Are you drunk or is that just your head wobble?

Now I know this sounds biased because I own a Spider… but I think they are an amazing morph! I love their unique patterns and colouration. Some I have seen with high white sides and crazy markings, whereas others (like Rupert) have low white sides and are quite light in colour. Their crazy variations are so interesting and I love every combination that this morph brings… particularly Queen Bees!

But there is one ‘genetic defect’ that comes with the Spider gene, and that is the head wobble. Now the head wobble that a Spider has with vary from snake to snake and can change over a snakes life span; for example it may appear to have virtually no head wobble when hatched, but after a few months it could develop. The best way to describe head wobble is that it is loss of motor control in the head and neck of a snake which literally causes the head to wobble!

No one is quite sure why the Spider gene carries this trait and all we know that it is genetically linked to the Spider gene and no others. For example, you could breed a Spider x Normal and only the Spider hatchlings will carry the head wobble trait, not the Normals. The head wobble is also carried over to all Spider combos, such as Bumblebees etc. This shows that again the trait is genetically linked to the Spider gene. It has been said that some breeders have tried to breed out the head wobble through several generations through selective breeding of Spiders that show very little evidence of the trait. However because the head wobble is so different and unpredictable between each snake, this is near on impossible to do. We just have to accept this this is a trait that comes with the Spider gene.

But what does this do to the snake itself? Well I have never seen a Spider affected by its head wobble so much that it couldn't fully function as well as any other morph. They are still very inquisitive snakes and Rupert is so lovely!

One thing I will say about the Spider gene (that is a massive positive) is that they have a fierce appetite! Rupert has never missed a meal since I've had him, he is growing like a beast, and strikes really well. His head wobble is at its worst when he is feeding, but that’s only because he is excited. I just make sure I dangle the rat pretty close to him and that it’s a good warm temperature to avoid him missing it. Then he’s on it in a matter of milliseconds! I tried to film him striking the other week, just so I could show his head wobble when he is feeding… But when I opened his vivarium and lifted up my PHONE to start filming he struck at it! He is so ready to feed every Tuesday; it seems he will even go for a bit of electronic equipment!

I genuinely can’t say a bad thing about the Spider gene. The head wobble doesn’t bother me at all, I think of it as more of an interesting quirk than anything else. And as long as the snake is happy, so am I :)

xoxo