Quote:
Originally Posted by anji1971
Okay, I'm probably going to sound like an idiot here, and I'm ready to hear about it, but can I ask why these hybrid snakes are so frowned upon in the first place??
I completely understand from a breeding perspective you wouldn't want to spoil the bloodline.
But, if you keep the hybrids as a separate group, is it such a bad thing??
In many other animal species, people mix breeds all the time, and those mixes are often well sought after. I'm mainly thinking of dogs and cats here, but still...........
There are probably a lot of people who would love to have an unusual looking garter that results from a mix of species. NOT to exploit and make money, just to appreciate it's unique beauty.
As a person who just loves snakes, in all their shapes, sizes and colours, I have to say I just don't completely understand this issue.  |
You do not sound like an idiot.
There is nothing wrong when these hybrid snakes are kept as pets.
There could be a problem when I sell them. Suppose I will sell them to you and tell you exactly what kind of snakes they are. What the parents are.
After a year you decide to sell them to someone else and you (by accident or on purpose) do not tell fromwhat parents these snakes are coming.
From that moment nobody knows that they are hybrids. Especially when they look a lot like one of the two parentspecies. If they look very different from the parentspecies the problem is less, but still nobody knows what they exactly are. And then there is a chance that they will be treated like T. s. tetrataenia and used to breed with them. This pollutes the bloodline.
Whether this is a bad thing or not is something where people have different opinions on.
That is why I (most probably) will keep all the young (if there will be young born!) myself. Then there is no problem at all.