Do pieds 'wobble'??

[Keshi]

Hi, I got a pied get a few weeks ago and from day one I've noticed she almost shudders from left to right when she's looking about, she rests her head on things a lot to keep steady !! I've heard spiders are known for wobbling but is it also noticed on pieds??

[MarkS]

No, there are other things that could cause that, some of them not good. How old is she? How is her muscle tone? Make sure to keep her quiet, warm and well hydrated.

[Keshi]

Hi thank you. She's 10 months, it's not a major wobble maybe just when she's excited. She's sometime strong and other times clumsy and plopping off my arm. Sometimes it seems she's playing dead and completely stil for minutes. Like she's frozen. Her hot spot is 92, her cool 80. She couldn't be too hot could she? I only have a humidity problem in that I can't get it to stick above 45%. She sometimes lays out off the ground or up coiled around the fluorescent bulb when it's off. It's like she wants to rise higher all the time I don't know why.

[MarkS]

Hi thank you. She's 10 months, it's not a major wobble maybe just when she's excited. She's sometime strong and other times clumsy and plopping off my arm. Sometimes it seems she's playing dead and completely stil for minutes. Like she's frozen. Her hot spot is 92, her cool 80. She couldn't be too hot could she? I only have a humidity problem in that I can't get it to stick above 45%. She sometimes lays out off the ground or up coiled around the fluorescent bulb when it's off. It's like she wants to rise higher all the time I don't know why.

It's possible she's too hot. I'm a heretic in my belief that most people keep their ball pythons too warm. How are you measuring the temperature? Those stick on thermometers are pretty much worthless. You need to measure the temperature of the ground that she is laying on not the temperature a couple inches over her head. I like using a temperature gun (like these at reptile basics) to measure the temp where they are laying , also the indoor/outdoor thermometers with the remote probes are handy. People are often surprised to find that what they 'thought' were temps in the low 90's are actually temps in the high 100's. I also like to keep my hot spots in the high 80's instead of the low 90's like most people.

poisoning is also a possibility, I've seen this in balls that were kept on ceder shavings or where someone had gone overboard in treating for mites. But there's not much that you can do about that once the damage is done.