Bee w/ wobble

[DemmBalls]

All spiders have wobbles. Now, only some have it bad.
But there are some circumstances that make the wobble appear more, and more severe that will go away once they're fixed.

1. Stress, they wobble a lot more when stressed (if it's bad, it gets worse, if not noticeable, you start to see it a little)

2. Feeding, sometimes can bring out the wobble in a spider morph.

3. Drop in temperature. Was it on the cold side when you picked him up? If so, how cold is it? This could also mix with stress making it appear all at once when no wobble was seen before.

If one of those things went towards the problem, then once the cause is gone (warm, in the tub, done eating) symptoms should go back to the norm.

Unfortunately, you'll never find a wobble free spider, ever, so either try not to be heart broken (You can still love the little guy/girl!) or stay away from the morph.

I love the morph, so i won't be staying away from it. hearing all of your input/support makes me feel a little better about it.

That being said...the ambient room temp has changed by about 8-10 degrees (to the cool side), but I have not messed with the thermostat at all. Should I try warming things up a bit?

Thanks for your advice.

[Clint Bundy]

I have a male and female spider and I have never seen the wobble in them yet. I know it can come and go or come and stay. They are both eating very well and putting on weight just like they should. The female was my only problem eater when I first got her. Now she is pounding mice and rats like there is no tomorrow. It is sad that this morph has such a bad problem. If my snakes start a really serious wobble I wouldn't think twice about not breeding them. What is baffling is that nobody knows what causes it and why it is mostly happening with Spiders.

[WingedWolfPsion]

The wobble appears to be linked directly to the spider gene, and cannot therefore be bred out. We know this because the spider is one of the most out-crossed morphs there is, because it does not have a super form.

Your bee's offspring may wobble a lot, or they may wobble very little, even show no sign of it at all. You'll probably have a few of each in every clutch--and you would have if your bee had shown no sign of a wobble, too.

Wobble does not affect feeding response. My spider has a moderate wobble, and he's always been game to eat whatever is offered to him--if he misses, he comes back around and tries again, which some of my balls would never do.

My male has produced wobbler hatchlings, and non-wobbler hatchlings. It appears to be as random as the amount of white on a pied.

No normal animals from any spider clutch I have produced have shown signs of a wobble. Wobble in normals or other morphs may be due to neurological or inner ear problems unrelated to the spider wobble.

[ericeod]

I have to deal with this issue, and posted about it about a month ago (and got some negative comments because I posted such a common issue). My Spider seemed to be virtually wobble free at first, but at times can show signs of it when stressed. I've also got a Bumblebee (Spider Pastel) coming in 2 days, and still have no reserves of owning these animals. What it comes down to is that they are pets, can have great lives and still have the wobble.

My suggestion is to not worry about it. Take the best care you can for the animal and it will have a long happy (stress free) life!

[DemmBalls]

Thanks guys!

I got her out last night and she was kind or crazy at first, then she settled down a little bit and I let her crawl on the ground and she looked a lot better than I was expecting. It definitely seems as though stress/excitement cause this to spike.

Our other issue still remains...with or without the wobble she still has not accepted a meal on her own since she arrived from the breeder nearly two months ago. She took several meals before we had her shipped, then stopped accepting meals on her own. i don't know if the stress from shipping and the new enviroment caused this?

Thanks again for all the good words and advice guys!

[WingedWolfPsion]

Well, the first thing is that you shouldn't be handling her until after she's feeding for you.

You need to reduce her stress as much as possible, and go over your husbandry. How is her current cage different from the one she was raised in? Are temps and humidity correct? Does she have the right size and shape for her hides? Do your best to make her current cage more closely resemble the one she's used to. Do not offer food more often than every 3 or 4 days. Do not disturb her for things other than changing water or cleaning.

Ball pythons do not feed if they don't feel secure.

[DemmBalls]

Well, the first thing is that you shouldn't be handling her until after she's feeding for you.

You need to reduce her stress as much as possible, and go over your husbandry. How is her current cage different from the one she was raised in? Are temps and humidity correct? Does she have the right size and shape for her hides? Do your best to make her current cage more closely resemble the one she's used to. Do not offer food more often than every 3 or 4 days. Do not disturb her for things other than changing water or cleaning.

Ball pythons do not feed if they don't feel secure.

I had her out last night to clean urates. Other than that she is out rarely to have her weight checked. We aren't actually handling her as we do our other snakes.

Her setup is as close to what the breeder had as we can get (through discussions with her). It's a shoebox tub with a small hide on the cool side and one on the warm side w/ a small water bowl between them. She is on news print and has a basking spot in the low 90's controlled by a Ranco T-Stat and 3" flexwatt. Ambient temp is in the low to mid 80's. Humidity is 50-60 percent.

We offer one live mouse (fuzzy to hopper size) every Saturday overnight (making sure the mouse is too small to harm the snake of course). She is currently sitting at 80 grams, but doesn't look too skinny yet.

At what point do I consider assist feeding her? Any advice or tricks I can try?

[J.Vandegrift]

I would try filling her tub almost completely with balled up newspaper and offer a bigger mouse that what you have been. I would put the mouse in the cage around midnight while leaving all of the lights in the room off and then check back in about an hour.

2 months is a long time for a snake that size to go without food. If she does not eat in the next couple weeks you may need to assist feed her.

[DemmBalls]

I would try filling her tub almost completely with balled up newspaper and offer a bigger mouse that what you have been. I would put the mouse in the cage around midnight while leaving all of the lights in the room off and then check back in about an hour.

2 months is a long time for a snake that size to go without food. If she does not eat in the next couple weeks you may need to assist feed her.

How long should I have the balled paper in with her before offering the next meal?

Thanks for the advice.

[BlckPhntm]

I don't mean to hijack the thread or anything but I'm having a hard time understanding what the problem is with the wobble/spin? Does this affect the snake at all? I have bred spiders before with no problems. They eat and breed fine.

So what is the problem? Do people not like to see them do it? Is that it?