Quick genetic question

[Crowfingers]

I may have asked this before, but I want to be sure on my genetics - only VISUAL spider morphs have the potential to wobble - is this correct?

Reason I'm asking is I have finally worn down my fiance to get a female ball, instead of a ring lol. I am interested in calico / pied / black pastel combos. There is a local breeder that I have spoken to that has a clutch of calico's that hatched a week ago (he's not selling until feb/march at the earliest) but they are from a Calider x Calico pairing.

Would the regular calicos have the fathers' wobble or just the caliders and spiders?


I realize the spider wobble isn't harmful, but its not something that I want to deal with at all. So if a normal (non-spider) looking snake with a spider parent can still wobble I will look at different pairings. Thanks.
I do not want to breed, just to have a big girl!

[wnateg]

This may be helpful: http://www.owalreptiles.com/issues.php

[Crowfingers]

Thanks, I had forgotten this site. Unfortunately it won't open :?

[wnateg]

Thanks, I had forgotten this site. Unfortunately it won't open :?

Yea, it takes a really, really long time to load.

[rufretic]

The spider is the gene that has wobble and it cannot be passed down to other morphs unless they also get the spider gene. Look at the link posted when it's working again because there are a few others known to have wobble.

Not sure why people think wobble is something to 'deal with' because 90% of spiders would not be detected as having wobble to the untrained eye, you would take care of it and interact with it exactly like any other ball. Wobble has been blown so far out of reality because of a 1 in 1000 extreme case and I would consider that extreme case just like any other birth defect like any other morph could hatch with. It's really sad imo, these animals are not any different, it's not like they have special needs but now people that have no experience with it think they are all handicap. It's just not true, I've seen 100s of spiders and owned dozens and I've never seen an extreme case of wobble in real life, just on a video. The majority of them show no signs that would be noticed. Out of all of mine I've only had one that I could notice it and it would just :cens0r::cens0r::cens0r::cens0r: it's head differently and occasionally miss a strike, nothing to make owning it difficult or any less enjoyable than any of my other balls. It's just sad that so many people will miss out on an awsome gene because they are scared of rumors that are not true.

Anyway, sorry for the rant. If you want a calico, you don't have to worry about it. Calico is a beautiful morph as well, I have a pastel calico and he is gorgeous!

[Crowfingers]

I respect your feelings about spiders. I think they are a beautiful morph and people who breed them and like them have that right.

I just don't want a pet that *could* corkscrew and writhe around at every feeding because of excitement- even mild missed strikes or clumsy positioning - it makes me sad to watch. We say they are fine and non-painful, and whether we are right or wrong in that I don't know - but the ability and willingness to eat and breed does not equal QOL to me personally.

I would not own a blue pit, boston terrier, bulldog, or dachshund, and sooo many other purebred dogs for the same reasons. 95% are perfectly lovely dogs with some minor issues that are completely manageable and that don't effect their quality of life at all, others develop the worst chronic skin /allergy issues / neurological problems that do affect their QOL - and you don't know which will have these issues when they are puppies...all pets have some risk involved, I'm just minimizing mine as much as possible in this respect.

[rufretic]

I respect your feelings about spiders. I think they are a beautiful morph and people who breed them and like them have that right.

I just don't want a pet that *could* corkscrew and writhe around at every feeding because of excitement- even mild missed strikes or clumsy positioning - it makes me sad to watch. We say they are fine and non-painful, and whether we are right or wrong in that I don't know - but the ability and willingness to eat and breed does not equal QOL to me personally.

I would not own a blue pit, boston terrier, bulldog, or dachshund, and sooo many other purebred dogs for the same reasons. 95% are perfectly lovely dogs with some minor issues that are completely manageable and that don't effect their quality of life at all, others develop the worst chronic skin /allergy issues / neurological problems that do affect their QOL - and you don't know which will have these issues when they are puppies...all pets have some risk involved, I'm just minimizing mine as much as possible in this respect.

I agree that there is no good reason to have an animal that may have a low quality of life. I just think people group all spiders as having that when in reality, 1 in 1000 might have a severe enough wobble to affect their qol. For most spiders the wobble is so nonexistent that they have exactly the same qol as any other ball python. That is what I think is sad, the misunderstanding. The people that have owned spiders know this but now we have all these people preaching how bad spiders are that have never even owned one but just jumped on the ban wagon, some literally talk about banning them which is ridiculous.

But in regards to your situation, and anyone else really, it is your choice. There are so many other beautiful options that it doesn't really matter if you don't want a spider. I just wish people would make that decision based on liking another morph better, not because of a false reputation that the spider has now become known for.