Possible Cue ball neurologic issues?

[Hannahshissyfix]

Im wondering if my gal has some issues possibly related to her morph or maybe she's just a little "special" with no relation. The best I can describe would be similar to a spider that gets excited during feeding and shows its wobble, but she doesn't wobble, just has terrible aim and ends up striking way off a few times before she grabs her rat off the tongs. Im not sure if this is new for her or I've just noticed it more over the last few feedings since she's gained a few hundred grams. Im aware of the usual related kinking/duck bill birth defects but haven't heard of anything similar to this. Maybe she's just a little over excited to strike but I cant think of any of my other snakes having such poor aim consistently. I'll try to get a video next time. Besides that she never shows any other odd behavior or things to make me concerned about her health. I know its not odd for snakes to miss occassionally but I feel so bad when she hits the side of her tub.

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[Bogertophis]

Just poor vision would be my guess? Have you tried feeding her in dim light versus bright light? Bright light might be hurting her eyes?

[Hannahshissyfix]

Just poor vision would be my guess? Have you tried feeding her in dim light versus bright light? Bright light might be hurting her eyes?

I feed at night in pretty dim lighting. Ive thought the albino aspect could be part of it but they should be using mostly scent and heat to strike at plus my other albino morphs have never done this.

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[Bogertophis]

I feed at night in pretty dim lighting. Ive thought the albino aspect could be part of it but they should be using mostly scent and heat to strike at plus my other albino morphs have never done this.

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Yes, I agree. Maybe other owners will have more input on this?

[asplundii]

There are no issues with Albinos and the "poor vision" thing is an old wives tale that needs to die.

Slight neuro issue has been documented in SuperBlack/SuperCinny. May or may not be the case here, I would suggest keeping an eye on her and seeing if the behaviour is temporary or sustained. Even if it is sustained it may not be a neuro tic, I have a couple animals that intentionally bluff strike a few times before actually making their "kill" strike. So long as the animal is eating and otherwise healthy I would not stress it

[Zincubus]

For what it's worth , 7 out of my 14 snakes are Albino and they all seem to have poorer eyesight compared to the others ...


To be fair I'm not sure it is an old wives tale .... I'm sure I've read things in the past about Albinos having dodgy or at least very sensitive eyesight .... don't even Albino humans have issues ??



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[Zincubus]

Edit

Individuals with albinism do not have clear vision due to an underdevelopment of the central part of the retina called the macula. The macula is responsible for sharp, detail vision which works most well in bright light. The retina is very pale because of the lack of pigment.


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[JodanOrNoDan]

Yeah, I have a few normal albinos and some lavenders. The normal ones have noticeable vision issues. The lavenders seem to see a little better. I don't know why. Albino plus spider makes for some interesting feeding gymnastics.

[Bogertophis]

Like others already noted, the albinos I've kept in the past had noticeably poorer vision than other snakes I've kept. Also, when some of my snakes (of normal
coloration) became geriatric, their vision also seems to suffer from when they were younger. My 19-year old corn snake is a good example...he has a good
appetite but grabbing his f/t mouse is much more of a challenge than it used to be.

[Hannahshissyfix]

There are no issues with Albinos and the "poor vision" thing is an old wives tale that needs to die.

Slight neuro issue has been documented in SuperBlack/SuperCinny. May or may not be the case here, I would suggest keeping an eye on her and seeing if the behaviour is temporary or sustained. Even if it is sustained it may not be a neuro tic, I have a couple animals that intentionally bluff strike a few times before actually making their "kill" strike. So long as the animal is eating and otherwise healthy I would not stress it

Do you have sources for your claim that albinos do not have poorer vision? Im aware that it wont make much of a difference for my situation but as others mentioned, that goes against my reading of how albinism effects every other kind of animal down to my friends albino son who has extreme vision issues from his near purple eyes.

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