Posted by Fredrick Albury on September 05, 2000 at 13:13:17:
In Reply to: Are we gonna 'morph' these, too? posted by dorkdog on September 04, 2000 at 08:39:46:
: Hello, friends!
: I find it rather distressing to see the recent posts regarding morphing of the Drymarchons... I got rid of my cornsnakes and kings because of all this 'morph' business... please let's not let the Indigo follow the same trail. We must not forget that the Indigo is KING of the colubrids, and quite magnificent enough in their rarity, size, and disposition alone.
: For once, we are helping mother nature to restore that which we have destroyed, can't we just leave it at that?
: I am concerned that soon we will see 'red' indigos (someone referred to that in an earlier post' and albinos and heterozygous for this and that.... we'll see that the genetic makeup will eclipse the natural beauty and uniqueness as reason to pursue this obsession, which I share. I'm surprised someone has not yet tried to sell het for red indigos to this point - let's hope it never happens!
: Sorry to ramble, but after browsing the kings and corns and returning to Drymarchon, I don't want to lose the freshness of just looking at the animal for what it is.
: dorkdog
dork dog,
you are SO RIGHT AND WISE my friend. I produce Easterns every year(God willing) and I don't "Hold back" neonates with lots of red on them to raise up and "Breed" back to their red faced mama, or father. Some breeders do this, I dont, which is why i dont produce large numbers of red easterns. It is sporadic at best. Some breeders have multiple blodlines of red faced individuals,(Chuck E) but I breed for genetic integrity. Color is cool , but not worth the cost. Lok at the Albino hognose , the amount of inbreedinh has taken a snake that is basically bulletproof , breeds well and eats like a pig(No pun intended) and made this same snake into a low number reproducer that often does not eat well and has a high rate of infertility(What I have seen) Not enough outcrossing. I don't think Indigos will go this way, but for the fact that most folks that breed them understand that they are not going to get rich on them,k no matter what morph pops out. it is a very small niche for a breeder, and keeping the snakes"pure" and healthy is what this is all about. period. If
I produce one that has defects, I give it away to someone that wants a pet, not someone that will breed it. And I dont breed for color, if it happens it happens..
Fredrick Albury