quick ? about Wobbles...

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Originally Posted by Sarin

As of right now, as far as I know, only Spiders seem to be linked to the Wobble.

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There are others that wobble, but are not considered genetically linked like spider and spider crosses.

We have a member here who has a spinning het pied as a pet - she worked for a large breeder who was going to cull it, and she adopted it and still has him a few years later - he still wobbles/spins, but is thriving.

Right. What we call a 'Wobble' would be better termed "Inner Ear defect or neurological symptoms".

Spiders have this as a matter of course--if the defect is minor, the spider may not wobble--if it's more marked, then they will. From evidence, all spiders have it.

Other ball pythons may wobble, but generally for different reasons--a neurological or inner ear defect could occur in any animal. I also would not breed any non-spider that wobbled, in case it was carrying a genetic defect.

The wobble defect in spiders is PART of the spider mutation (from all evidence), so cannot be bred out. People have most certainly tried--spiders are one of the MOST out-crossed morphs out there, because there is no known super form.

It remains to be seen if the severity of the defect can be minimized by focusing breeding programs on the least affected animals only, or if it is truly random.

I have never had any normal sibs from spider clutchs show any trace of a wobble. I suspect that when this happens, it is unrelated to their being spider sibs.

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Originally Posted by cordell

Got ya, OK so I think I know what you are talking about with the "corkscrew". I posted a youtube link to a video with a wobble spider/pinstripe.

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This is a good video. If you look closely, you will see that the spinner is actually exploring, looking for a way out--he's pushing on the back wall of the bin with his nose. He isn't simply contorting into a strange position for no reason, he's in the middle of doing something. He just doesn't care that his head's upside down while he does it.

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Originally Posted by WingedWolfPsion

This is a good video. If you look closely, you will see that the spinner is actually exploring, looking for a way out--he's pushing on the back wall of the bin with his nose. He isn't simply contorting into a strange position for no reason, he's in the middle of doing something. He just doesn't care that his head's upside down while he does it.

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I was thinking that too. It seems he is wanting out of the cage. Perhaps he was placed in that cage with the other BP just for the purpose of making the video. I found another vid where a mouse is being offered with tongs (frozen/thawed, the tongs are perfectly still, while the snake is wobbling all over with his head! He does finally get the food, once he settles down a bit.

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Originally Posted by cordell

I was thinking that too. It seems he is wanting out of the cage. Perhaps he was placed in that cage with the other BP just for the purpose of making the video. I found another vid where a mouse is being offered with tongs (frozen/thawed, the tongs are perfectly still, while the snake is wobbling all over with his head! He does finally get the food, once he settles down a bit.

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The person who posted that video is Tosha - who used to be a member here. She placed him in there with the other ball python for breeding purposes. She said he only displays his wobble/spin that severely when he gets excited (like in a breeding situation).

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Originally Posted by rabernet

There are others that wobble, but are not considered genetically linked like spider and spider crosses.

We have a member here who has a spinning het pied as a pet - she worked for a large breeder who was going to cull it, and she adopted it and still has him a few years later - he still wobbles/spins, but is thriving.

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yes I've also seen an albino that had the spin, wasn't related to any spider project that he knew of. thing still ate great tho. like every other spider out there

to the OP: don't worry about the wobble. it just something that comes with the morph, but as you can see there about 290387548978439 spiders out there and I've never herd of one not being able to surivive and reproduce, due to a wobble.

My spider has a very VERY small wobble.
Doesn't really affect him at all. The only thing it really affects is like...if I flip him over to get a belly shot...it takes a minute for him to figure out which way is up again.