I mean, there is a large difference between the brain being messed up and light sensitivity due to a lack of pigment. However, for most, the way to deal with it is the same. Adjust husbandry. For albinos, lower light solves the problem caused by the lack of pigmentation to absorb excess light. For spiders, you keep things as stress free as possible and generally you are OK. But the neuro issues have the chance to require cull or can have significant QoL issues no matter how your husbandry is, though having it that bad is exceedingly rare. Albinos to my knowledge share the same issue consistantly due to lacking pigmant, so the fix is pretty simple and universal. Less light and youre all right.
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wobble can also occur when a snake of any type is I’ll, has been seriously overheated, or has been exposed to chemicals. I have seen all 3 in the course of watching unboxing, rescue etc videos. If one wasn’t the breeder of the snake, it could be difficult to tell the cause of the serious wobble.
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True, chemicals and excess heat can cause neurological issues in just about any species, but is much more so for those who cant thermoregulate outside of the environments you give them.
Of course, I agree completely. I was just wondering how many shocking videos of Spiders with terrible wobble, might be rescues that may have only had miner wobble if bad things had not occurred.
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The trick is people tend not to video tape things when they are going just fine. So the real question is how many snakes have a minor to no wobble that we never hear about or see? Then as you said, factor in bad husbandry, undue stress, and specifically stressing out the animal first to stage a significsnt reactionary wobble.
I think the issue is far less prevelant than it is made out to be, but i dont think all major cases are neglect or falsehoods. There is a higher risk of QoL harming side effects, so its up to the individual if they want to take the risk. I dont think its enough of an issue to warrant a ban, but it is enough where i personally just avoid them to be safe. It also becomes genetic bombs when going for morph stacks that include recessives. You may get very lucky with a stack, but cant breed it because it would be a spider-spider pair.
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VERY IMPORTANT TO NOTE BEFORE CLICKING AND READING THE BELOW:
THIS IS A PRE-PRINT!
IT HAS NOT BEEN PEER REVIEWED!
THE CONCLUSIONS HAVE NOT BEEN SUBJECT TO EVALUATION BY OUTSIDE SCIENTIST!
THERE IS NO GUARANTEE THE INFORMATION HEREIN WILL STAND UP TO SCRUTINY
(Also, I have not had a chance to read it yet myself so I am neither endorsing nor condemning it at this time)
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Thanks for that it was an interesting read, I should have spent more time with it, I will later, but first thoughts —
That’s an interesting study. if peer reviewed and backed up it could answer a lot. But it makes some logical sense. The differences in inner ear which is crucial for ballance and the statoacoustic organ sound compelling. But its also a very small number of snakes studied, (what was it only 4) so on both the lack repeated findings, and size of the study, we cant say its definitive, but an interesting start. More study is needed…
Separate point - Despite the beauty and potentials, with the Uk ban in some club shows and prejudice from some buyers, is it fair to the snake morph to breed it if we cant sell it easily?
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Seeing this is so funny, as this is an actual note I had written into my phone’s notepad sometime last year and forgotten about until now
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The sample size is small but the results seem fairly conclusive. The one glaring fault I see, and this is a big deal for me, is this; “design bread spider morph snakes” 
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Why not both? 
Innervation for proper formation of the inner ear requires nerves following the migration pathways of melanocytes
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I would bet good money that is just a matter of ESL
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Oh absolutely!
I look forward to seeing future studies looking at the brain (and actually very much want to do some myself), as well as seeing larger sample sizes and statistics for the inner ear paper
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I’ve got a single gene spider male and I’ve also got a female with spider in her and they eat and function normally as good if not better than some of the other genes that I have . If it wasn’t for the stigma attached to the spider name making it hard to sell I wouldn’t mind having several of them. IMO you could find problems in anything if you dig hard enough but this just happened to be the gene that caught the attention making some people afraid to keep them. Their may be some extreme cases and that could happen with anything but for the most part the spider gene is definitely worth giving a chance
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I am right over the 100 snake mark with hatchlings right now 
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My one problem with people saying “they don’t look like they are in pain”
is that we really can’t tell I mean animals I.G don’t show pain well. (I know this for a fact)
not saying they are downright WRONG but still.
Pain=stress…Stress=won’t breed, won’t eat, respiratory infections, etc. Those of us who’ve been breeding ball pythons for 7-10-15+ years know what a stressed out animal looks and acts like.
How do so many Spiders live full lives if they’re in pain and thereby under major stress?
Many of us have a large number of these animals who’re living healthy uneventful lives. We have a much larger sample size and many more years of experience than most pet keepers have or will achieve. It’s hard to refute the experience of the hobby at large, that they eat fantastically, and breed well often over decades of life.
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I agree, just because they can’t say how they feel, doesn’t mean you can’t tell.
Our spider doesn’t like it when his enclosure is changed, he shows his frustration and so we keep changes to a minimal.
I think it comes down to how well you know your snakes on a personal level and the experience you’ve had with them.
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While I agree with you overall with the spider gene this is not true at all imo ball pythons are notoriously easy to breed they certainly will breed when they are stressed and when it isn’t always good for them health wise. People get clutches all the time from there stressed and or unhealthy ball pythons. I think plenty of us who have done this long enough have had plenty of moments where we have cringed at the condition of a ball python that a “breeder” has gotten to “successfully” reproduce. I feel by using they wouldn’t breed argument we just give the anti spider side more bullet points because imo it’s simply not true.
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Sure they will once or maybe even twice but nothing that’s really stressed is going recover, breed, recover, breed, etc over and over again for a decade or two.
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Agree they would probably die eventually but I do believe even stressed and unhealthy they will do it longer than people realize. So I don’t think we should use this to justify a pro spider view point.
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If we accept this premise (I am not saying I do or do not, just using this as a logic problem) then we also have to accept the opposite premise that the combination of our inability to tell and the animal’s tendency to “hide” pain means that you also cannot use/rely on/perpetuate the argument of “But they are in pain because only an animal in pain would act like that.”
Two sides of the same coin
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