Hybrid Photo Thread

[Stefan-A]

There would still have to be a fairly large number of non-native Thamnophis introduced into an area for it to affect the long-term gene pool of a population, assuming they don't have some amazing super gene that gets highly selected for.
Think about what you said one of the main consequences would be; reduced fitness. If one or even a couple hybrid litters of reduced fitness end up in the wild, assuming they are selected against or neutrally, then it would not take long for genetic drift to remove those genes from the population.

Assuming there isn't some amazing super gene, that allows the carrier to outcompete the others, which in itself would constitute a loss. I'd also like to point out, that what may offer a short term advantage may well be a long term disadvantage.

[d_virginiana]

I was talking to Steve on Skype about this before. It would be unlikely for a snake to escape and get into another snake's cage* and hybridize, so your collection would be safe, but if it got out in the wild, wouldn't a hybrid cause just as much as, if not less damage than another purebred species/subspecies getting loose?

*Although there have been 3 instances where garters of mine had escaped and I had found them on top of my female eastern's cage. All but 1 escapees have been found on her cage after I caught her. She's like the Megan Fox of garters, she attracts garters and ribbons!

I would say any amount of non-native genetics getting into the wild population would be the concern. A hybrid could be more or less of an issue than a purebred in this case. For example, if you had a concinnus get loose in eastern territory, those genes would have a higher likelihood of getting passed on and crossing into the local eastern population, at least for a few generations. But if you had a concinnus/eastern hybrid get loose it may be more likely to mate with the native easterns than a purebred concinnus, and therefore more likely to pass on the non-native genes.

IMO hybrids are more of a danger to the hobby than ecology... Any escaped snake of a non-native species has the potential to mess things up. Though I doubt non-native garters would have the sorts of advantages (or be released in large enough numbers) to permanently affect a gene pool.

Assuming there isn't some amazing super gene, that allows the carrier to outcompete the others, which in itself would constitute a loss. I'd also like to point out, that what may offer a short term advantage may well be a long term disadvantage.

Agreed. I personally doubt that 'super gene' would show up, given how similar most Thamnophis are, but you never know. It's always better to prevent that sort of problem than worry about it after it appears.