Quote Originally Posted by the_rotten1 View Post
I love my spiders.




And I have to say, out of this clutch of five babies, the three with the spider gene were the healthiest. They were bigger on average than my two non-spider babies, they hatched out quicker, and they were the first to shed and start eating. No problems whatsoever getting them started. If you look around you'll start to notice that most of the anti-spider crowd have either never owned one, or don't have much experience with them. Meanwhile, most breeders who have knowledge and experience with these gorgeous snakes say they are healthy. Who you believe is up to you.

A few things I can tell you about spiders:
  1. The wobble is variable. Not only does it differ from spider to spider, but it also differes from one moment to another. Spiders wobble when excited or under stress, but they move around normally most of the time. If you could see my spiders moving around their tubs, or slithering across my room while they're calm, you wouldn't notice any difference between the way they move and any other BP.
  2. The wobble isn't inherently debilitating. If it were, these animals would not thrive as they do. People pooh-pooh it when breeders say that spiders eat, shed, poop, and breed just as well as other snakes, but all of these things are signs of health in a ball python. As we all know, BPs will skip meals for seemingly no reason. An that was suffering would not do as well as most spiders.
  3. Both the severity of the wobble and the number of severe cases of wobble are greatly exaggerated. One example is when people compare them to pugs, or other dogs with deformities that cause them pain and health issues. It's not an accurite comparison. Spiders don't have a skull deformity or difficulty breathing. It would be more accurate to compare them to a dog that walks around normally most of the time, but jumps so high that it falls over when excited. I'm sure plenty of toy dogs do that, but I don't think I've ever heard anyone say people shouldn't breed them because of it.
  4. Spiders have good temperament. At least all the ones I've worked with have. I've never had a defensive or nippy spider. At worst, some have been a little flighty when stressed, but they're typically a very friendly and easy-going snake.
  5. Spiders have great appetite! Mine typically do not turn down a meal unless they're in shed, breeding, or getting ready to lay eggs. None of them have been particularly picky either. Always great to have a snake that will eat the other snakes' leftovers.
  6. They're just plain gorgeous! I have to admit I haven't always been a big fan of black and yellow, but with all the great combos out there you don't have to be. Throw them into coral glow, hypo, or some other color mutation to add some amazing pattern. You want a white snake? White pieds are as white as you can get and some spider pieds have no pattern at all. Look up "white wedding" ball pythons.


Now, all of that said I respect that some people don't like spiders. You're entitled to your own opinions and feelings. If you don't want them in your collection that's perfectly fine by me. I also want to thank everyone in this thread thus far for not going the "breeders are all greedy and care nothing for the health of their snakes" route. It's great to speak with a group of people mature enough to state their reservations without attacking people who don't agree with them. I think y'all are missing out on a great morph, but thanks for being awesome about it.
Honestly, the more i look, the more ive been wanting a spider morph. Banana spiders look gorgeous, and im gonna be looking at others for sure! Thank you for the input.

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