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Posted by zeteki on January 18, 2003 at 19:13:16:
In Reply to: Re: Opinions on crossing two different subspecies....Must Read! posted by glenn bartley on January 18, 2003 at 08:17:43:
(snip)
: After all, no one in a keeper's situation is forcing the snakes to interbreed but rather placing them together at the appropriate time (when both are in breeding condition). What is it, even in captivity, that attracts one species to breed with another, that would not be able to excite the same breeding response in a more natural setting?
(snip)
The difference between snakes in captivity and snakes in the wild, if you'll forgive me for being obvious, is that they are captive. They don't have the choices available to them that they have in the wild. Captive situations also tend to throw together animals that may not ever cross paths, or cross paths only briefly in the wild. For example: Carpet Pythons and Green Tree Pythons are both Australian species with similar husbandry requirements. They do well in a mixed species exhibit. In the wild these animals would rarely (if ever) have the opportunity to mate. Unfortunately, I have seen the offspring of an (accidental) breeding of these two species. The offspring seem to have serious mental deficiencies. They strike at anything that moves, and are continuously hurting themselves by hitting the glass on their cages. When housed together they end up at the vet more often than not to get stitched up. They are beautiful animals, but they should never have existed in the first place, and I suspect they won't be very long lived.
BTW, they also appear to be infertile. Two of the offspring have been allowed to breed, but the female produces only slugs. Any viable eggs, if produced, will be discarded.
If you breed reptiles as a novelty item, then interbreeding for strange interspecies crosses and color morphs is the way to go.
If however, you breed reptiles because of a true fascination with the natural world and it's wonders, why would you want to try to "improve" on nature? Lastly, if you breed reptiles for conservation reasons, interbreeding species is the last thing you want to do.
All of this is, of course, IMHO.
-Z
