BP almost breaking neck.

Just wondering if any other BP's do this. My snake when im holding him will go straight up with his head then go back with it going upside down then his head neck/head will kinda like fall around back to normal. He does it quite often and over and over sometimes. Its really weird ive had 10 snakes through out my years and none do this. If any of you all have instagram Add me @travisrobinson and ill put a vid of it up. I always try to support his head with my hand. But hell take off straight up in the air and make like a roller coaster loop with his head and neck. It cracks me up but at the same time makes me wonder if he is a little
brain dead haha. Reminds me of a snake that just got chopped in half. Btw i had a guy tell me infrared lighting was all BP's needed and no day time lights. That you could run red bulbs 24hrs for heat and theyll
be fine because there nocturnal. Any truth to this? I currently run day night bulbs. 12 hour cycle. But just wondering about that.

Your BP isn't a spider morph or a combo that includes spider is it?

BP's don't need any supplemental lighting. All you need to do is provide proper cage temperatures/humidity. If red bulbs can do that then that's all your BP needs.

pictures would help a lot.

is it a kink? or is it a spider doing what spiders do? right now, no way to tell.

It sounds to me like you are describing the very common "spider wobble". Any ball python with the spider gene will do this to varying degrees.

However, overheating can also cause brain damage that results in the same thing. While the spider wobble is well known and harmless for the most part, if your snake does not have spider in it, I would immediately suspect overheating and I'd be all over the enclosure to find out how it happened and prevent it from happening again. Very rarely, exposure to chemicals or chemical vapors can also cause this problem. But unless you have exposed your snake to harsh cleaners or solvents in the enclosure or nearby where it was forced to breathe the vapors for a prolonged time, I can't imagine that is the cause.

Has the snake always done this or is this a recent development? If this is a young snake, or newly purchased and carries spider in it, that is almost certainly your answer. if this is an older animal, or one you have had for a while and you have never seen this, then it may be time to look into possible other causes.

Gale

I was looking into the spider wobble on google yesterday as I'm possibly getting a spider myself. There are some good videos on youtube which seem to describe what you're experiencing. I second these guys, a spider/spider combo morph may have this wobble and it is a genetic "fault" (for lack of a better word). Maybe have a quick google like I did if your BP is a spider and it may put your mind to rest. It tends to happen during stress or excitement (e.g. feeding) from what I have read.

Sorry if this is a bit useless, I know "google it" may not be the best way to give advice :P

I have a lesser bee. So im guessing I have the spider wobble. It is a younger snake I got him
last weekend at an expo. I hope he grows out of this. Temps/humid is fine.

I wouldve googled it but I had no idea where to start with this one or what it was called. He does seem to get excited when im holding him. Hes very curious about stuff. And he wont stay still when im holding him. He never stays in his ball when I get him out.

He never does this in his cage or anything else. Only during holding. And he acts like a normal snake other then the wobble.

All spider combos have the wobble, and as long as it isn't severe enough to inhibit feeding, they live perfectly normal, if occasionally goofy-looking, lives. It comes out more when they're excited or stressed, so just stay calm during handling and he won't hurt himself, haha.

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Cant get a pic of him wobbling he does it so fast. But ill try and post a video of if up. Can someone help me on posting vids? New to forum life.

I'm sure it's just the spider wobble. Have you fed him yet? I have heard they can be a little more challenging to feed if they have a bad wobble. I don't think it is typically grown out of (someone correct me if I'm wrong). Some don't display it much at all for years and then grow into it later, and some seem to be born with it. Severity varies by individual.

I will be feeding him tomorrow. But the breeder said he was a good eater. And hes a little chunk for his age. His twin brother was smaller then him. But markings color etc were the exact same. This one just opened up to me first so I bought him. His wobble isnt 2 bad. He just does it randomly while im holding him. Hell go 10-15 mins before doing his first wobble/loop with his head. Then maybe a couple more within 5 mins or so. Then hell go 20 mins without doing it again. When I have him out and on my lap or crawling around my couch he wont do it. Only when i have him in my hands walkin him from hand to hand. Hell just go straight up almost like he wants to reach my face and then he loops his head. At first my gf was like what is he doing and I was like idk he probably is just young and learning his abilities. But it started happening more frequent so I had to get on here and ask. I usually know what kind of BP im wanting and do my research I went to the expo wanting to pick up a caramel and knew to look for kinks and stuff. But they didnt have any. So I just searched around and found a snake I thought looked the best colors/markings and ended up picking him up for $240 US dollars. If I wouldve known about the wobble previously I probably wouldve stayed away from him. But too late now and I love him so looks like i might be changing his name from LB to wobbles haha.

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Originally Posted by LBbp

I will be feeding him tomorrow. But the breeder said he was a good eater. And hes a little chunk for his age. His twin brother was smaller then him. But markings color etc were the exact same. This one just opened up to me first so I bought him. His wobble isnt 2 bad. He just does it randomly while im holding him. Hell go 10-15 mins before doing his first wobble/loop with his head. Then maybe a couple more within 5 mins or so. Then hell go 20 mins without doing it again. When I have him out and on my lap or crawling around my couch he wont do it. Only when i have him in my hands walkin him from hand to hand. Hell just go straight up almost like he wants to reach my face and then he loops his head. At first my gf was like what is he doing and I was like idk he probably is just young and learning his abilities. But it started happening more frequent so I had to get on here and ask. I usually know what kind of BP im wanting and do my research I went to the expo wanting to pick up a caramel and knew to look for kinks and stuff. But they didnt have any. So I just searched around and found a snake I thought looked the best colors/markings and ended up picking him up for $240 US dollars. If I wouldve known about the wobble previously I probably wouldve stayed away from him. But too late now and I love him so looks like i might be changing his name from LB to wobbles haha.

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Spiders tend to wobble more when stressed/excited. So it makes sense that he does it when you're holding him. I'd be willing to bet he wobbles quite a bit come feeding time as well.

It was funny cause the other day I got him out and walked around the house for a minute holding him. Then sat down and he started looping I thought he was trying to get around to try and bite my hand or something I was like oh crap not another biter. But he just looped a few times and I was like if hes gna bite me hes gna bite me so I grabbed his head with my other hand to support him and he just took off movin around like normal. I had a normal BP when I was about 12 years old that I got from a pet store " ohh hes docile never tried to bite " he would bite me every time I went to pick him up. Multiple bites while holding him. Tried to get him used to being held. But after a month of biting I returned him to the pet store and got my $ back. The guy workin when I was returning him was the reptile guy. And he was like oh yeah I told them to put a sign on this snakes display cage saying hes a snappy snake and only for experienced snake owners. Which this was my 3rd snake at the time. Had the other two for years one was a corn and a pastel BP. So I was used to snakes and knew that getting bit was a part of owning a snake. Like falling off a bike is a part of leaning to ride one. But this one however was just a snake that wanted to be left alone. Keep in mind I never feed in cage. Always feed in containers so it wasnt him thinking it was meal time biting.

How do you know when a BP is stressed when holding. To me he seems excited when held. Never stays in his initial ball after getting him out of his cage. He loves to move around all up and down my arms, through my fingers and hands. He likes to crawl around and explore everything around me. I had my phone out posting a comment on here while holding him and he was all over my phone. Hes real curious about my face always trying to get to it. And he loves resting his head on me and everything else. Ill put him on my comforter on my bed and hell crawl around the whole bed almost then go into a crevice in the comforter leave his body in it but pop his head out and rest it on top of the crevice. I assume because his neck gets tired from moving and wobbling a lot. Is their neck weaker then other BP's? He also watches everything if my gf or dog is in the room walkin around hes moving his head or eyes watching them. He has a real weird personality out of all the snakes ive owned but in a good way. Even with the wobbles that now make me laugh hes my favorite snake thus far. I will update after feeding and get a video. Any help on how to post a comment with a video in it.

I have a young bumblebee who does the exact same thing you describe. I watch him in his cage exploring and he loops around so weird. When I'm holding him, he never seems to calm down but is always moving from one hand to the other. Last time I had him out, he wiggled around and smacked himself on the head with his tail and then got all 's' like defensive 'cause something hit his head. LOL. He's my special needs snake. Not sure if I would have bought him had I known how bad his wobble was, but now he's mine and I want to take care of him and help him grow. I would like to get another non-spider snake to have a 'normal' one so to speak (instead of just having the special needs snake), but I need to convince the hubby about that. Definitely a very weird personality snake.

As long as your BP is happy and healthy and eating the wobble shouldn't affect him. A lot of spiders do have some extent of a wobble and it is honestly nothing to worry about (although I can totally understand the worry when you're not aware of what exactly is happening). I wouldn't let a wobble put me off getting a spider/spider combo unless it was seriously inhibiting his eating/life.

Getting myself a spider next week to join the collection :D been told he hasn't wobbled as of yet but he's just a hatchling :)

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Originally Posted by LBbp

How do you know when a BP is stressed when holding. To me he seems excited when held. Never stays in his initial ball after getting him out of his cage. He loves to move around all up and down my arms, through my fingers and hands. He likes to crawl around and explore everything around me. I had my phone out posting a comment on here while holding him and he was all over my phone. Hes real curious about my face always trying to get to it. And he loves resting his head on me and everything else. Ill put him on my comforter on my bed and hell crawl around the whole bed almost then go into a crevice in the comforter leave his body in it but pop his head out and rest it on top of the crevice. I assume because his neck gets tired from moving and wobbling a lot. Is their neck weaker then other BP's? He also watches everything if my gf or dog is in the room walkin around hes moving his head or eyes watching them. He has a real weird personality out of all the snakes ive owned but in a good way. Even with the wobbles that now make me laugh hes my favorite snake thus far. I will update after feeding and get a video. Any help on how to post a comment with a video in it.

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Any situation that's not in a snug hide can be stressful for a ball. Remember, we're holding these animals captive :) It's just that balls with the spider gene show stress better than one without neurological issues. I don't think their necks are necessarily weaker than other morphs, but honestly there's not a whole lot known about the spider wobble.

On the videos, I believe you can upload it to photobucket and link it in.