God I was sold a spider ball before I knew about the wobble. The breeder hadn’t mentioned it. I still have her, she’s about 4 years old and her head wobble makes it impossible for her to climb anything unsupervised safely and feeding is definitely a process. It’s sad to see but best we can do is warn others and stop intentionally breeding spiders
The biggest issue with spiders is that people who sell them don't warn customers, and spiders with more pronounced wobbles need more care than most BPs, so they aren't great as beginner snakes. I've seen videos where spiders are so disoriented they accidentally bite themselves
Even worse, it usually gets worse with age. Even a snake that has never shown signs of a wobble can suddenly start with age or stress. It’s just not worth it, you never know.
Agree 100%. My second python was a Spider and I think I almost went crazy thinking he had IBD because of the stargazing and neurological problems. I was never told anything about morph issues by seller so I was unaware of any difference besides aesthetics.
@@annajauregui8130 Yep. My champ pastel female had no wobble as a baby. At 2 years of age she laid her first clutch. That's when her wobble appeared. Hers isn't too bad, but is noticeable. She still gets her food on the first strike, and eats like a pig. She is retired from breeding. (Jan Griffiths).
I think the reason there's so much more attention paid to spider morphs is simply that they're so popular while champagnes and other morphs with issues aren't as common. I mean there are dozens of different morphs containing the spider gene.
I have been using puppy pads because of their absorption and if you need more humidity you can spray the puppy pad to increase the humidity. It has helped especially during shedding and easy and sanitary cleanup.
@@clownkills8884 oh man he is a beast lol he has grown so much and is super confident, has never missed a meal and always comes out at night & he is good around people & my dogs as well 🤍
Starting breeding hopefully in 2023 and your channel has been beyond helpful. The #1 go to. I went from having no idea about genes to really having a accurate understanding in under a week of watching your content.
If breeding or plans to breed, I would stay away from any lethal combos for sure. I do have a male I have to watch because he is a Sable Vanilla Fire Pastel. The Sable gene is sort of like the Spider. When you breed two together, they can have multiple issues and it's just not worth the risk.
By general definition, a snake is a paradox if it shows signs that it's two things at once--that it has contradictory markings. For example, an ivory should be all white--for it to have a patch of brown is genetically impossible, hence it is a paradox. BEL snakes or albinos that have black streaks, are another example--their genetics should never allow them to have melanin. It means that something in the animal--but only in PART of the animal--isn't the same as the rest of it. It has, either due to chimerism, mutation, or other cause, more than one set of genes in its body. It has patches of genes that allow it to produce colors that the rest cannot.
I think one thing that Chris has incorrect is the idea that chimeras would be sterile. They're probably fine, as far as fertility goes. I haven't heard of any chimeras with deformities, major health issues or sterility problems in other animal species--including humans. All a chimera IS, as Chris stated, is two individuals merged into one. Basically, it's twins that were merged in the egg. It's not a 'stripe' down the centre of the body that can tell a chimera from other animals of it's type--it's the near-perfect division of colour straight down the body-line: most folks may think of the cat, Venus, with her face divided into a black half (with an orange eye) and an orange half (with a blue eye). She's a famous example of a chimera. A chimera can occur in any species, animal or plant. Google chimera in images and you'll find hundreds of amazing examples people have found over the years. The patches of colour that you're referring to sounds more like mosaicism, another form of chimeraism where the merged twins are more diffuse and less obvious. Less of the absorbed twin was kept, the rest was 'thrown away'. One famous case of that among people was a mother had to prove maternity of her children for a welfare or custody case (something about the husband claiming she had an affair, or some stupidity, or the state disputing her claim the kids were hers), but when she went to do the test, the results showed she wasn't the mother. Turned out that the genes of her eggs (well, her entire uterus, I think) were different from the rest of her. She eventually won her case after a long slog through the legal world and with help from doctors well versed in the weird ways our DNA can mess with us. Chimeric animals usually show no problems with breeding. Chris IS right that the paradox spots that sometimes show on a morph that's not expected to have those markings (they're possible hold-overs from the original ball python colour-markings, I think. I've noticed that in a lot of cases, they follow the patterns of the snake, anyway) won't breed true if you try to breed for them. The paradox marks may not be a separate gene, they could just be how the morph worked on the individual snake. Or, they may be an example of mosaicism: the possibly-merged twins in the egg. One way to find out, if a breeder was curious, would be to have one part of the snake's expected morph-pattern DNA tested and the DNA of a paradox spot tested then compare the results. :-)
Paradox may also be caused by somatic mutation. I've seen a bay mare with a grey front leg and shoulder. She reproduced as a bay. None of her foals had any markings like her. Somatic mutations are generally not genetic. (Jan Griffiths).
Just dropping by to say I dig the channel. I stumbled upon it a week or so ago and its been steady in rotation, even my morning trail run was listening to your opinion on a variety of Bp topics. Great vids, subbed!
Re question of the day !!! I’ve been using orchard bark for around 10 year now and haven’t had a single issue with it so far , only thing to really do with it is to let it dry out for a couple of days in your tub or viv before putting your ball python in , only because it’s a damp substrate rite outa the bag and humidity will b way too high from the get go !!!!!
I remember when the first spiders hit the market, just about every single spider or spider combo not only had a head wobble but they would also make a corkscrew movement. It seemed as though the wobble and corkscrewing got worse when feeding. Back then the spider had the most serious and significant neurological issues. Champagne's were much less, hidden gene woma and some super forms had the neurological issues just not as bad as the spiders. Spiders are gorgeous and make beautiful combinations but definitely a motph i would not buy. In my opinion there should be some regulation within the ball python community itself. It has nothing to do with what it looks like and the fact it passes on to other spider offspring but rather it's the well-being of the snake.
fully agree, i thought kevin at NERD mightve changed his view on inbreeding and the damage hes done to the community given ive been out the scene for a decade now however the first video of his i watch hes talking about breeding out a new morph to its mother.
I actually had a guy give me a red tail boa baby that had a cleft palate. I was 11 and it was my first BCC. He didn't tell me it had a cleft palate and I didn't know about how it worked and the snake ended up dying. I was hella sad.
Hey chris, last year my pet normal ball had a clutch of eggs after 24 YEARS I was shocked. I changed the name from mitch to michell.Parthengenisis......i had no intentions of breeding so didnt keep close attention on the proper seasonal temps LOL
I own Chimera axolotls and they are two cells that have formed into one so they don’t have any health issues because it’s merged into one animal. My chimeras are gorgeous and live just as long. Pythons might be different but I doubt it
I can't use coconut bedding. I'm allergic to coconut. I use cloth baby diapers. I bought a whole huge box of them at Goodwill for really cheap. I wash them in hot water with bleach and detergent. Sure, they may need changing more than a standard substrate, but my snakes' tubs are kept very clean and sanitary. No water bowl issues---they are mounted on the side of the tub. (Jan Griffiths).
I'm not against breeding Spiders, but it's false to say a small percentage have the wobble. The wobble is directly tied to the pattern/gene, it's impossible to separate the two thus far.
Personally, I see nothing wrong with hybrids. Hybridization is a good way to make a snake with specific traits like making a ball python with a retic pattern, or a snake with the beautiful blood python colors but the ball python temperament. I’ve also read that hybrids tend to get the best trait from each parent, and are typically more hardy than their parents when it comes to temperature and humidity requirements (so worrying about what their requirements would be isn’t as much of an issue). Also, I’ve read that hybrid snakes can visually show heterogeneous recessive traits, so you could possibly get hybrids that are het for a trait yet still show that trait. Keeping track of the percentage could get difficult though. Even still, if it creates a hardier and more beautiful snake, I think it’s worth the risk of maybe messing up purebred ball pythons. There are already so many mutations in the captive bred ball python gene pool anyways.
Very true, there are people on both sides of the argument. I know with African cichlids (fish) many keepers are really against hybrids to the point of going bonkers LOL
I use coconut fiber mixed with cypress much substrate, holds moisture super well and the bigger mulch pieces look really nice, and also keep my BEL from looking "dirty" from the coconut. 🖤
This is from someone whose never had snakes but perhaps when talking about the Spider Gene the issue is breeders with lines proven to have head wobble issues are probably the issue behind the gene, at some point early on in the breeding process they had to have been aware of these issues and rather than avoiding it they flushed it out as heavy as possible thinking it was quirky/or perhaps believing the wobble correlated to the chances of a good looking snake.
I disagree with the idea on paradox and Chimera. First, paradox is not "black spots" it is failure to code in a certain areas. There is absolutely nothing wrong with them, and they make a very unique and cool snake. Now, if avoiding because they don't make sense to pay more for as an investment, then ok. As far as Chimera goes, nobody knows how common it is. We all likely have some that have that going on, it just may not show. The visually stunning Chimera (half and half looking snakes) are quite rare. But Chimera is an anomaly that happens frequently, even in humans. The only draw back is there is a chance it can be tricky on the genetic side. But truth be told, that can happen when you can't even tell an animal is Chimera. There is a human woman who went through a ton of investigation on state assistance as she was not genetically testing at the parent of her own children. Even at birth. They found location of genetic testing was failing in DNA as she was Chimera. It happens. They honestly can't be avoided, as you can't always see it.
I saw that story about the lady who was a Chimera! Pretty interesting. The point about the Paradox is that you shouldn't buy them expecting to reproduce them, still a really cool genetic anomaly though. I'd buy one LOL.
@@ChrisHardwickanimaladventures on expecting to reproduce it (chimera or paradox) I agree. It is as random as random can be in ball pythons. All though, certain snakes (hognose maybe??) have a genetic paradox.
I think if you’re looking for just a pet, some snakes with kinks are not too bad! As long as they are not bad and they can eat and pass their food normally. At least that’s my opinion :)
What's wrong with paradox/ringers? I know they're not genetic, but it does the animal no harm. 4 of my 8 ball pythons have paradox and or ringers. My champ pastel female Mildred has both. I think they look cool. Just a little "extra" eye candy. For someone to jack up the price for the animal with them is crazy, since it most likely won't be passed on. I have had babies hatch with them, but it's rare, and I didn't charge any more for them than I did for those that didn't have them. (Jan Griffiths).
I have a albino spider male. Hatched him from a female that had a slight wobble. The male I kept had no wobble. Hatched 3 of his clutches only had one that all but one of the spiders had sever wobble. So it is there just not every clutch.
Great topic! I had a question and was hoping it could maybe perhaps get answered in one of your questions of the day!! I was wondering how do you tell when your BP is ready to go back in its enclosure!! I've heard 10minutes all the way up to 5 hours Lol Like that's a Humongous Gap! Like how do I know?? Do they wiggle more? Do they try and escape? I took mine out earlier today and had him out for 45 minutes! I normally do about 15-20 minutes!! I just put him up because I thought I had him out to long!! Great Vid Chris!! My favorite morph is anything Pastel
Hi Chris another interesting video mate, I have a question for you. Do you buy a snake for its Beauty and the excitement of what you can make from it or for the potential return of profits? Everybody has there own reason why they breed snakes and what ever the reason is that’s fine for that person. I have watched your videos for some time now and would like to know what motivates you in this hobby or maybe business depending on how you view it.
how'd you get rid of the fungus nats? I love the reptichip substrate but I was about to go with paper cause of the fungus nats that you had. how'd you overcome that one?
I still have them, when they are starting to pick up I decrease my water in the substrate or if they get real bad I'll go to paper for a week or so, then switch back. Can't seem to get rid of them completely.
Spider hybrids are probably much safer than purebred spiders because there is more genetic diversity, it might be possibly to breed the head wobble out over time by crossbreeding them with hardier morphs but the way spiders are now I am completely against giving spider breeders any money
That sounds like wasted effort when you could just use the right bedding for BPs. Why jump through hoops? There are tons of places to get coconut husk.
After going through and deciding on what Morph i wanted i finally picked up a Killerbee last week. Absolutely love it. And i love your channel keep it up
@@sinandcyanide7505 alright. I will keep that in mind. And i am not sure if i want to get into breeding or not. I love snakes and i always thought it would be cool to do. I just dont know how to start
@@the_lost_pharoah752 it's not hard to get started, but it does take a lot of care and attention to get good results. Obviously you need a male and at least one female, and it takes 3-4 years for a female to be ready to breed. Then you need your incubator and you'll have to make sure you can keep it at a consistent temperature and humidity. Really the biggest part of starting out is research on the process of incubating for that species and care of the hatchlings, and the money you'll need to invest to start out.
They are banned in New Zealand and that is where I was born in when I turned 22 I moved to Scotland so I could breed ball pythons the houses are also cheaper I now live in Stirling suburbs
Umm it’s actually most spider ball python morphs that have the worst. And they pick on spider because all of them have spider in them and lots of people specify but we just refer to them all as spiders.
One little semantic nit pick- you said that paradoxing "isn't genetic". It would be more accurate to say it isn't heritable. Everything about the way any snakes appearance is genetic. Heritability is whether it is reproducible through breeding. An unusual appearance that isn't reproducible is still genetic in origin, even if it is not visibly passed on to the offspring. Just a minor thing that bothers me when people say a trait that is not passed on in predictable or expected ways as an appearance that "isn't genetic". It's all genetic, regardless of heritability.
@@marxzhd4866 not necessarily spider Gene's have proven to have wobble yes but, also the tendency to not know north or south the right side up. Which is deadly due to drowning in they're water dishes. I breed and raise spiders also and can tell you it happens. I also have normals that have the same problem. I think it is a genetic thing in ball pythons in general not a single gene. So in reference to my argument it's not just wobble people complain about with spider genes
I have a Highway Paradox that I got from a reputable breeder, he cost $1000. Not for breeding at all! But Did I get overpriced? It feels worth it because he is absolutely stunning.
Depends on the paradox, but I’d say prob a fair price unless the paradox is hardly noticeable. If your happy though that’s all that really matters, paradox is hard to put a price on tho with the varying amounts of paradoxing
Aspen is not the best for ball pythons. I use paper towel Nd loose coconut fiber... I wanna get some husk like you use. One of my snakes really likes the loose coconut fiber. I've never had mold in the loose fiber... the poops and pees get idk absorbed you could say, I have to look for it to pick itnout.. otherwise just change it. It never stinks. Its holds the right humidity and my snake liked to use it for burrowing... she builds little mounds u see her hides. The paper towels I use.on some.other ones... you're right it stinks when they pee.n poop.
I like spiders personally. They are beautiful snakes. I am not against breeding them if it is done responsibly, that is only breeding the ones with no visible wobble and not breeding them with another gene prone to wobble. Its heartbreaking to see severe wobble in an animal but very few animals have a severe wobble.
Any tricks on getting Balls Pythons to hang on neck without choking you out? Mine always wrap even when I don't allow full wraps, they always get me at some point and I really have to pry them off. Last time I had to lift over my head like a tight turtleneck....maybe its not even a good idea, I see bobby put wraps on you, but not squeeze as tight as mine do me....I drape over shoulder but they naturally try and choke me.
After putting them around your neck repeatedly they eventually don't squeeze so tight. Bobby used to put the squeeze on me every time when I first started.
Hi Chris. I do have a Cinnabee female. Slight corking of the head. No wobble. I will NOT breed her. Shes BEAUTIFUL with full white granite sidewalls. Still will not breed her.
I've heard that with Spiders it doesn't matter if they have a wobble or not, it won't be passed on like you would think. It's a random chance of getting it, you can't breed for it and if the parent has a wobble then the offspring still have the same chance as if it didn't have a wobble, or so I've heard.
Love your channel. Looking for a ball python morph that looks good but also won't break the bank and preferably want to stay under 150 this will be strictly a pet no breeding or future breeding any recommendations.
How often does parthenogenesis happen in ball pythons? I've heard of it before, but I thought it was super super rare. I'm considering getting a pet ball python not breeding. I don't wanna end up with a bunch of babies
Man i love my spider, id say i have to disagree, just ask the breeder if it has any signs of corkscrew and up and down navigation issues as well as wobble, spiders make such great visual patterns and they are ferocious eaters!
The corkscrew and wobble can get worse with age, so even if you get one that’s fine as a baby it could end up having a lower quality of life further down the line. They’re a beautiful morph, but I don’t agree with their breeding for the fact they all carry the gene even if they don’t all show the bad symptoms
Hey Chris! Hope you don’t mind this novice comment but I’m trying to learn about the genetics and morphs etc! How do you go about starting out to learn, you see people who can just look at a snake and know exactly what’s in it and that’s what I want to get to but everyone just says you learn as you go… there must be a way! 🤣 Thank you!
For those who don’t know.aspen is a great bedding for ball pythons because it’s dry and easy to clean. But they do need humidity so for that google how to make a humidity box and you will never have a problem with humidity. A little note is that if your ball python sits in too damp of an environment for too long it can develop scale rot.
I have 2 spiders with no issue what so ever my champagne wobbles way worse than both my spiders put together. With that being said my whole view on ball pythons nearly changed when I went to a reptile depot not knowing really anything about ball pythons I bought the prettiest one in my opinion and it was super cheap it was a queen bee well he had such a horrible wobble he literally started cork screwing when I put him in water to soak like corkscrewing like crazy Like freaking out well a week later I tried to feed a live hopper he wanted it but he could not strike straight so he lost interest fast I waited a couple months tried assisting moved on to forcing which went well but after about a month or even 2 when I was getting ready to consider another force feed he passed away and so I blamed myself and it really hurt me I stayed away from balls for over a year blaming myself before I finally started doing research watching videos and I then realized about the spider wobble so I then learned a shit ton did tons of research I’m now on my first year of breeding I have 15 ball pythons 5 females I’m hoping are going to go this year 2 Bumblebee’s all my snakes are healthy fat if anything so with all this crap being said if you want to do this ball python thing first things first do your research do things correct it isn’t any different than any other pet they deserve the best just like a cat or dog the second point id like to make is most spiders are completely fine some are kind of wanky it’s your job as a responsible breeder to inform the buyer of exactly what they are getting that guy should’ve seen my inexperience and said this isn’t the snake for you but he seen my inexperience and saw dollar signs and that’s just not cool it’s not morally ok inform people teach them what the don’t know this should’ve never happen to me or anyone for that matter it’s your job as a reliable and responsible breeder to not do this to anyone. Chris Hardwick is the man he talks about the wobble issue In another video I truly believe he wouldn’t sell a wanky spider especially to a rookie he understands his job as a breeder and dealer i just wanted to be clear Chris Hardwick would never sell an animal like I described this happen on the east coast far from Chris I just wanted to cry about my first spider experience is all thank Jahweh for people like Chris Hardwick putting out these informative videos to teach people before the mistake happens
ALL spiders have neurological issues. The neurological issues come from a gene that is so close to the spider gene that it ALWAYS passes to their young. Your spider might not have neurological issues that you notice when it’s just crawling around but they do always have balance issues and can’t flip back over as easy when they get flipped upside down. You saying that only a small percent of them have issues is very misleading because 100 percent of them have issues, some just less noticeable than others but even a just talking about a scale of severity, a LARGE percentage of them have SEVERE neurological issues.
spider gene just highlights the lack of morality within snake breeders, particularly NERD. They have no issues with inbreeding whatsoever and treat the animal as a trophy rather than a living creature that has to live with the consequences.
question not really relating to the video topic, but where would i get racks like you have, I want to get into breeding, but the one time i looked at racks they were 800-900$?! Is that just what they cost and if not what do you use for racks, or do you have any recommendations for how to make a rack? I've only got about 700sq/ft to work with in my apartment, but id really love to get into this hobby
I'd probably start out with an ARS 7030 hybrid, a full rack will run you about $2,000 plus freight, maybe around $2500. But you can buy them one or more levels at a time, my first rack was just a few levels and I added as I went, it saved me money starting out but I spent a lot more in freight over the years. www.arscaging.com/ars7030_hybrid.html
The fact remains that if you breed "any" animal with the potential for defects you are condemning that animal any any future offspring of that animal a life of discomfort and possibly pain. So, like my mother always told me, better safe than sorry 🙂 Much love always ✌️
Wouldn’t buy super cinnamons or silver bullets either. They often come out deformed, with kinks, neuro issues and stuff along those lines. They’re beautiful but I don’t think it’s worth it
I agree if you're spider is severe, no brainer don't breed it, but please don't think that they are all bad, my boy Todd is a banna pastel spider, and he is the best snake I've ever owned, honestly I've been around a lot of snakes without spider and they have a small head wobble lol so I really don't understand why the spider gets a bad name. Thanks 👍
Hi Chris I respect you for rating spiders where they are at. I have a pair of brothers who look absolutely stunning but they have spider and show minor wobbling/missing strikes when they get excited. Mine are not breeders but are pets purely because I love their attitude yet respect their faults. Spiders are not a bad breed and show a lot of personality out of my other 3 non-spider snakes I own . I appreciate the video but I really hope this does not deter (hopefully) snake owners away from spider. There's a lot of wasted opportunity and experiences wasted on spiders because of theirs stigma. :( P.S. I am not supporting the breeding of spiders but i do believe they should have comfortable homes.
Mine does fine with feeding, but she corkscrews occasionally and wobbles when she's excited or stressed. She's a baby still so I'm waiting to see if it gets better or worse. Great personality though. She's really sweet, likes being handled and isn't head shy at all. I could grab her face if I wanted to and I don't think she'd care.
Hey bro u make great vids, but aside from ball pythons do u have retics? Im in the market for a tiger retic and a sunfire i prefer both to be females doesn’t matter if theyre mainland or dwarfs. If u have them let me know
I have two retics, if they breed all the hatchlings will be the same, they will be lavender albinos, part super dwarf and part Jampea dwarf. Not sure if my female is going to go this year, I saw them lock but she is looking a bit thin lately...
I'm glad I watched this. And I think they pick on spiders over the others because spiders are more popular.... they're absolutely beautiful and very widely available for cheap. I wS thinking of getting one female with spider in her.... but of course I'm still a little unsure. I think I may just so I have it in my collection for the option but i dont think I'd get more than 1 or maybe 2.... i dont want too many babies with the spider gene.
my spider girl is 100% my favourite snake. She's about 12 now, 2600g, isn't head shy, eats like an absolute beast and never goes off food. Doesn't wobble. You can find great examples of spiders out there and have a very rewarding experience. Good luck!
@@jeng2584 wow big! Yeah my friend has a banana spider and hes fine. I've seen many many beautiful spider morphs. There is so many options too. So I really like the morph. That's why I was thinking of finding a good breeder and a snake I really like... that way I have some spider combos.
Why are you shooting for Caramel Albino's if you know kinking is a major issue with them? (considering your #2 advice is to stay away from kinking) Especially since it is a recessive morph. That takes a lot of time and effort to produce. With the known defect within them, and so many other albino alternatives it seems to go against common sense, and your own advice to try and produce them, does it not?
I agree with You Chris I am on the fence with the Spider gene. I own 2 of them , but I don't want to own or breed them much. I also don't want the ball python community to totally abandon the gene.
Chris Hardwick that’s pretty sweet I wasn’t sure if u could use that one. Where it was sorta setup for ball pythons and retics are slightly bigger and grow much faster awesome that u can use the racks u got and don’t have to buy new ones lol at least not yet
MrZTH I plan to breed my ball python, I studied lot of morphs and genes and I do plan to treat them delicately. But, even if you treat them delicately, something could slip up.
I heard that partho’s arent always copies? They put 2 copies of themselves to produce embyros or something? Like if a mojave partho’d there could be poss BEL’s cuz they ‘reproduced with themselves?’ I don’t know if that’s true?
It is sound logic, but we just don't have enough information on the process. They do need 2 sets of genes to form, but the current working theory is that any species that reproduce via parthenogenesis will have offspring that are simply clones of the mother.
@@DeidarasLilStudent here's a really interesting article that talks about what's been found in genetic tests on babies born of parthenogenesis: www.bbc.com/earth/story/20141219-spectacular-real-virgin-births Basically, the offspring of a python who reproduced in this way were created with two copies of each of half of the mother's chromosomes, which apparently makes them half-clones? Never heard that term, but the article is really good if you're interested.
I hope one day animal protection law steps up with breeding spider or champagne gene. Atleast in my country where animal protection law is kinda superb. I didnt know champagne have the same problems so I stay I way from champagne also.
I would guess most Chimeras would be sterile. If not you'll get either one or the other sets of DNA, whatever DNA the reproductive organs are made of, but you won't get both.
HI CHRIS, WHAT ALL MORPHS, OTHER THAN JUST SPIDERS, ARE KNOWN TO HAVE THE HEAD WOBBLE PROBLEM? ALSO, I BOUGHT A BABY MALE SPIDER THAT HAS ZERO HEAD WOBBLE, ZERO NEUROLOGICAL PROBLEMS, I WOULD SAY IT'S SAFE TO BREED HIM, YES? NO?
Check out this video: ua-cam.com/video/Uf1ORYgmXDM/v-deo.html They say it doesn't matter if your Spider has a wobble or not, it's the same odds for the offspring to get a wobble (you can't breed out the wobble).
Another cool thing some ball pythons will do is retain sperm and lay a clutch of eggs the next year without breeding it or will retain sperm and when bred with another male the next year they can mix both males sperm and you can get a mixed clutch im not 100% if they could make a triple morph but its still cool
God I was sold a spider ball before I knew about the wobble. The breeder hadn’t mentioned it. I still have her, she’s about 4 years old and her head wobble makes it impossible for her to climb anything unsupervised safely and feeding is definitely a process. It’s sad to see but best we can do is warn others and stop intentionally breeding spiders
The biggest issue with spiders is that people who sell them don't warn customers, and spiders with more pronounced wobbles need more care than most BPs, so they aren't great as beginner snakes. I've seen videos where spiders are so disoriented they accidentally bite themselves
Agreed to the fact
Even worse, it usually gets worse with age. Even a snake that has never shown signs of a wobble can suddenly start with age or stress. It’s just not worth it, you never know.
@@annajauregui8130 agree to disagree
Agree 100%. My second python was a Spider and I think I almost went crazy thinking he had IBD because of the stargazing and neurological problems. I was never told anything about morph issues by seller so I was unaware of any difference besides aesthetics.
@@annajauregui8130 Yep. My champ pastel female had no wobble as a baby. At 2 years of age she laid her first clutch. That's when her wobble appeared. Hers isn't too bad, but is noticeable. She still gets her food on the first strike, and eats like a pig. She is retired from breeding. (Jan Griffiths).
I think the reason there's so much more attention paid to spider morphs is simply that they're so popular while champagnes and other morphs with issues aren't as common. I mean there are dozens of different morphs containing the spider gene.
Best thing you can do is stay away breeding either of the genes.
I stay away from any problematic genes. The spider really is just everywhere in the hobby.
I have spider and will continue to keep spider
I was shocked that some areas outlaw Ball Pythons. They are not very big and very docile.
I have been using puppy pads because of their absorption and if you need more humidity you can spray the puppy pad to increase the humidity. It has helped especially during shedding and easy and sanitary cleanup.
Nice tip!
I use these also. Sucks when they a water bowl flip but better than a flooded tub.
So you just use puppy training pads instead of substrate?
I’ve owned my banana ball for a month now and man is he confident little guy , really enjoying his presence. Much love
9 month review ?
@@clownkills8884 oh man he is a beast lol he has grown so much and is super confident, has never missed a meal and always comes out at night & he is good around people & my dogs as well 🤍
Review?
Starting breeding hopefully in 2023 and your channel has been beyond helpful. The #1 go to. I went from having no idea about genes to really having a accurate understanding in under a week of watching your content.
If breeding or plans to breed, I would stay away from any lethal combos for sure. I do have a male I have to watch because he is a Sable Vanilla Fire Pastel. The Sable gene is sort of like the Spider. When you breed two together, they can have multiple issues and it's just not worth the risk.
By general definition, a snake is a paradox if it shows signs that it's two things at once--that it has contradictory markings. For example, an ivory should be all white--for it to have a patch of brown is genetically impossible, hence it is a paradox. BEL snakes or albinos that have black streaks, are another example--their genetics should never allow them to have melanin. It means that something in the animal--but only in PART of the animal--isn't the same as the rest of it. It has, either due to chimerism, mutation, or other cause, more than one set of genes in its body. It has patches of genes that allow it to produce colors that the rest cannot.
I think one thing that Chris has incorrect is the idea that chimeras would be sterile. They're probably fine, as far as fertility goes. I haven't heard of any chimeras with deformities, major health issues or sterility problems in other animal species--including humans. All a chimera IS, as Chris stated, is two individuals merged into one. Basically, it's twins that were merged in the egg. It's not a 'stripe' down the centre of the body that can tell a chimera from other animals of it's type--it's the near-perfect division of colour straight down the body-line: most folks may think of the cat, Venus, with her face divided into a black half (with an orange eye) and an orange half (with a blue eye). She's a famous example of a chimera.
A chimera can occur in any species, animal or plant. Google chimera in images and you'll find hundreds of amazing examples people have found over the years.
The patches of colour that you're referring to sounds more like mosaicism, another form of chimeraism where the merged twins are more diffuse and less obvious. Less of the absorbed twin was kept, the rest was 'thrown away'. One famous case of that among people was a mother had to prove maternity of her children for a welfare or custody case (something about the husband claiming she had an affair, or some stupidity, or the state disputing her claim the kids were hers), but when she went to do the test, the results showed she wasn't the mother. Turned out that the genes of her eggs (well, her entire uterus, I think) were different from the rest of her. She eventually won her case after a long slog through the legal world and with help from doctors well versed in the weird ways our DNA can mess with us.
Chimeric animals usually show no problems with breeding. Chris IS right that the paradox spots that sometimes show on a morph that's not expected to have those markings (they're possible hold-overs from the original ball python colour-markings, I think. I've noticed that in a lot of cases, they follow the patterns of the snake, anyway) won't breed true if you try to breed for them. The paradox marks may not be a separate gene, they could just be how the morph worked on the individual snake. Or, they may be an example of mosaicism: the possibly-merged twins in the egg. One way to find out, if a breeder was curious, would be to have one part of the snake's expected morph-pattern DNA tested and the DNA of a paradox spot tested then compare the results. :-)
Paradox may also be caused by somatic mutation. I've seen a bay mare with a grey front leg and shoulder. She reproduced as a bay. None of her foals had any markings like her. Somatic mutations are generally not genetic. (Jan Griffiths).
Just dropping by to say I dig the channel. I stumbled upon it a week or so ago and its been steady in rotation, even my morning trail run was listening to your opinion on a variety of Bp topics. Great vids, subbed!
I have a leopard lemon blast, a spider banana, a champagne cinnamon, and a banana cinnamon spotpin
Re question of the day !!! I’ve been using orchard bark for around 10 year now and haven’t had a single issue with it so far , only thing to really do with it is to let it dry out for a couple of days in your tub or viv before putting your ball python in , only because it’s a damp substrate rite outa the bag and humidity will b way too high from the get go !!!!!
I remember when the first spiders hit the market, just about every single spider or spider combo not only had a head wobble but they would also make a corkscrew movement. It seemed as though the wobble and corkscrewing got worse when feeding. Back then the spider had the most serious and significant neurological issues. Champagne's were much less, hidden gene woma and some super forms had the neurological issues just not as bad as the spiders. Spiders are gorgeous and make beautiful combinations but definitely a motph i would not buy. In my opinion there should be some regulation within the ball python community itself. It has nothing to do with what it looks like and the fact it passes on to other spider offspring but rather it's the well-being of the snake.
fully agree, i thought kevin at NERD mightve changed his view on inbreeding and the damage hes done to the community given ive been out the scene for a decade now however the first video of his i watch hes talking about breeding out a new morph to its mother.
In Saskatchewan canada ball pythons and boas are illegal. But you can have an alligator.
That's crazy!
but WHY
That's nuts!!! An alligator can do much more harm than any snake. (Jan Griffiths).
I actually had a guy give me a red tail boa baby that had a cleft palate. I was 11 and it was my first BCC. He didn't tell me it had a cleft palate and I didn't know about how it worked and the snake ended up dying. I was hella sad.
Hey chris, last year my pet normal ball had a clutch of eggs after 24 YEARS I was shocked. I changed the name from mitch to michell.Parthengenisis......i had no intentions of breeding so didnt keep close attention on the proper seasonal temps LOL
CRAZY!
Goldblum said it best, life finds a way.
Really enjoyed the video..love how much information you put in to them.thank you
I cannot wait to get my babies from you!! So excited to see all of your pairings
“kind of interesting”
I love when he says this 😍
JonV1990 or another one of his Go to’s is “Essentially” 😂🤣😂
"As a matter of fact"
I love how since i join you channel you updated everyday since then and you put out good content
I own Chimera axolotls and they are two cells that have formed into one so they don’t have any health issues because it’s merged into one animal. My chimeras are gorgeous and live just as long. Pythons might be different but I doubt it
I can't use coconut bedding. I'm allergic to coconut. I use cloth baby diapers. I bought a whole huge box of them at Goodwill for really cheap. I wash them in hot water with bleach and detergent. Sure, they may need changing more than a standard substrate, but my snakes' tubs are kept very clean and sanitary. No water bowl issues---they are mounted on the side of the tub. (Jan Griffiths).
You forgot to mention #11... don't buy dead snakes. They often smell and won't breed.
I'm not against breeding Spiders, but it's false to say a small percentage have the wobble. The wobble is directly tied to the pattern/gene, it's impossible to separate the two thus far.
Paradox is not black spotching it is a snake that can produce a visual trait of a named morph ect with out carrying the full trait
Personally, I see nothing wrong with hybrids. Hybridization is a good way to make a snake with specific traits like making a ball python with a retic pattern, or a snake with the beautiful blood python colors but the ball python temperament. I’ve also read that hybrids tend to get the best trait from each parent, and are typically more hardy than their parents when it comes to temperature and humidity requirements (so worrying about what their requirements would be isn’t as much of an issue). Also, I’ve read that hybrid snakes can visually show heterogeneous recessive traits, so you could possibly get hybrids that are het for a trait yet still show that trait. Keeping track of the percentage could get difficult though. Even still, if it creates a hardier and more beautiful snake, I think it’s worth the risk of maybe messing up purebred ball pythons. There are already so many mutations in the captive bred ball python gene pool anyways.
Very true, there are people on both sides of the argument. I know with African cichlids (fish) many keepers are really against hybrids to the point of going bonkers LOL
I use coconut fiber mixed with cypress much substrate, holds moisture super well and the bigger mulch pieces look really nice, and also keep my BEL from looking "dirty" from the coconut. 🖤
This is from someone whose never had snakes but perhaps when talking about the Spider Gene the issue is breeders with lines proven to have head wobble issues are probably the issue behind the gene, at some point early on in the breeding process they had to have been aware of these issues and rather than avoiding it they flushed it out as heavy as possible thinking it was quirky/or perhaps believing the wobble correlated to the chances of a good looking snake.
Great video! Have you done a video on best pet ball pythons like you briefly mentioned in the video!
I disagree with the idea on paradox and Chimera. First, paradox is not "black spots" it is failure to code in a certain areas. There is absolutely nothing wrong with them, and they make a very unique and cool snake. Now, if avoiding because they don't make sense to pay more for as an investment, then ok. As far as Chimera goes, nobody knows how common it is. We all likely have some that have that going on, it just may not show. The visually stunning Chimera (half and half looking snakes) are quite rare. But Chimera is an anomaly that happens frequently, even in humans. The only draw back is there is a chance it can be tricky on the genetic side. But truth be told, that can happen when you can't even tell an animal is Chimera. There is a human woman who went through a ton of investigation on state assistance as she was not genetically testing at the parent of her own children. Even at birth. They found location of genetic testing was failing in DNA as she was Chimera. It happens. They honestly can't be avoided, as you can't always see it.
I saw that story about the lady who was a Chimera! Pretty interesting. The point about the Paradox is that you shouldn't buy them expecting to reproduce them, still a really cool genetic anomaly though. I'd buy one LOL.
@@ChrisHardwickanimaladventures on expecting to reproduce it (chimera or paradox) I agree. It is as random as random can be in ball pythons. All though, certain snakes (hognose maybe??) have a genetic paradox.
@@OlympusReptiles So do Kenyan sand boas. I believe paradox (and possibly ringer) is a somatic mutation. Just a miscode. (Jan Griffiths).
I think if you’re looking for just a pet, some snakes with kinks are not too bad! As long as they are not bad and they can eat and pass their food normally. At least that’s my opinion :)
What's wrong with paradox/ringers? I know they're not genetic, but it does the animal no harm. 4 of my 8 ball pythons have paradox and or ringers. My champ pastel female Mildred has both. I think they look cool. Just a little "extra" eye candy. For someone to jack up the price for the animal with them is crazy, since it most likely won't be passed on. I have had babies hatch with them, but it's rare, and I didn't charge any more for them than I did for those that didn't have them. (Jan Griffiths).
I have a albino spider male. Hatched him from a female that had a slight wobble. The male I kept had no wobble. Hatched 3 of his clutches only had one that all but one of the spiders had sever wobble. So it is there just not every clutch.
Never seen a champagne with the head wobble , more like the spider , bumble bee , spinners
Ausome video brother, I just put a down payment on a OD Dh DG Pied (m) super excited about this project ✌️✌️
I bought an axanthic, that was a super sable axanthic with a severe wobble.
She had a happy life, but short life. She died very unexpectedly.
Great topic! I had a question and was hoping it could maybe perhaps get answered in one of your questions of the day!! I was wondering how do you tell when your BP is ready to go back in its enclosure!! I've heard 10minutes all the way up to 5 hours Lol Like that's a Humongous Gap! Like how do I know?? Do they wiggle more? Do they try and escape? I took mine out earlier today and had him out for 45 minutes! I normally do about 15-20 minutes!! I just put him up because I thought I had him out to long!! Great Vid Chris!! My favorite morph is anything Pastel
I usually don't put the snake back when the snake is ready, I put him back when I'm done LOL
@Chris Hardwick 😂🤣😂🤣 True, I’m just scared of getting my FIRST bite I guess 🤦♂️
@@allgasnobrakes919 once it happens you will laugh and laugh and never worry anymore :)
Hi Chris another interesting video mate, I have a question for you. Do you buy a snake for its Beauty and the excitement of what you can make from it or for the potential return of profits? Everybody has there own reason why they breed snakes and what ever the reason is that’s fine for that person. I have watched your videos for some time now and would like to know what motivates you in this hobby or maybe business depending on how you view it.
I think a little bit of both, I want to produce great looking snakes but want to make a good return on investment too.
how'd you get rid of the fungus nats? I love the reptichip substrate but I was about to go with paper cause of the fungus nats that you had. how'd you overcome that one?
I still have them, when they are starting to pick up I decrease my water in the substrate or if they get real bad I'll go to paper for a week or so, then switch back. Can't seem to get rid of them completely.
Chris Hardwick thanks for the reply man. Sounds good. I haven’t had an issue with them yet 🤞 and I pray I don’t ever. Advice is greatly appreciated!
Spider hybrids are probably much safer than purebred spiders because there is more genetic diversity, it might be possibly to breed the head wobble out over time by crossbreeding them with hardier morphs but the way spiders are now I am completely against giving spider breeders any money
If you use Aspen bedding you can use a humidity box and put ther hide upside down and put there food in it
That sounds like wasted effort when you could just use the right bedding for BPs. Why jump through hoops? There are tons of places to get coconut husk.
After going through and deciding on what Morph i wanted i finally picked up a Killerbee last week. Absolutely love it. And i love your channel keep it up
I got a killerbee enchi last week! She's awesome.
@@sinandcyanide7505 nice. I think mine has another gene. Im just not sure and i dont know how to tell
@@the_lost_pharoah752 you might get a better idea as it grows but other than that, your only option is really to prove it out via breeding.
@@sinandcyanide7505 alright. I will keep that in mind. And i am not sure if i want to get into breeding or not. I love snakes and i always thought it would be cool to do. I just dont know how to start
@@the_lost_pharoah752 it's not hard to get started, but it does take a lot of care and attention to get good results. Obviously you need a male and at least one female, and it takes 3-4 years for a female to be ready to breed. Then you need your incubator and you'll have to make sure you can keep it at a consistent temperature and humidity. Really the biggest part of starting out is research on the process of incubating for that species and care of the hatchlings, and the money you'll need to invest to start out.
They are banned in New Zealand and that is where I was born in when I turned 22 I moved to Scotland so I could breed ball pythons the houses are also cheaper I now live in Stirling suburbs
Good to know!
Umm it’s actually most spider ball python morphs that have the worst. And they pick on spider because all of them have spider in them and lots of people specify but we just refer to them all as spiders.
One little semantic nit pick- you said that paradoxing "isn't genetic". It would be more accurate to say it isn't heritable. Everything about the way any snakes appearance is genetic. Heritability is whether it is reproducible through breeding. An unusual appearance that isn't reproducible is still genetic in origin, even if it is not visibly passed on to the offspring. Just a minor thing that bothers me when people say a trait that is not passed on in predictable or expected ways as an appearance that "isn't genetic". It's all genetic, regardless of heritability.
I have a freands in hawaii the snakes are not legal in hawaii he wants one but he can't
A lot of good morphs with spider mixed in.
I like Spider LOL
spider does nothing to vall pythons except a wobble, they eat poop and thrive. people who hate on spider are people who love pc culture cringe
@@marxzhd4866 not necessarily spider Gene's have proven to have wobble yes but, also the tendency to not know north or south the right side up. Which is deadly due to drowning in they're water dishes. I breed and raise spiders also and can tell you it happens. I also have normals that have the same problem. I think it is a genetic thing in ball pythons in general not a single gene. So in reference to my argument it's not just wobble people complain about with spider genes
Yeah I bought a pied on a good deal and it was sick and died sadly.
Is a Chimera the same as a Piebald?
informative. thanks
My ball python is 3yrs old and still hss a tiny head. Big body but tiny head, why?
I have a Highway Paradox that I got from a reputable breeder, he cost $1000. Not for breeding at all! But Did I get overpriced? It feels worth it because he is absolutely stunning.
Depends on the paradox, but I’d say prob a fair price unless the paradox is hardly noticeable. If your happy though that’s all that really matters, paradox is hard to put a price on tho with the varying amounts of paradoxing
@@justinphilbeck9697 thank you!! Is paradoxing just the dark spots? He's an incredible snake I wish I could post pics
Aspen is not the best for ball pythons. I use paper towel Nd loose coconut fiber... I wanna get some husk like you use. One of my snakes really likes the loose coconut fiber. I've never had mold in the loose fiber... the poops and pees get idk absorbed you could say, I have to look for it to pick itnout.. otherwise just change it. It never stinks. Its holds the right humidity and my snake liked to use it for burrowing... she builds little mounds u see her hides. The paper towels I use.on some.other ones... you're right it stinks when they pee.n poop.
I like spiders personally. They are beautiful snakes. I am not against breeding them if it is done responsibly, that is only breeding the ones with no visible wobble and not breeding them with another gene prone to wobble. Its heartbreaking to see severe wobble in an animal but very few animals have a severe wobble.
Any tricks on getting Balls Pythons to hang on neck without choking you out? Mine always wrap even when I don't allow full wraps, they always get me at some point and I really have to pry them off. Last time I had to lift over my head like a tight turtleneck....maybe its not even a good idea,
I see bobby put wraps on you, but not squeeze as tight as mine do me....I drape over shoulder but they naturally try and choke me.
After putting them around your neck repeatedly they eventually don't squeeze so tight. Bobby used to put the squeeze on me every time when I first started.
@@ChrisHardwickanimaladventures right on, thanks man, I will keep at it.
Hi Chris.
I do have a Cinnabee female. Slight corking of the head. No wobble. I will NOT breed her. Shes BEAUTIFUL with full white granite sidewalls. Still will not breed her.
I've heard that with Spiders it doesn't matter if they have a wobble or not, it won't be passed on like you would think. It's a random chance of getting it, you can't breed for it and if the parent has a wobble then the offspring still have the same chance as if it didn't have a wobble, or so I've heard.
@@ChrisHardwickanimaladventures coolbeans. Good to know. I'll file this in my memory bank🤔😃❤
Is Desert different from Desert Ghost?
Love your channel. Looking for a ball python morph that looks good but also won't break the bank and preferably want to stay under 150 this will be strictly a pet no breeding or future breeding any recommendations.
This might help: ua-cam.com/video/Tq48ZLPJiWo/v-deo.html
How often does parthenogenesis happen in ball pythons? I've heard of it before, but I thought it was super super rare. I'm considering getting a pet ball python not breeding. I don't wanna end up with a bunch of babies
Man i love my spider, id say i have to disagree, just ask the breeder if it has any signs of corkscrew and up and down navigation issues as well as wobble, spiders make such great visual patterns and they are ferocious eaters!
I love my spiders too!
The corkscrew and wobble can get worse with age, so even if you get one that’s fine as a baby it could end up having a lower quality of life further down the line. They’re a beautiful morph, but I don’t agree with their breeding for the fact they all carry the gene even if they don’t all show the bad symptoms
I LOVE my spider! She's has no wobble, she's so beautiful and is such a great eater!
@@christinamartinez7898 Age?
Hey Chris! Hope you don’t mind this novice comment but I’m trying to learn about the genetics and morphs etc! How do you go about starting out to learn, you see people who can just look at a snake and know exactly what’s in it and that’s what I want to get to but everyone just says you learn as you go… there must be a way! 🤣 Thank you!
For those who don’t know.aspen is a great bedding for ball pythons because it’s dry and easy to clean. But they do need humidity so for that google how to make a humidity box and you will never have a problem with humidity. A little note is that if your ball python sits in too damp of an environment for too long it can develop scale rot.
I pour water in corners and it evaporates I use much and coconut fiber
I have 2 spiders with no issue what so ever my champagne wobbles way worse than both my spiders put together. With that being said my whole view on ball pythons nearly changed when I went to a reptile depot not knowing really anything about ball pythons I bought the prettiest one in my opinion and it was super cheap it was a queen bee well he had such a horrible wobble he literally started cork screwing when I put him in water to soak like corkscrewing like crazy Like freaking out well a week later I tried to feed a live hopper he wanted it but he could not strike straight so he lost interest fast I waited a couple months tried assisting moved on to forcing which went well but after about a month or even 2 when I was getting ready to consider another force feed he passed away and so I blamed myself and it really hurt me I stayed away from balls for over a year blaming myself before I finally started doing research watching videos and I then realized about the spider wobble so I then learned a shit ton did tons of research I’m now on my first year of breeding I have 15 ball pythons 5 females I’m hoping are going to go this year 2 Bumblebee’s all my snakes are healthy fat if anything so with all this crap being said if you want to do this ball python thing first things first do your research do things correct it isn’t any different than any other pet they deserve the best just like a cat or dog the second point id like to make is most spiders are completely fine some are kind of wanky it’s your job as a responsible breeder to inform the buyer of exactly what they are getting that guy should’ve seen my inexperience and said this isn’t the snake for you but he seen my inexperience and saw dollar signs and that’s just not cool it’s not morally ok inform people teach them what the don’t know this should’ve never happen to me or anyone for that matter it’s your job as a reliable and responsible breeder to not do this to anyone. Chris Hardwick is the man he talks about the wobble issue In another video I truly believe he wouldn’t sell a wanky spider especially to a rookie he understands his job as a breeder and dealer i just wanted to be clear Chris Hardwick would never sell an animal like I described this happen on the east coast far from Chris I just wanted to cry about my first spider experience is all thank Jahweh for people like Chris Hardwick putting out these informative videos to teach people before the mistake happens
Nice video. A lot of help, thanks.
ALL spiders have neurological issues. The neurological issues come from a gene that is so close to the spider gene that it ALWAYS passes to their young. Your spider might not have neurological issues that you notice when it’s just crawling around but they do always have balance issues and can’t flip back over as easy when they get flipped upside down. You saying that only a small percent of them have issues is very misleading because 100 percent of them have issues, some just less noticeable than others but even a just talking about a scale of severity, a LARGE percentage of them have SEVERE neurological issues.
If Champagnes are worst than Spiders than why is Spider #3 and not Champagne? :P
I've never heard anyone say they want to ban Champagnes. Woma and Hidden Gene Womas can also wobble, same with the Super Spotnose, aka the Powerball.
spider gene just highlights the lack of morality within snake breeders, particularly NERD. They have no issues with inbreeding whatsoever and treat the animal as a trophy rather than a living creature that has to live with the consequences.
question not really relating to the video topic, but where would i get racks like you have, I want to get into breeding, but the one time i looked at racks they were 800-900$?! Is that just what they cost and if not what do you use for racks, or do you have any recommendations for how to make a rack? I've only got about 700sq/ft to work with in my apartment, but id really love to get into this hobby
I'd probably start out with an ARS 7030 hybrid, a full rack will run you about $2,000 plus freight, maybe around $2500. But you can buy them one or more levels at a time, my first rack was just a few levels and I added as I went, it saved me money starting out but I spent a lot more in freight over the years.
www.arscaging.com/ars7030_hybrid.html
The fact remains that if you breed "any" animal with the potential for defects you are condemning that animal any any future offspring of that animal a life of discomfort and possibly pain. So, like my mother always told me, better safe than sorry 🙂
Much love always ✌️
BP are THE worse snakes. For me - it’s the random not eating for months.
Do you still breed any of these genes?
Wouldn’t buy super cinnamons or silver bullets either. They often come out deformed, with kinks, neuro issues and stuff along those lines. They’re beautiful but I don’t think it’s worth it
What about orchid bark for ball pythons.
Some people use it but I can't find it here in Colorado.
Spider axanthic is so beautiful ❤
I agree if you're spider is severe, no brainer don't breed it, but please don't think that they are all bad, my boy Todd is a banna pastel spider, and he is the best snake I've ever owned, honestly I've been around a lot of snakes without spider and they have a small head wobble lol so I really don't understand why the spider gets a bad name. Thanks 👍
Thanks!
Thank you so much! 🙏🙏
Try reptile prime for ur snakes bedding its dust free n wrks great
I've heard that but I can't buy it in bulk, it's too expensive compared to a pallet of Prococo.
Love my spider (bumble bee) but after I get a super pastel from her I think she’s just gonna be my baby
Your Bumblebee DG is quite the chunker lol
Hi Chris
I respect you for rating spiders where they are at. I have a pair of brothers who look absolutely stunning but they have spider and show minor wobbling/missing strikes when they get excited. Mine are not breeders but are pets purely because I love their attitude yet respect their faults. Spiders are not a bad breed and show a lot of personality out of my other 3 non-spider snakes I own . I appreciate the video but I really hope this does not deter (hopefully) snake owners away from spider. There's a lot of wasted opportunity and experiences wasted on spiders because of theirs stigma. :(
P.S. I am not supporting the breeding of spiders but i do believe they should have comfortable homes.
I have one that does the same thing during feeding
Mine does fine with feeding, but she corkscrews occasionally and wobbles when she's excited or stressed. She's a baby still so I'm waiting to see if it gets better or worse. Great personality though. She's really sweet, likes being handled and isn't head shy at all. I could grab her face if I wanted to and I don't think she'd care.
Mine is the same only does it a few days after feeding when she think she’s getting fed again never misses a meal but has missed a strike a few times
Hey bro u make great vids, but aside from ball pythons do u have retics? Im in the market for a tiger retic and a sunfire i prefer both to be females doesn’t matter if theyre mainland or dwarfs. If u have them let me know
I have two retics, if they breed all the hatchlings will be the same, they will be lavender albinos, part super dwarf and part Jampea dwarf. Not sure if my female is going to go this year, I saw them lock but she is looking a bit thin lately...
Chris Hardwick brother in case u get tiger and also sunfire let me know im down in south FL and im in the market for those 2
I'm glad I watched this.
And I think they pick on spiders over the others because spiders are more popular.... they're absolutely beautiful and very widely available for cheap. I wS thinking of getting one female with spider in her.... but of course I'm still a little unsure. I think I may just so I have it in my collection for the option but i dont think I'd get more than 1 or maybe 2.... i dont want too many babies with the spider gene.
my spider girl is 100% my favourite snake. She's about 12 now, 2600g, isn't head shy, eats like an absolute beast and never goes off food. Doesn't wobble. You can find great examples of spiders out there and have a very rewarding experience. Good luck!
@@jeng2584 wow big! Yeah my friend has a banana spider and hes fine. I've seen many many beautiful spider morphs. There is so many options too. So I really like the morph. That's why I was thinking of finding a good breeder and a snake I really like... that way I have some spider combos.
7:40 Bobby says hi!
Why are you shooting for Caramel Albino's if you know kinking is a major issue with them? (considering your #2 advice is to stay away from kinking) Especially since it is a recessive morph. That takes a lot of time and effort to produce. With the known defect within them, and so many other albino alternatives it seems to go against common sense, and your own advice to try and produce them, does it not?
I've heard that kinking in Caramel Albinos is line dependant, some people have bred certain lines for decades and never had a problem.
@@ChrisHardwickanimaladventures Has the line you've bought been breed successfully?
Not sure, I've never produced a visual from either one yet.
If you've had no record from the person you've purchased them from, I wish you the best of luck! I'd hate to see an egg cutting of kinked babies!
I agree with You Chris I am on the fence with the Spider gene. I own 2 of them , but I don't want to own or breed them much. I also don't want the ball python community to totally abandon the gene.
What kind of set up are you going to use for your retic hatchlings I imagine your gonna get between 20 and 30 eggs or more
I'll probably start with my ARS hatchling rack.
Chris Hardwick that’s pretty sweet I wasn’t sure if u could use that one. Where it was sorta setup for ball pythons and retics are slightly bigger and grow much faster awesome that u can use the racks u got and don’t have to buy new ones lol at least not yet
Not to be rude but photos of some of the snakes your talking about would be nice.
I own a spider ball python with head wobble...best pet there is...
I think your multigene spider has special sub genes avoiding any defects. It’s a theory, but it’s a possibility.
SteeleClaw Productions I believe that as well lesser is a good gene to combine, acts as some sort of base.
JonV1990 Really? I just learned something new. Thanks.👍
SteeleClaw Productions the black head gene seems to negate the wobble
MrZTH I plan to breed my ball python, I studied lot of morphs and genes and I do plan to treat them delicately. But, even if you treat them delicately, something could slip up.
yes dont kill the whole ball python bloodline like we do it with the cornsnakes.
I heard that partho’s arent always copies?
They put 2 copies of themselves to produce embyros or something? Like if a mojave partho’d there could be poss BEL’s cuz they ‘reproduced with themselves?’
I don’t know if that’s true?
Not sure about that...
It is sound logic, but we just don't have enough information on the process. They do need 2 sets of genes to form, but the current working theory is that any species that reproduce via parthenogenesis will have offspring that are simply clones of the mother.
@@sinandcyanide7505
Yea that's why when I heard this I was curious? Hoping anyone else could add in.
@@DeidarasLilStudent here's a really interesting article that talks about what's been found in genetic tests on babies born of parthenogenesis:
www.bbc.com/earth/story/20141219-spectacular-real-virgin-births
Basically, the offspring of a python who reproduced in this way were created with two copies of each of half of the mother's chromosomes, which apparently makes them half-clones? Never heard that term, but the article is really good if you're interested.
You can’t own snakes in Hawaii.
I hope one day animal protection law steps up with breeding spider or champagne gene. Atleast in my country where animal protection law is kinda superb. I didnt know champagne have the same problems so I stay I way from champagne also.
👍😎
and wouldn't a chimera male be a good thing to introduce to your breeding project considering the two separate sets of DNA?
I would guess most Chimeras would be sterile. If not you'll get either one or the other sets of DNA, whatever DNA the reproductive organs are made of, but you won't get both.
My state requires a permit for all pythons
HI CHRIS, WHAT ALL MORPHS, OTHER THAN JUST SPIDERS, ARE KNOWN TO HAVE THE HEAD WOBBLE PROBLEM? ALSO, I BOUGHT A BABY MALE SPIDER THAT HAS ZERO HEAD WOBBLE, ZERO NEUROLOGICAL PROBLEMS, I WOULD SAY IT'S SAFE TO BREED HIM, YES? NO?
Check out this video: ua-cam.com/video/Uf1ORYgmXDM/v-deo.html
They say it doesn't matter if your Spider has a wobble or not, it's the same odds for the offspring to get a wobble (you can't breed out the wobble).
THAT MAKES PERFECT SENSE, THANK YOU CHRIS FOR RESPONDING. 😊
BTW CHRIS, I LOVE YOUR VIDEOS, I HAVE LEARNED QUITE A BIT FROM YOU, THANK YOU SO MUCH. 😊
Another cool thing some ball pythons will do is retain sperm and lay a clutch of eggs the next year without breeding it or will retain sperm and when bred with another male the next year they can mix both males sperm and you can get a mixed clutch im not 100% if they could make a triple morph but its still cool
I’ve breed a ball python and carpet python before
Nice!
What was its personality like?
They are banned in SF
Damn I have a pastel spider lol
Our spiders are great! They have no wobble, but our cinnamon pastel has wobble. Crazy!