Does your spider wobble?

any spider or spider combo i have owned has had a wobble. some so slight you dont really notice it unless your looking for it and some that will preform a dance especially during feeding.

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Originally Posted by Gomojoe

Does anyone have a spider that is a poor eater? From what I have read of people's experience it seems the wobble may actually have a positive benefit in making them robust eaters.


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My spider drives me nuts with her "I'm eating!! ... psyche, I'm just gonna spit it out" behavior. She was a great eater until summer last year, and now she's the biggest pain in the butt to get eating. Her feeding RESPONSE is excellent though, so maybe mine's a unique case.

Then again, her wobble is only noticeable when she eats. Right before she strikes she vibrates her head some, and as she finishes eating she'll swing her head and neck around wildly. Scared the beejebus out of me when I first saw her do it, I thought she was choking or something. But she was fine. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Gomojoe

Does anyone have a spider that is a poor eater? From what I have read of people's experience it seems the wobble may actually have a positive benefit in making them robust eaters.


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I do. I purchased a male bumblebee het VPI AX that I've had to assist feed. He will not start, even on ASF's. Been trying to get him to eat for several months now. All of my other spiders eat very well and in fact, switched over on the first try to f/t. So as a general rule, yes all of my spiders eat very well. But there is always that exception.

My male spider eats like a garbage disposal. He's also a funny guy. He likes to lay with his head turned sideways and he'll corkscrew in the air when handled.

My female bumblebee is a picky eater. She will not eat unless she's in her hide with her head poking out, and you haven't disturbed her in any way the last 1-2 days. When I first had her in a 6 qt tub (no hide) she wouldn't eat at all. I made her a ghetto hide (out of cardboard) and she started eating. She does not appear to have any symptoms of wobble. Her strikes are always very precise and she doesn't shake when preparing to strike. I don't hold her much because she stresses easily so I dunno if she dances in the air.

Oh, most of my spiders are great eaters, but I get poor starters/poor feeders every once in a while, among the hatchlings. I think it's less common in them than in some other morphs. Then too, it may be lineage.

I think it's important to selectively breed animals with robust appetites. If you have a poor starter that you just have to keep, be sure to pair only with good eaters.
We are responsible for what captive ball pythons become. Virtually all of these traits (feeding response, appetite, adult size, temperament) may be heritable, so it is best to assume they all are.

I don't think the non-feeding issue is Spider related. Pastels are horrible feeders in my experience. They tend to be the most off and on feeders......mostly off. So if you have a bee that seems this way, it's probably due to the pastel gene not the spider. Feed them as much as they'll eat when they eat.

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Originally Posted by Brandon Osborne

I don't think the non-feeding issue is Spider related. Pastels are horrible feeders in my experience. They tend to be the most off and on feeders......mostly off. So if you have a bee that seems this way, it's probably due to the pastel gene not the spider. Feed them as much as they'll eat when they eat.

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I agree that pastels are bad feeders, my super goes off feed the most and I've never been able to get her to eat rats, my bee on the other hand knocks back rats all day thanks to the appetite characteristic of the spider gene

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Brandon Osborne

I don't think the non-feeding issue is Spider related. Pastels are horrible feeders in my experience. They tend to be the most off and on feeders......mostly off. So if you have a bee that seems this way, it's probably due to the pastel gene not the spider. Feed them as much as they'll eat when they eat.

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nice to know that I am not the only one that has noticed this about the pastels.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Brandon Osborne

I don't think the non-feeding issue is Spider related. Pastels are horrible feeders in my experience. They tend to be the most off and on feeders......mostly off. So if you have a bee that seems this way, it's probably due to the pastel gene not the spider. Feed them as much as they'll eat when they eat.

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Both my pastels I have had never refused a meal except once the female did because she was in shed on her feeding day. My spider has refused twice once because he was in shed and another I have no idea what his deal was. But he had the tiniest bit of wobbling going on when he strikes but hes only missed a rat once which is shocking. When I first got him I let him explore outside he got excited and his head was bobbing up and down quite a bit but whenever I hold him or hes exploring my room he doesnt show a wobble at all.

I haven't noticed my pastels to have significantly better or worse feeding habits than my other BPs. Very few of my ball pythons eat as reliably ravenously as my bloods or Burms.

... Though I will say that out of my whole ball collection, far and away my best and most reliable feeders are my wild-types. :rolleyes: