Breeding a spider with severe wobble
I have a Male spider that has a really bad wobble. If I were to breed him would there be a greater risk for his offspring to have a wobble? I got him as a rescue and didnt plan to breed him because i was worried about this being passed on. I'm just curious if I'm correct in thinking this.
Re: Breeding a spider with severe wobble
The quick answer is that your spider ball python would transmit the gene for the wobble syndrome to any offspring, though as far as I know (and someone correct me if I am wrong) there is no current way to predict how severely the wobble would manifest itself.
Re: Breeding a spider with severe wobble
I have no issue breeding Spider Morphs with minimal wobble. I would not breed one with severe wobble. The Spider wobble is known to be a genetic issue. It is not clear how complex the genetic component is controlled. It is obvious that environmental factors influence the level of expression--which would indicate that there are other genetic components which promote the Wobble effect. Instead of one gene, this could possibly be a complex of 5, 10, or even 100+ genes interacting with each other. You may be able to produce minimal wobble ball pythons using this snake in mating, but, it is very possible that some percentage of those background genetics will likely be transferred to the next generation--Why let them? A responsible breeder will cull the hatchlings with bad wobble, and not breed a poor adult specimen.
And as Bogertophis mentioned: There is no shortage of ball pythons right now. Find another breeder. :)