Stargazing or am I freaking out?

I have had this female spider for about 3 weeks now. I noticed this a few hours ago:

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...e/DSCF0468.jpg

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...e/DSCF0466.jpg

Since I have had her; she hasn't eaten, but has pooed once. I do not see any sort of mucus around her nose or mouth, and I haven't seen any yawning.

So, am I freaking out or could it be IBD?

First of all... DO NOT freak out.

How are her motor skills? Is she a head wobbler? When flipped on her back, does she up right herself again? I'd say she possibly is hungry and is just "waiting" for something to fall in on her or come along. Was your light out, and when turned on did you find her like this? Sometimes when my herp room is dark and I flip on the light... all of my snakes kind of just freeze in place and I've seen some of them in some odd positions before.

Do you know if the breeder you got her from had fed her before you bought her? If so what are you tank temps and humidity holding at? Have you tried a mouse hopper or a rat fuzzie? Have you tried live or prekilled?

Sorry for all of the questions, but we will need to know more about her to help you out.

She was fed about two weeks before she was shipped to me. There was a F/T hopper left in her tank overnight and was not touched (I have tried both live and F/T and she hasn't eaten). The light was on when I found her like this, but I have since turned it off.

I haven't witnessed any head-wobbling.

Hot spot temp is at 90F and cool side is 82F.

how big is the tank?

The tank is a 10gallon.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SubNoiZe

I haven't witnessed any head-wobbling.

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You have now..

Thats not IBD it's a Spider.. IBD kills pythons in a matter of weeks..

Spiders wobble, all do it. Some have major head wobbles, some are headly noticable. Your temps and such seem good. Like Ed said above, it's not IBD. IBD is very deadly in a matter of a very short time. Seems like she was just in the middle of a head wobble and caught her self likethat when you saw her.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Freakie_frog

You have now..

Thats not IBD it's a Spider.. IBD kills pythons in a matter of weeks..

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So, is this something I should be concerned about? I guess my next step is to research Spider head wobbling.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lillyorchid

Spiders wobble, all do it. Some have major head wobbles, some are headly noticable. Your temps and such seem good. Like Ed said above, it's not IBD. IBD is very deadly in a matter of a very short time. Seems like she was just in the middle of a head wobble and caught her self likethat when you saw her.

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I am not sure if this matters or not, but she wasn't moving when she was looking up. She was still. She had been like this for about 30 mins before I took the photos.

Yup there's tons of info here on spider head wobbling.

The important things to know are that it makes them quirky, but it seems to have no effect on their ability to live long healthy lives.

I thank you all for the advice. I was a little freaked out when I saw her like that (and she remained that way for over 30mins).

I took her out a few mins ago, and she seemed fine.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...e/DSCF0471.jpg

I flipped her over, and she righted herself.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...e/DSCF0473.jpg

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w...e/DSCF0474.jpg

Now to read about head wobbling

She's a cutie! Good luck with her, I'm sure she's fine.

Just the usual quirky spider ataxia and odd head movements. They appear more comfortable upside-down than most pythons. ^_^

ya i freaked out like CRAZY when i saw my spider wobble.

i seriously called vets asking about it, lol...... ><;.... :oops:
but ya, i only see my spider wobble when hes hungry, or stressed. i had him on paper towells then when i switched it to aspen, he stopped wobbling o_O;
idk.. just weird haha. anywhoozle. should be fine!

btw, NICE spider!! :gj:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Freakie_frog

You have now..

Thats not IBD it's a Spider.. IBD kills pythons in a matter of weeks..

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what's IBD stand for?

Inclusion Body Disease. It's pretty rough when it comes to pythons. Boas can carry it for a while without any ill effects (or even any signs that they have it) but once a python catches it, it's fatal to the python, and it happens very quickly.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by h00blah

ya i freaked out like CRAZY when i saw my spider wobble.

i seriously called vets asking about it, lol...... ><;.... :oops:
but ya, i only see my spider wobble when hes hungry, or stressed. i had him on paper towells then when i switched it to aspen, he stopped wobbling o_O;
idk.. just weird haha. anywhoozle. should be fine!

btw, NICE spider!! :gj:

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Most vets aren't going to know about the spider head wobble/spin and are going to think IBD. I took a spider in to my vet the last time I took my dog in, to show to my vet (who is the exotics vet at my clinic). He loves snakes, so I try to show him a new morph when I go see him each time. He gets excited when he sees that I'm coming in.

Anyway, I explained to him about this pre-disposition in spiders and that if he ever sees any with her patterning, and the client is complaining about those "symptoms", that it likely is NOT IBD, and is a characteristic of the morph. He was not aware of this, and said that it was good to know this information. He will still try to rule out other causes for that behavior, but now is more informed about the spider spin. I also sent him the link to Dr. Scott Stahl's interview on Reptile Radio - he was very interested in that as well. Love my vet!