I have a friend that contacted me recently asking me what I thought about the Spider market. He was considering selling out everything, and moving on with different projects.
Why? Because they do not sell quickly/well.
I sat there for a minute, trying to think about that statement.
Yes, there are a lot of spiders out there.
Heck, I feel like I have a ton myself.
But the reason why there are a ton out there is because they are awesome!
I remember about four years ago where selling Spiders was as easy as listing them.
And now we are seeing that those spiders are now grown up, and other people are producing them.
But then I thought about the amazing stuff that Spiders make.
Some of my goal snakes have Spider in it....
Axanthic Killerbee, Crystal Spinnerblast, and a few others...
And I'm sure I'm not the only one!
So in the end, maybe the base morph may not be as easy to move, but the combinations are still worth their weight in gold.
What do you guys think?
Let me know, chime in. Let's start a dialogue on this. I'm intrigued to know what other people think.
Have a great day, my friends!
I think people shy away from the spider morph because of the "wobble". When I started with my collection, I told myself that I will never get a spider. After researching and seeing the combos the spider make, I accepted the flaw. The base morph itself is beautiful, the head markings and the white sides are just awesome.
ReplyDeleteI suspect the spider market is dying because of the "wobble" factor. No one is denying they are gorgeous, but people don't want to take a chance and end up with an animal with a progressive neurological impairment. The same is true for other lines of balls with genetic "issues"; those lines will become less popular. I think it's great that this formerly "insider information" is being made public, so the buyer can make an educated decision . Youtube, Forums, and blogs like yours really help us make realistic, informed choices and help to ensure that future lines of ball pythons will be as healthy as possible.
ReplyDeleteI'm personally over spiders! It was the first morph I ever bought and I agree they look nice but the neurological issues out weigh the looks. I only kept 1 female in my collection to make some caliders to sell. I'm not keeping any!
ReplyDelete(HAHA I say that now:)
So you guys think that if they didn't have the wobble, they would be more valuable in collections?
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely,while most spiders have minor symptoms they all seem to have some and the fact that it can be progressive makes it a riskier investment. I'm trying to substitute pins for spiders in my future combos, but admittedly some spider combos are just incredibly beautiful: bumble bee,honeybee, and the Super Phantom Spider is INSANE!
ReplyDeleteI wasn't sure if it was the wobble or that they're everywhere nowadays. It seems other people--at least here--are thinking along the same lines with respect to the Spider morph, so perhaps the wobble is indeed a major factor.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite morphs is the Killer Bee Axanthic, and it was also a driving force for getting me into breeding. I am sad that I have decided to never work with Spiders and so will never be able to make the morph. But as others have said, the neurological issue isn't something I can just brush under the rug. I won't work with Womas for the same reason. Indeed, it was my Woma who showed me just how bad the wobble can be and who convinced me beyond a doubt that I could never work with Spiders, Womas, or others with problems that seem to be connected to the morph itself (Caramels, for example).
Half of this decision is from not wanting to pass the defect on. It's clear to me at this point that no amount of outbreeding will remove the wobble or reduce it significantly. The other half is about keeping my collection small. If I bred a Spider or a Woma and some of the offspring were moderate to severe wobblers, I would either give them away as pets or just keep them.* But this means I'd be keeping probably at least one snake from every clutch from the Spider/Woma--snakes taking up space that could've been used for the next awesome new morphs instead.
*I do not believe a snake that can live a relatively normal, happy life should be put down. Nor do I follow the "what if someone gets ahold of the 'pet' wobbler and breeds it?" argument because it's a silly one given that those making the argument breed Spiders themselves and because living life worried about "what if" is a waste.
i would definitely say that spider would be THE greatest morph and combo maker if there wasn´t the wobbling. most of the combos with spider are stunningly beautiful. i myself do not breed with spider or woma because of this issue. i use pinstripe as my "reducer".
ReplyDeleteas a second argument against spider i would bring that the combos do look very much alike.