Baby bumblebee confusion/heavy breathing

[mihosayuri]

I bought an eight week old bumblebee (see avatar) at a Repticon a week ago. So far all has been well, she fed right on schedule with no issues, is great albeit nervous when handled, and stays in her hide most of the day though is prone to be spotted sniffing around the enclosure at night.

I've noticed that, even while she's not being handled or not in any type of observable stress, she seems to breathe pretty heavily. Additionally, when she does leave her hide to roam about or eat or etc, when she wants to return to her hide she spends quite a long time looking for the entrance to it. She'll nudge at every possible corner thinking it may be the entrance, and will press her nose against the side of the tub/water bowl and even the wrong side of the hide until she finds it. She's circled around back and forth behind the hide before looking for the entrance.

I'm wondering if any of this may have to do with her genetics; as a bumblebee morph, she has a very slight wobble. Otherwise, is this normal for babies to not know their way around or have to breathe heavier to compensate for their smaller respiratory systems?

Thanks in advance!

[JodanOrNoDan]

This is a very hard thing to diagnose without actually seeing the animal. Check your husbandry against the care sheet and the husbandry sticky threads. Try to see if it is breathing hard at rest. Check for bubbles is the mouth or around the nose (if there are any it is time for a vet). Spiders are an interesting morph in that they will show you with their weirdness, any husbandry issues. All that said this is a spider and it is young, so a certain amount of oddness is "normal". If you can, have someone that keeps many balls or has been keeping one for a long time notices anything odd. You are in Florida, as am I. There are a ton of ball python people here. Maybe you live close to a board member.

[mihosayuri]

Husbandry is good, she ate right on schedule with no problem. No nose bubbles. Breathes both normal and more heavily at rest-- normal when she's for sure sleeping I think. She's been handled about once a day for a few minutes at a time except the day of feeding and the day after, no eating/digestive problems. I think she's just weird, lol

[Sunnieskys]

Mine is weird too lol.