After you come off stage lots of people will want to see the snake, hold the snake, pet the snake, etc. The snake will not appreciate a crowd of people pinching and poking at it, and it's not fair to other dancers who are on stage while the audience is crowded around you and your snake. Like Philip of Macedonia's wife, or the Turkish cults which still venerate the snake. Not necessarily as a stage piece, of course, but a definite cultural connection. No I'm not sure that there is no connection or that it is not an authentic tradition.
Snake worship is fairly common and has occured in many cultures worldwide.
Snake dancing is not necessarily a part of the snake worship, though. Certainly Indian dance has influenced modern belly dance as well, particularly in some arm movements. So I think maybe the connection is there, but the roots are still from Indian influences on ancient cultures. I have a postcard of Horacio posing with snakes, and have seen many American dancers use snakes. I don't know of any modern Egyptian cabaret dancers that use snakes, though.