reptiles too, but how many generations it would take to "set" gentleness as a trait is unknown. How long will it take to domesticate some of the nastier reptile breeds? Who knows. I have read that cornsnakes are pretty close to being considered domesticated. I currently have a pair of bloodreds bought as hatchlings at a show that are just as docile as every other variety I own, but for the more traditionally nasty breeds?
On a side note, I watched a show on Discovery about young elephants at a reserve that were killing other animals such as rhinos and hippos. It was decided that they had not been taught proper elephant behavior before they got transplanted, so some older animals were brought in to regulate. After a little butt kicking by the older animals the problem was solved and the killings stopped. Not real on tatget for reptiles, but it shows the importance of socialization.
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