Spider with very little "wobble"

[rufretic]

I normally keep my opinions to myself regarding the morphs with known issues (i.e. spider ball pythons, enigma leopard geckos, etc.), but to say it's ridiculous not to want to own one or there is no good reason is pretty absurd. There are a bazillion ball python morphs out there without known issues you could pick from with good temperament, feeding response, or whatever features you might desire in a ball python. People are picking a spider for one reason only: the aesthetic. I come from a background in dog breeding and responsible breeders there go through a great deal of trouble to select for dogs with good temperament, OFA graded hips, CERF eye certifications, etc. In effect, breeding for health. No reputable breeder would breed a dog with bad hips/eyes just because it "looks nice". Now I own a variety of reptile morphs within my personal collection from ball pythons to tokay geckos, but I have mixed feelings on them. One of my main concerns is that reptiles move more and more towards being a major source of profit via trying to create newer and better morphs and while often this encourages new blood to enter the hobby (which is great), a slow but certain departure from health and well-being starts often starts to occur. A prime example of this is the current issues facing the eastern indigo snake. People bred snakes together with unknown lineages and slowly, but surely, the inbreeding began to take its toll. Many big breeders however still deny that it is an issue. The standard justification helping their cause is a set of vocal individuals saying some permutation of "well my snake from breeder x does just fine".

It kind of perplexes me the lengths people to make their enclosures or husbandry "perfect" in regards to ideal humidity, prey size, or whatever. If humidity goes above ~ 70% there is a thread on how to make it exactly 60% for example. To have such an obsession of these (often inconsequential) details on making everything perfect then buy a snake with a known neurological defect? I understand if you rescue the snake or take from a friend who can't care for it, but to actually go out and buy one is another story. If I were to propose using an animal with known neurological issues in a breeding program to a group of individuals outside what I will call "the spider ball python debate" just because I liked his/her aesthetics, I would get concerns or push-back with almost near certainty. I am not going to speculate on a ball python's "happiness", but to say it has no effect on the animals welfare is likely naive. There is actually paper published in the journal of exotic pet medicine on the topic By Rose et al. The authors note that "side-to side head tremors, incoordination, erratic corkscrewing of the head and neck, inhibited righting reflex, torticollis (neck spasms), poor muscle tone, and loose grip with the tail” have all been observed as issues associated with the spider gene and its "wobble". They go on to say that most scientists versed in animal welfare perceived a moderate to high welfare impact from the disorder due to additional stress and impaired ability to perform certain species specific behaviors such as feeding and proper locomotion.

You are right that within a captive setting most spider ball pythons and other morphs with known issues "do just fine" and you are certainly entitled to your opinion and to own whatever ball pythons you wish, but breeding snakes with known issues is not something I can encourage.

The only thing I can say is that I should of been more clear on what I think is ridiculous, not to make an educated decision that you don't choose to own a spider but to choose not to own one because you saw a video on YouTube that shows one of the most extreme cases and then assume all spiders are like that so you vow never to own one. That is what's ridiculous imo.