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Strange Spider behavior

H

hartge330ci

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Hi all,
I have a question on my spider. I just noticed this. He is 149 grams and growing strong. Eats healthy. But what he keeps doing is sticking his head in the air and then rolling over backwards ending up on his back rolled over his body. He also eats upside down... Lastly I noticed his body/skin seems much softer and thinner than my other balls... any ideas?
 
hartge330ci said:
Hi all,
I have a question on my spider. I just noticed this. He is 149 grams and growing strong. Eats healthy. But what he keeps doing is sticking his head in the air and then rolling over backwards ending up on his back rolled over his body. He also eats upside down... Lastly I noticed his body/skin seems much softer and thinner than my other balls... any ideas?
Click to expand...

spiders have issues with wobbling, some cases are severe, while others dont exhibit the problem at all.

As of right now, consensus says that all spiders have it, but there are some of us that believe that with careful breeding, maybe none will exhibit the trait. It hasnt been proven either way, really though.

I should add on to this...

Has your spider exhibited these traits before?
How long have you had him?

What are your housing conditions like? Heat, Hot and cold side temps, what substrate do you use?
 
I didn't notice it as much before...
I keep him on newspaper with temps around 80-85 during teh day and a hotspot around 90-95.
I have had him for about 3 months.
 
Welcome to the world of Spiders - Plenty of threads on this behavior - They function and thrive is all that's important...
 
hartge330ci said:
But what he keeps doing is sticking his head in the air and then rolling over backwards ending up on his back rolled over his body. He also eats upside down
Click to expand...

Mike P. said:
Welcome to the world of Spiders - Plenty of threads on this behavior - They function and thrive is all that's important...
Click to expand...

That might be all that's important to you, Mike...but I'd be willing to bet there are a lot of people that don't share that viewpoint. I know I'd be pretty darned upset if any of my spiders were exhibiting that degree of neuro dysfunction.
 
hartge330ci said:
Hi all,
I have a question on my spider. I just noticed this. He is 149 grams and growing strong. Eats healthy. But what he keeps doing is sticking his head in the air and then rolling over backwards ending up on his back rolled over his body. He also eats upside down... Lastly I noticed his body/skin seems much softer and thinner than my other balls... any ideas?
Click to expand...


Thats exactly why I quit breeding spiders and anything crossed with spiders, they ALL have it and you will see ALL at one time or another display those horrible genetic problems. :(

There is a long list of ball pythons with genetic problems.
 
Mike P. said:
Welcome to the world of Spiders - Plenty of threads on this behavior - They function and thrive is all that's important...
Click to expand...



True words from someone that doesnt care for the animals just the money they can make off of it. good thing i'd never buy anything from you if you had it for sale.
 
hhmoore said:
That might be all that's important to you, Mike...but I'd be willing to bet there are a lot of people that don't share that viewpoint. I know I'd be pretty darned upset if any of my spiders were exhibiting that degree of neuro dysfunction.
Click to expand...

I agree with Harald. It's not a good thing to have and breed snakes with neurological issues. I've been lucky so far that my male has shown no signs, but he's only a year old and it still could develop.
 
It really seems like it has gotten worse since I have had him. But I have never spent as much time paying attention to it as I have recently since I moved the snakes to a rack and more centrally located in my house.
 
hartge330ci said:
It really seems like it has gotten worse since I have had him. But I have never spent as much time paying attention to it as I have recently since I moved the snakes to a rack and more centrally located in my house.
Click to expand...

It might have just been getting worse as he grows.

Have you gotten in any new animals, and not quarantined them from your current collection? If you are REALLY worried, a vet checkup is never a bad idea. just to give you some peace of mind and all.

Good luck with him.

Dont believe all the hype that some try to say about the spiders, that ALL of them have it, its not proven yet. I know quite a few people personally that produce them and they dont wobble.
 
hhmoore said:
That might be all that's important to you, Mike...but I'd be willing to bet there are a lot of people that don't share that viewpoint. I know I'd be pretty darned upset if any of my spiders were exhibiting that degree of neuro dysfunction.
Click to expand...

Perhaps that came off wrong, however there are sooo many threads on this subject already on all the forums - I've kept a few over the years and they all exhibited some type of this behavior - some earlier, some later - some seem to calm down after time.

I will admit that I am in the group that believes "All" spiders got something going on - and with the plethora of info out there, one must make a choice to work with these animals or not - or even just to keep them as pets - As Ed Clark posted, he has made his decision and I respect that.

When I see new threads like these, it just tells me that the person has not done their homework - the potential problems with spiders is well known, and been out there for many years just a few keystrokes away.

While we see some ads for spiders that may claim the don't not show any ill effects, and perhaps they do not "at this time" - How many would be willing to guarantee that for the life of the animal - Considering your time and $$$ vested - I think you would not hear back from many of these people.

Buyer beware as the potential is there, and it's been well documented publicly for years...
 
xanaxez said:
True words from someone that doesnt care for the animals just the money they can make off of it. good thing i'd never buy anything from you if you had it for sale.
Click to expand...

You know nothing about me, but thanks for the heads up - now go do your research on spiders which you should have done prior to buying one...
 
Mike P. said:
Perhaps that came off wrong, however there are sooo many threads on this subject already on all the forums - I've kept a few over the years and they all exhibited some type of this behavior - some earlier, some later - some seem to calm down after time.

I will admit that I am in the group that believes "All" spiders got something going on - and with the plethora of info out there, one must make a choice to work with these animals or not - or even just to keep them as pets - As Ed Clark posted, he has made his decision and I respect that.

When I see new threads like these, it just tells me that the person has not done their homework - the potential problems with spiders is well known, and been out there for many years just a few keystrokes away.

While we see some ads for spiders that may claim the don't not show any ill effects, and perhaps they do not "at this time" - How many would be willing to guarantee that for the life of the animal - Considering your time and $$$ vested - I think you would not hear back from many of these people.

Buyer beware as the potential is there, and it's been well documented publicly for years...
Click to expand...

I don't disagree with this, however it suggests that everybody that might buy a spider has wandered enough forums to be be aware of it. Believe it or not, there are still a lot of buyers that don't know...and a lot of sellers that don't disclose the information. If one doesn't know about the problem, how would he know to search for it??
While some degree of neurologic dysfunction may be linked to the trait, there ARE degrees; and a slight pre-strike tremor is a much different thing than a twisting, contorted animal. Your initial statement seemed to suggest that as long as it ate and grew, all was well.
 
hhmoore said:
I don't disagree with this, however it suggests that everybody that might buy a spider has wandered enough forums to be be aware of it. Believe it or not, there are still a lot of buyers that don't know...and a lot of sellers that don't disclose the information. If one doesn't know about the problem, how would he know to search for it??
While some degree of neurologic dysfunction may be linked to the trait, there ARE degrees; and a slight pre-strike tremor is a much different thing than a twisting, contorted animal. Your initial statement seemed to suggest that as long as it ate and grew, all was well.
Click to expand...

Assuming "Yeah I know" that all buyers did their homework, and would ask questions of the seller, it should be common knowledge - As to sellers not disclosing it up front, well that's shady - But than again the sellers animal may not be exhibiting the behavior at that point in time - but the potential is always there.

If an animal eats and thrives, it has a right to life IMO - Whether it is bred or not is in the keepers hands - I've read in some forums that spiders exhibiting this behaviour should be culled - Now that is a bit extreme for me to swallow - Again it's a living thriving animal that has a right to life - perhaps just a little more special than others.

I don't think that they "the spiders" fall into any kind of a special needs category - They thrive just as well as the next snake in the rack...

Off to work with me :ack2:
 
anyone that buys one in a pet store.. they aren't going to be informed of the possible issues.

just throwing that out there.. that pet stores just sell the pretty snakes.. very few really go into any detail, .. barely even tell people how to set them up it seems.

Only reason I know of the possibility, is I am on here.. otherwise I would have no clue
 
Mike P. said:
I don't think that they "the spiders" fall into any kind of a special needs category - They thrive just as well as the next snake in the rack...
Click to expand...

They do well eating, growing and reproducing.:iagree:

I produced many spiders and crosses with them and what I seen was shocking. both hatchlings and adult spiders twisting and contorting and also crawling on their backs. this can de observed at night when they are active.

Anyone that says their spiders do not have this has not seen it yet or are just fooling their selves. ALL SPIDERS HAVE THIS CONDITION.
 
Mooing Tricycle said:
Dont believe all the hype that some try to say about the spiders, that ALL of them have it, its not proven yet. I know quite a few people personally that produce them and they dont wobble.
Click to expand...

That is a bold statement and its also an uninformed one as well.

Almost all of the breeders that produce Spiders in numbers agree that these have major problems. Im talking about the biggest names in the business.

Early on it was hid by alot of breeders, too many people have seen it and it can no longer be hidden or lied about. ITS THERE!
 
Ed Clark said:
They do well eating, growing and reproducing.:iagree:

I produced many spiders and crosses with them and what I seen was shocking. both hatchlings and adult spiders twisting and contorting and also crawling on their backs. this can de observed at night when they are active.

Anyone that says their spiders do not have this has not seen it yet or are just fooling their selves. ALL SPIDERS HAVE THIS CONDITION.
Click to expand...

All spiders may have some wobble at some point in their lives, but I've seen nothing to indicate that they all have a condition like you describe.
As far as I've seen, the corkscrewing and IBD-like symptoms are the rare severe cases of the spider defect.
 
Ed Clark said:
That is a bold statement and its also an uninformed one as well.

Almost all of the breeders that produce Spiders in numbers agree that these have major problems. Im talking about the biggest names in the business.
Click to expand...

Producing spiders IN NUMBERS is a key part of your sentence there, Ed. Just because those who produce mass quantities of them see it regularly, doesn't mean that there aren't spiders out there who do NOT show it. And if perhaps selective breeding were applied, there is a chance that it could be reduced....or maybe it can't. But that goes back to that whole perceived need for mass quantities. Too few are taking the time to even attempt to try.

To say that there is no possibility of any spider out there not showing the wobble, especially to the extreme you have described, is the silly (read:ignorant) statement.
 
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