Silly Spinnerblasts And Other Spider Morphs

Here's my Spinnerblast, Steve the Derp Herp, doing his thing. He sits like this frequently, sometimes for several minutes. I love this guy!!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...524_142100.jpg

Does anyone else have any pics of there endearing wobble spiders?

My spinner being her usual derpy self.
http://i477.photobucket.com/albums/r...psbc234334.jpg

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Originally Posted by bcr229

My spinner being her usual derpy self.
http://i477.photobucket.com/albums/r...psbc234334.jpg

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Love!

OK. So I have a question. I'm not trying to rain on anybody's parade, cause these are very cute pics, but I figure y'all could answer my question best. How do you feel about the wobble? I have only been into snakes for about a year, and I have always thought that I would look at a wobble snake if I had one and feel sad for it, feel like apologizing... I didn't know how to feel about the responsibility of breeding snakes with issues like these. I don't really have a formed opinion, just thought I would feel bad, but I look at your pictures and they're just cute little ones like my lesser pastel, but inclined to enjoy being upside down :P. Sorry if this is a thread hijacking, but I had to ask.....

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Originally Posted by anicatgirl

OK. So I have a question. I'm not trying to rain on anybody's parade, cause these are very cute pics, but I figure y'all could answer my question best. How do you feel about the wobble? I have only been into snakes for about a year, and I have always thought that I would look at a wobble snake if I had one and feel sad for it, feel like apologizing... I didn't know how to feel about the responsibility of breeding snakes with issues like these. I don't really have a formed opinion, just thought I would feel bad, but I look at your pictures and they're just cute little ones like my lesser pastel, but inclined to enjoy being upside down :P. Sorry if this is a thread hijacking, but I had to ask.....

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I love your question and I'm glad you asked!

To be honest, I laugh at YouTube videos of wobbly snakes. Yes, I know it's sad, but it's also pretty funny. My guy is really entertaining, and therapeutic, actually, because he is a "special needs" snake (as my mom put it). I have adhd and sensory processing issues, as do two of my children, and his movements remind me of the struggles we adhd'ers face. My son will occasionally watch tv upside down on the couch.

I guess the wobble is sad, in a way, but I don't see it as a bad thing, and it doesn't bother me. It's just different. He doesn't appear to be suffering in any way. It's like the fainting goats; their muscles tighten when they get excited or scared, they fall over, then get back up and go about their business, their quality of life not affected at all. I laugh at them, too. You would be surprised at how many domesticated or captive bred animals have genetic issues as part of the package deal.

As long as the snakes do not appear to be suffering or living a reduced quality of life, I see nothing wrong with continuing using then in breeding projects.

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Originally Posted by anicatgirl

OK. So I have a question. I'm not trying to rain on anybody's parade, cause these are very cute pics, but I figure y'all could answer my question best. How do you feel about the wobble? I have only been into snakes for about a year, and I have always thought that I would look at a wobble snake if I had one and feel sad for it, feel like apologizing... I didn't know how to feel about the responsibility of breeding snakes with issues like these. I don't really have a formed opinion, just thought I would feel bad, but I look at your pictures and they're just cute little ones like my lesser pastel, but inclined to enjoy being upside down :P. Sorry if this is a thread hijacking, but I had to ask.....

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I only have two with the spider gene in my collection, and neither has a bad wobble. The spinner in the picture is worst when she's excited, such as when feeding, but it's still not bad and since she readily takes f/t it doesn't matter if she gets a bad hit on the rat because of it. The other has even less wobble.

I would feel bad if I produced one with a bad enough wobble that it had to be culled, just as much as if I'd produced a badly kinked or otherwise deformed baby that couldn't survive.

Mutants are always funny

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Originally Posted by anicatgirl

OK. So I have a question. I'm not trying to rain on anybody's parade, cause these are very cute pics, but I figure y'all could answer my question best. How do you feel about the wobble? I have only been into snakes for about a year, and I have always thought that I would look at a wobble snake if I had one and feel sad for it, feel like apologizing... I didn't know how to feel about the responsibility of breeding snakes with issues like these. I don't really have a formed opinion, just thought I would feel bad, but I look at your pictures and they're just cute little ones like my lesser pastel, but inclined to enjoy being upside down :P. Sorry if this is a thread hijacking, but I had to ask.....

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It's endearing. It doesn't seem to effect their quality of life, and they're quite quirky compared to other snakes. Imagine peeking in two tubs; the first snake raises it's head slightly to look at you better while the second twists his whole head and neck around to look at you upside down (complete with tongue flicks). It's an interesting break from the normal routine.

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Originally Posted by Brandon_Hribar

Mutants are always funny

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Oi. Pastels and pins are mutants, too.

This is my favorite picture I've gotten of Gio being weird. I catch him doing things like this all the time, but this was the only time I had a camera handy

http://i.imgur.com/BhYpjlh.jpg?1

Nice pictures everyone! Thanks for sharing!

I appreciate the nice responses guys. I just love pretty much all animals (even the ones who bite me) and I want to understand. I feel that youtube is not a great place to find out. How severe is it, usually? I know some are worse than others, but what's general behavior like?

What's a wobble snake? Sorry I'm clueless*


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Originally Posted by emmitoot45

What's a wobble snake? Sorry I'm clueless*


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It's a neurological thing connected to a handful of ball python morphs. Most noticeably in spiders, but also in womas and champagnes. I suggest youtube for research.

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Originally Posted by anicatgirl

I appreciate the nice responses guys. I just love pretty much all animals (even the ones who bite me) and I want to understand. I feel that youtube is not a great place to find out. How severe is it, usually? I know some are worse than others, but what's general behavior like?

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Well Gio (lesser bee) is pretty bad with it. If I hadn't researched the wobble some before I got him, he would have corkscrewed right out of my hand when I first took him out of his shipping box. It's also totally normal to catch him doing a little dance in his tub (imagine holding a cooked noodle so part of it hangs down and twirling it in slow circles) or sitting in a tight little coil with just his head in the very center sticking straight up. He eats fine and was a real champ with breeding (he only eats frozen, his equilibrium issue makes me not trust him around live food). On the other hand, my bumblebee doesn't seem to wobble at all. She has a very quiet nature and doesn't move around much except when it's feeding time, which she handles just as well as any of my other juveniles (they all take live, because that's what I have on hand). That isn't to say she doesn't wobble, only that if she does it's so subtle that you can't tell right away.

It's also important to note that every single spider (and the other genes, to a lesser extent) have a wobble. It may be like my bumblebee and show no immediate signs of it, but the wobble is attached to the gene and therefore always present when those genes are. There also seems to be no indication of what kind of wobbler a parent will produce (my gio can produce barely-noticable wobblers, while my bumblebee can produce trainwrecks).

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Originally Posted by lizzy_troy

I love your question and I'm glad you asked!

To be honest, I laugh at YouTube videos of wobbly snakes. Yes, I know it's sad, but it's also pretty funny. My guy is really entertaining, and therapeutic, actually, because he is a "special needs" snake (as my mom put it). I have adhd and sensory processing issues, as do two of my children, and his movements remind me of the struggles we adhd'ers face. My son will occasionally watch tv upside down on the couch.

I guess the wobble is sad, in a way, but I don't see it as a bad thing, and it doesn't bother me. It's just different. He doesn't appear to be suffering in any way. It's like the fainting goats; their muscles tighten when they get excited or scared, they fall over, then get back up and go about their business, their quality of life not affected at all. I laugh at them, too. You would be surprised at how many domesticated or captive bred animals have genetic issues as part of the package deal.

As long as the snakes do not appear to be suffering or living a reduced quality of life, I see nothing wrong with continuing using then in breeding projects.

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I was going to weigh in, but this is exactly my opinion. :)

I have a spider and a mojave bumblebee. I've never noticed any wobble with the bee, but my spider has a moderate wobble. He doesn't corkscrew, but he will jerk his head quickly from side to side. I've yet to capture it on video, but it's pretty funny. We say he's "janking out", and call him Janky from time to time. He eats f/t and has never had any issues (aside from being a picky brat, but that's unrelated - if he DECIDES to eat, then he eats just fine).

I have a jungle jag carpet that when feeding does a head bob not too bad but noticeable to me. It took a lot of research before I bought him just to be okay with it because I did feel sorry for the ones that have the bad wobble. Now that I have one you I wouldn't change him for the world. just have to be careful who you buy from. Has anyone every heard of boas having Neuro challenges. I have a boa and never notice anything out of the ordinary.

i have a bumblebee with enough wobble for me to refer to him as my "short bus snake".

he still looks awesome, but as far as breeding, i don't think i'll use him, because as bcr229 said, i'd feel bad if a baby with terrible wobble was the result

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Originally Posted by se7en

i have a bumblebee with enough wobble for me to refer to him as my "short bus snake".

he still looks awesome, but as far as breeding, i don't think i'll use him, because as bcr229 said, i'd feel bad if a baby with terrible wobble was the result

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Keep in mind; the severity of the wobble in the parent hasn't been shown to have any effect on the severity of the wobble in the offspring. I'll post about it in more detail after I've actually hatched out the clutch sired by my own short bus snake (big girl's due to drop soon).

I also have a bumble bee with a really bad wobble...I watched mine for 30 min doing 360 in his cage.

I just recently received a year or so old Spider Ball from my husband as a gift and my husband and I honestly had no idea about this wobble until I stumbled upon a thread on here mentioning it last night. Sure enough, I look over and Apollo has finally come out of his hide after his light goes out and he's rolling his head around and looping upside down like crazy! I sort of felt sorry for him and was sort of worried about getting this new snake and finding out after he has a neurological disorder, but the more I've come to terms with it, the more I love him for it. He's still settling so I'm curious about finding out what will trigger this wobble and how bad he'll have it as he grows. The wobble almost makes him more special to me. :)

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Originally Posted by Daigga

Keep in mind; the severity of the wobble in the parent hasn't been shown to have any effect on the severity of the wobble in the offspring. I'll post about it in more detail after I've actually hatched out the clutch sired by my own short bus snake (big girl's due to drop soon).

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i am aware of that, but i still do not want to take the chance.

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Originally Posted by se7en

i have a bumblebee with enough wobble for me to refer to him as my "short bus snake".

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Pffffft, hahaha!!

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Originally Posted by ratchet

He's still settling so I'm curious about finding out what will trigger this wobble and how bad he'll have it as he grows. The wobble almost makes him more special to me. :)

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Our spinnerblast was "for my husband" because he was part of a package re-homing deal with the piebald I really wanted. But, after bringing them home, I claimed Steve, too. He is my special Derp Herp. I wuv him!!

Usually, feeding time triggers the wobble: a slight side to side shake of the head. It's awesome, cause I can tell right away if he's going to hit the rat. My other snakes will zone in on the rat, but then ignore it if uninterested, but Steve and his poker face..... He'll start shaking, then BAM! The first time I fed him, he veered sideways and missed the body of the rat, snagging and trying to coil the rat's tail. Dork. But I love him and he ate it, so it's all good!

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a3...527_102250.jpg

Steve giving me a crooked smile after dragging his rat into his hide for privacy while eating. Not necessarily a spider wobble thing; it just goes along with his derpy-ness.

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05...790dc681e6.jpg

Apollo just hanging out. Haha. These snakes are so awesome.

OK so yeah possibly like what I saw on youtube. OK. It's less scary to me now that I have personal stories. I know a local breeder who produced my BP (and hopefully a neat hoggie morph for me this season) who I trust to tell me things like about the severity of a baby's morph issues. I like to buy mine in person anyway, so I wouldn't be concerned with getting one pulled over on me. Thanks guys :cool: I am glad to get some great anecdotes to go with my questions.

PS Any more goofy snake dork pics, I'll take 'em! :D

Steve was going CRAZY with the acrobatics this evening, and I hear him cruising around right now. He's SO MUCH FUN!! Especially if you add your own soundtrack. ;)

I'm going to try to take and upload video of him doing his thing...

(I want a hognose as my next type of snake! Saving up for the reptile show in August. The hubby doesn't need a birthday present, right? Or I could get him one of those "for you, for me" gifts)

I also have a Spinner Blast boy and he has only a very slight wobble when he eats, or when he is up in his hanging vines. He is a active guy who eats like a pig and has no problems swallowing prey. Actually the only time you can really see the wobble is when he telegraphs during eating, he has the habit of stretching his head and neck out straight and then you can see the wobble. I will never breed him to any other morph with spider. So i guess my choises are limited, but i really love this guy, he is the only pet i have who will sit and watch tv with me.

Cute little buddies. :)

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05...1a3beb42a3.jpg

My killerblast has shown no wobble except for sometimes i find him laying a little weird like in the picture. And when he looks at you sometimes his head is tilted slightly like a dog hearing a noise no swaying or rocking though. I always get a good chuckle when i see him laying weird


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My sblast also does the "dog head tilt" thing. It's so cute!

I do not but my normal spider Gary he does that all the time just last week I was feeding him and he did his head wobble and went upside down and then struck he ended up biting me upside down it was the funniest thing he has ever done

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05...fa1d43b322.jpg

Powerball ^

My bumblebee only gets funky around food time

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05...48b3523e4c.jpg
This is the derpiest picture I have of Varys. I'll try to get a video of him wobbling like crazy the next time we feed him. :)

These pictures are hilarious!! I'm picking up a spinner blast this fall, looks like Im going to get a lot of funny pics! I love the comment about these snakes being similar to us 'sensory' kids lol


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Originally Posted by KitaCat

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/05...48b3523e4c.jpg
This is the derpiest picture I have of Varys. I'll try to get a video of him wobbling like crazy the next time we feed him. :)

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Steve rests like this all the time!!

I love all these pics, so hilarious. A spider is on my list of morphs I need. And this all makes want one even more. One of our cats had kittens and the runt of the litter is a total derp it's so freaking adorable.

Sent from my snake room

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/06...377ca06adb.jpg

Our lesserbee sits in her private pool like this all the time our bumblebee does the same bless them


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Originally Posted by Azz047

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/06...377ca06adb.jpg

Our lesserbee sits in her private pool like this all the time our bumblebee does the same bless them


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Omg! This pic made me lol!!! That's so freakin' adorable.

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/06...f12b666dd0.jpg A little camera shy. Apollo stayed like that for about a minute, haha. But I fed him tonight and he missed but got it on the second strike when I held it right in front of his nose. After constricting it for a bit, he then spent a good few minutes trying to gain enough control before he could get the head of the rat. He kept grabbing the side, let go, curl around for a bit, grab the side and chew around and let go and go for a little spin. What a guy, stuck with it til he found the head and ate it. :)

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/06...9195fd2c7e.jpgMy bumblebee doing her daily dance.

Can I bring this thread back to life? I really enjoyed seeing other snakes who can relate to my Apollo!
This is him tonight. Just hanging out... Haha.

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/09...5cc2b4e92f.jpg


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This was Gwny's first couple of minutes home. My champagne only has the head shake thing going on, doesn't cork screw. I was pretty freaked out when she cork screwed right into the water bowl. I think she was just a little overwhelmed by new surroundings, haven't seen her cork screw at all after the first day. She does get really, really close to the prey before striking. I switched her to f/t today.

http://vid282.photobucket.com/albums...s/CAM00402.mp4

What morphs does the "wobble gene" affect? I've got a dinker ball python who can be pretty bizarre lol. Not a spider or champagne, possibly a woma though. His head always goes around a few times when eating, he misses the rat when striking a lot, and he lays in those strange positions. I will post some pictures later for sure.


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Originally Posted by gameonpython

What morphs does the "wobble gene" affect? I've got a dinker ball python who can be pretty bizarre lol. Not a spider or champagne, possibly a woma though. His head always goes around a few times when eating, he misses the rat when striking a lot, and he lays in those strange positions. I will post some pictures later for sure.


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The spider, champagne, and woma have the wobble. Sounds like you have a woma then.

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Originally Posted by nightwolfsnow

This was Gwny's first couple of minutes home. My champagne only has the head shake thing going on, doesn't cork screw. I was pretty freaked out when she cork screwed right into the water bowl. I think she was just a little overwhelmed by new surroundings, haven't seen her cork screw at all after the first day. She does get really, really close to the prey before striking. I switched her to f/t today.

http://vid282.photobucket.com/albums...s/CAM00402.mp4

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omg that was terrifying and adorable. i probably would have dropped my camera and screamed. lol glad she was able to right herself up.

http://i1381.photobucket.com/albums/...psmja4or0g.jpg

just fed my big bumblebee, and he firmly latched onto himself :(

going to have to wait until he swallows the rat before i can clean up his wounds

update: he did almost no damage to himself

i had to crack open a beer though

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Originally Posted by se7en

update: he did almost no damage to himself

i had to crack open a beer though

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well then, cheers! Lol i'll drink to that.

not a snake with wobble, but my silver streak's aim was a bit off as well, and she knicked herself a little

http://i1381.photobucket.com/albums/...psbbegctcr.jpg

might have to break out the gentleman jack :weirdface

I think we can all agree that ball pythons are stupidly fascinating.


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This thread came as such a relief!

I just got my first ball python, and he's a spider. I had zero knowledge of their wobble, and began to get deeply anxious when he began doing it. So far he only wobbles when exploring a new area, such as extending his head if I'm holding him or if he's reaching the top of a container. He tips his head back and swings around to right himself again.

I was so worried that there was something deeply wrong with him, as all a friend could find when checking online for the cause was the "stargazing" related to IBD. However I'm now quite sure I just have a mildly wobbly little spider of my own.