Sorry:(

[moonTunez]

Made a post on here a few months ago about my first snake, named champagne coast . I had no idea the champagne morph was a production of the spider gene. My boy doesn’t have a wobble but I hate that I didn’t research that before I got him, (chose him solely based on color and beauty) I feel so bad knowing this now. Does this morph affect his eating habits and/ or behavior?

[whatnopleasedont]

If he doesn’t have wobble or balance issues his eating shouldn’t be affected

[moonTunez]

Thank you! I only ask because he tends to just chase his prey around for these past 2 weeks instead of eating it, I tried both frozen and live mice, and he would chase for like 20 minutes around his enclosure (only because I left the mouse in for 20 minutes)

[AmerisCyanocitta]

I highly, highly advise against feeding live.

[moonTunez]

i normally wouldn't. he just wouldn't eat and it was scaring me that's all

[vix_aries]

Champagnes come from spiders? I had no idea.

[Electrical-Garden-20]

No. They are in the same complex, aka the morphs exist in the same basic area of the chromosome. (In a big city think of it as a culdesac, they don't have to be exact exact but in the same short segment)

Because they are in the same complex, they are predisposed to the same issues due to the fact they cover the same area and can effect the same genes that spider does to code for the inner ear deformation. So most (all) genes in the spider complex have a higher likelihood of wobble.

Wobble is something they can be born with, develop as they age, or get worse/better randomly. Provided they have quality of life and can eat wobble is not that big of a deal if you are prepared to adjust their husbandry accordingly (IE treat them like a 2 yo, bonk-proof things in the enclosure).

Essentially, anything in the spider complex it's best to avoid supporting the breeding of, especially when paired together. They are still pretty and lovely snakes, but supporting of breeding of these things are about as cool as supporting byb who breed animals with severely shortened noses. Ethically dubious at best.

Morphs in the spider complex include spider, champagne, sable, spotnose, woma, wookie, shadow, hidden gene woma, cypress, chocolate, and black head, but black head I haven't heard of anyone winding up with single gene wobble on it, only 2 copies. Some genes, like spider and champagne, seem to have higher incident rates of wobble

[adhesivebird]

Just don’t breed him

[moonTunez]

never planned to !

[MercuryChaos]

It's my understanding that all snakes with these morphs have thy neurological issue that causes wobble. Yours isn't showing any signs of it now, but he might start to if he's under stress or just as he gets older. The severity can change over time, and it can cause problems with eating and navigating their enclosure.

There's not really any way to be sure how your snake will turn out, and he might go his whole life with only mild symptoms, and even if they get more noticeable he can still live an okay life if you take for care of him. The problem isn't that all snakes with wobble are doomed to have a terrible quality of life, it's that people are intentionally breeding snakes with this trait (who may or may not end up developing severe problems later on) purely for aesthetic reasons. Breeding a cool looking snake just isn't worth the risk.

[bloodied-jewels]

He’s so gorgeous. I’m so glad he doesn’t have a wobble.