Problems feeding my spider morph

[steviey]

Ive got a beautiful little spider ball python. I am not sure how old he is but he is around two feet in length. He doesn't show much of a wobble until it gets to feeding time. He always lines up and gets ready to strike but then turns off in a different direction at the last minute. Its obvious that he is willing to eat because he strikes very readily when he can smell the mice but he just cant seem to hit them. Any tips on how to help him eat? Thanks

[Naom9Anne]

All I can say is persevere, try to line the prey up. I know it's not as simple as that as the wobble can cause them to go in the total wrong direction! Keep the prey on the tongs in the same place and maybe lower to the floor? I found this helped me with a BP who didn't seem to strike correctly.

Has he eaten at all for you? I have a spider and a bee, I thought the bee may have a wobble due to the way he lay once (with his head upside down) but he didn't seem to wobble at all in feeding so I'm not sure. My spider had a head bob but I was wiggling the mouse up and down so it was either a wobble or he was following the mouse's movements.

Let us know how he gets on!

[steviey]

He's eaten for me before. I've had him about three months now and we normally get there in the end but I haven't been able to get him to eat the past two weeks. I'll try with another mouse tomorrow. Thanks

[Naom9Anne]

Just make sure you are only offering on scheduled feed days, a few missed feeds is nothing to be concerned about. At least you know he will feed for you The spider morphs are beautiful!

[AlexisFitzy]

I have a bee with this same problem, I will line the rodent up with him nose to nose and somehow he will always bite them on the butt or on the back and then he has to spend time finding the head, he's a complete dork, but loves to eat! Some things I've found helpful are removing some of the stuff in his enclosure, I don't know if you have him in a tank or a tub but if has a bunch of stuff in there it's sometimes hard for them to focus like they have ADD or something. And what size rodent are you feeding him? Sometimes it's hard for them to aim when the target is small. Lastly with practice he should get better at striking mine has improved a little. Feeding the wonky ones is always pretty entertaining to me.


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[ViperSRT3g]

This wobble you guys are talking about. What exactly is it? The snake not being able to strike on target or something?

[Artemille]

My fire honeybee has a bad feeding wobble. If she misses, sometimes she bumps her face on it and spends a few minutes readjusting her jaw, or just misses all the way and kinda gives up. I wait 10 minutes, come back and reheat and offer again, getting as close to her face without touching her. Also, make sure the prey's face is at a straight angle, and not bent downward. That seems to help too. If she ends up really uninterested and is outright refusing, I'll try one more time at the very end of the day, then just call it until next week's feeding.

[Naom9Anne]

This wobble you guys are talking about. What exactly is it? The snake not being able to strike on target or something?

A wobble is a genetic fault (for lack of a better word) that can be found in spider BP's and spider morph (eg bee's) it is a malfunction of sorts in their brains which can affect their motor skills. Some spiders don't show this at all but it can range to quite severe including a "corkscrewing" of the head. It tends to show more when the animal is stressed or excited (eg handling and feeding etc)

Most spiders/spider morphs live out full and happy lives, I think as long as they can feed it is not a problem.

Search youtube for spider wobbles, there are a lot of videos to illustrate what it is. It is not necessarily harmful to the BP but there are comments by people who don't understand who think it is very cruel and that the morph should be eradicated. A view that I highly disagree with.

[Crazymonkee]

A wobble is a genetic fault (for lack of a better word) that can be found in spider BP's and spider morph (eg bee's) it is a malfunction of sorts in their brains which can affect their motor skills. Some spiders don't show this at all but it can range to quite severe including a "corkscrewing" of the head. It tends to show more when the animal is stressed or excited (eg handling and feeding etc)

Most spiders/spider morphs live out full and happy lives, I think as long as they can feed it is not a problem.

Search youtube for spider wobbles, there are a lot of videos to illustrate what it is. It is not necessarily harmful to the BP but there are comments by people who don't understand who think it is very cruel and that the morph should be eradicated. A view that I highly disagree with.

Well said

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