Posted by:
rvareptiles
at Thu Jul 6 11:12:55 2006 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by rvareptiles ]
He's referring to the whole issue around spiders regarding neurological defects known as "spinning." Affected animals do just that- spin - as they move about and appear disoriented. There are some with less severe cases where their head shakes constantly when moving, a similar movement to the shaking you might see in a snake with a strong feeding response right before it eats.
I've talked to a few reputable breeders about this issue and anyone who has any questions or wants the complete story I encourage to contact NERD, VPI, RDR, etc.
From what I've been told, very few spiders out of the whole exhibit this trait. Moreover, some spiders exhibit this trait as babies and grow into perfectly normal adults. I've also heard of other spinners that are so bad they never make it past their first meal and that's unfortunate.
I'm skeptical about the whole spinning spider, kinking caramel, etc issues because we as keepers of these high end animals pay much more attention to these individuals, and its only natural that one would make an association of a defect with a particular morph without considering the possibility that its just as prevalent in normals everywhere. Those who have one normal male ball python with a kinked tail or exhibits mild spinning traits probably just thinks their bp is special and the abnormality goes unreported; all the while every little thing is picked apart about individuals that are a certain morph.
As a buyer, be educated about the issues and only deal with people who are honest about these things and allow you to make a an educated decision on whether or not to purchase the animal.
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RE: Neurological Spider Abnormalities? - rvareptiles, Thu Jul 6 11:12:55 2006