I was shipped a beautiful male Enchi Fire Bamboo today. It was 50 outside when I picked him up and was surprised that there wasn’t a heat pack with him. When I got him out he was pretty cold, very slow tongue flicks and slow movements. I noticed he was doing a light wobble, like he would reach out and say back and forth. I don’t care to have slight wobble and I don’t love him any less, but idk if it’s the cold or what. After the drive home (I had the heat going so he had gotten a few degrees warmer) he wasn’t swaying nearly as bad. Maybe he’ll be better after he warms up?
I let the seller know immediately that he was alive but cold and asked if it was normal for him to wobble. She said “No, he’s not a spider” and when I mentioned again that he was cold she replied “he doesn’t like the heat so I didn’t give him a pack in case it was too hot”. He supposedly left her facility in perfect condition with no wobble.
I have bought from this seller before and things were amazing but probably won’t again.
Main question: would being cold make him wobble? Will it go away once he gets warm?
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He doesn’t like the heat? Wow. I would flip out on them a little.
And I’d edit that review QUICK too.
Wouldn’t be surprised if cold caused some issues.
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I’m with crawd, I wouldn’t be impressed.
I have absolutely no scientific study or basis to go off here, this is just pure brain fart, so take it as you will.
Think about being out on a cold day and breathing in the icy air, your body clenches up and loosens repeatedly in a attempt to raise your temperature and you get a ache throughout your spine.
Now imagine going through that again but this time you don’t have two sturdy legs to keep you balanced and instead have a snakes body… I believe the wobble you described to be how I’d imagine a snake to react to the cold.
I’d definitely recommend to the seller that they use temperature packs in the future.
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I can tell you that neurological issues in snakes can be caused by extremely high temperatures which means overheating cause a neurological issue resembling spider wobble which can be temporary or permanent depending on the exposure.
I have never hear of the this in cold temperatures but that does not mean it cannot happen however I would assume the temperatures would need to be pretty close to freezing to affect the brain in that way.
If that was me and I was not happy with the animal upon receiving it I would send it back.
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Sounds like maybe a miscommunication about the “doesn’t like” phrasing. I don’t know the exact conditions of your delivery so I don’t know if it was actually the right call, but generally too cold is way safer than too hot for a reptile.
As an example, if daytime highs are above 70C at the origin or destination the company I go thru will void their live arrival guarantee if you include a heat pack. It’s that dangerous to overheat them. But I usually just wont ship if the low temperature is way too low in one place and highs above 70 in the other.
Either way I hope the breeder works with you and you end up with a good outcome you’re happy with.
I didn’t buy off the market so no review to leave on here. She was going to his breeder to see if he wobbled and she didn’t notice. I’m definitely not going to buy from her again.
It was same state shipping so the high he ever saw was probably 64F with a low of about 48F. I’m definitely not happy but he’s a beautiful animal and a definitely don’t want him to have to go through shipping again so she can sell him to someone else.
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Yeah definitely should have had some heat. That’s disappointing Blue. Hopefully no long term effects in the animal and they settle in with you quickly.
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I just got home from work to check on him and he’s warm now, able to move from 94-82. He’s reading 87.6 on the heat gun now (don’t have a before temp). He’s still doing a light wobble still, I don’t think it will bother him tho.
Gotta pay the photo tax with this beautiful boy lol
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I’ve noticed that quite a few non-spider/champagne/woma ect) snakes have wobbles.
In my opinion, wobbles are no big deal, as long as the snake functions well.
I have 3 spider/combo girls and only one is pretty noticable. He’s not bad, you can only tell if you pay attention and look for it. I don’t mind, would have just been nice to know beforehand! (I still would have gotten him lol)
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