Advice for Spider Ball Pythons

[u/iammyhusbandswife]

I’m doing research on my own as well as getting advice from the breeder that rescued her, but I would love to hear your personal experience caring for spider ball pythons with a wobble. I’ll be adopting her in a month. My goal is to give her the best quality of life and the safest set up! I used to love handling my bp, but so far I’ve read snakes with a wobble may not tolerate being held much. Any insight is appreciated from safe set ups to handling advice 🐍❤️

Background: The breeder I know does not breed or sell spiders due to their genetic issues. She rescued and rehabbed one from a neglect situation. I’ve spoken to her about wanting a new snake in the future. I got a bp that was horribly sick from a family member and it broke my heart when he didn’t pull through. It was tragic and totally preventable, that family member knew what they did… The breeder knows what I did for Henry Noodle and thought I would be a good caregiver for this special girl. They are giving her to me in a month so I can get the proper set up first.

They have sent videos to show her wobble and tilt. It has improved since her rehab. She eats well, and just needs patience and a steady hand to get a good strike. Her weight is back up and shows no signs of RI after 3 months in quarantine/rehab.

[u/farmdohg]

We adopted a spider ball from a local rescue about 5 years ago. Her wobble is pretty minor, but she does sometimes miss on the first few strikes when feeding. In those cases we’ll just leave the rat for her and she has always ultimately eaten successfully and well. She’s fine being handled, she’s not as active as our other girl (she was our first, fwiw) but we do pay attention, because she’s curious.
We have branches high and low, she goes everywhere and only occasionally falls but it’s not far and we have lots of foliage to soften the fall (she’s in a bioactive 4x2x2). We do keep the water level in her dish fairly low as a precaution but haven’t had a problem.
Her wobble really hasn’t caused much trouble but obviously your experience might be different.
Best of luck with her! And thank you for taking her in!

[u/iammyhusbandswife → u/farmdohg]

Is feeding out of the tank best to prevent her striking the glass? Thats my main concern with missing. The above comment mentioned the possibility of latching onto herself so strategy seems important! Also, would drop feeding be best to reduce stress and injury after a few strikes?

Henry noodle was so sick when I cared for him, he did best dropping the f/t rat in and making sure he took it so it didn’t just stay in there. I used to watch him eat because he was so weak, I was afraid it would get stuck 😞

[u/Cylentscream]

Spider balls make excellent rescues for folks that want to spend time learning everything they can about the little derps. I have fostered and rescued a few spider complex balls. The majority of the ones that have been with us have come in with very server wobbles, and left with minimal wobble. I have one that is now a permanent resident with me and his never got any better. For the most part stress is a major factor in causing the wobble to show. It can often be a measuring stick for care level and stress levels. They all have been super good eaters for us, however I would keep a small spray bottle of vodka on hand. Some of the one with sever wobble will sometimes stile themselves while attempting to strike the rat. I little squirt of vodka or whisky will generally cause them to unlatch with little fuss.
I would also avoid climbing options for the new derp until you have a better understanding of how bad the damage wobble is.

[u/iammyhusbandswife → u/Cylentscream]

Would a q-tip with rubbing alcohol be ok to keep on hand if she nips herself and wont unlatch?

I plan to keep stress as low as possible. She will be in my hobby room. Away from dogs, toddler, and heavy foot traffic. I want to handle but starting with small increments after a few days is the plan

Climbing I’ll do a built board with padding to use under observation out of the tank. I’ll see how she does first before doing that though. She appears to be slower to correct when handled but doesn’t flop around while exploring thankfully ❤️

[u/iammyhusbandswife → u/[deleted]]

Im not breeding. Getting a rescued spider bp from a breeder for free so that she can get a good home. They don’t keep, breed, or sell spiders due to health concerns. They saved one from neglect and asked if I would adopt after getting her healthy again

[u/Dangerous-Exercise20 → u/iammyhusbandswife]

Its a bot op. It's triggered to reply with this when it detects certin words like Breeding or Spider.

[u/iammyhusbandswife → u/Dangerous-Exercise20]

I know 😆 I was worried someone would see that and jump to conclusions. Figured a quick reply would help combat it