spud_meister
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- Jun 22, 2013
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I'm not a fan of albino reptiles. However, I would kill for a chance to grab a hypermelanistic Blue-tongue (I would call it Vader, and build it a enclosure shaped like the Death Star).
From my basic understanding of genetics (I'm probably wrong here), inbreeding is largely a problem only in domesticated animals, where genetic expression is far vaster than non-domesticated animals. Take dogs, they have so many variations because genes unnecessary for survival are activated over countless generations, as reptiles are far from being domesticated in the same sense as dogs or cats, it poses little problem. As an example, I believe genetic variation amongst cheetah's in Africa is low because of a suspected genetic bottleneck of a mere two individuals at some point in history, now, cheetahs aren't all drooling idiots, loping around the savannah and licking trees, they're still pretty top predators. If reptile breeding reaches the point that breeding captive snakes with wild snakes means you'll end up with undesirable traits in the offspring, then there'll be a problem, but I can't really see that happening.
From my basic understanding of genetics (I'm probably wrong here), inbreeding is largely a problem only in domesticated animals, where genetic expression is far vaster than non-domesticated animals. Take dogs, they have so many variations because genes unnecessary for survival are activated over countless generations, as reptiles are far from being domesticated in the same sense as dogs or cats, it poses little problem. As an example, I believe genetic variation amongst cheetah's in Africa is low because of a suspected genetic bottleneck of a mere two individuals at some point in history, now, cheetahs aren't all drooling idiots, loping around the savannah and licking trees, they're still pretty top predators. If reptile breeding reaches the point that breeding captive snakes with wild snakes means you'll end up with undesirable traits in the offspring, then there'll be a problem, but I can't really see that happening.