One for the Purists

[ronhalling]

Ok i want to first say i am not encouraging or condoning this behaviour so please do not create a fecal storm of righteous indignation. Ok that out of the way, I play online poker with a bunch of guys from the U.S.A and only recently they have found out i am also interested in herps, and in finding that out i figure they are proud to tell me some of the things they do over there with their snakes or just like to boast, anyway last night i was talking to 1 of them on Skype and he was telling me about a project him and his buddies were into with "AUSSIE" snakes, to start they have gotten hold of a couple of female Bredli so they are going to put a male Diamond to 1 of them and a male coastal to the other and from the progeny of those matings they are hoping to get a male and a female from each and when they are of age and size they will be putting them together ie male from Diamond x Bredli and female from Coastal x Bredlie mated and female from Diamond x Bredli and male from Coastal x Bredli mated then see were they go from there, in their words they reckon they are trying to breed an "Aussie Super Snake" for the U.S herp market. Now i know that these matings have to be wrong on some level but i lack the brain power to be able to tell these guys why it is wrong, so as i said in the beginning i do not want to start a fecal storm with this thread, all i want is intelligent information i can use when next talking to these guys, thanks in advance...............................Ron

 

[andynic07]

IMO it does nothing to hurt the snakes or hurt our hobby here in Australia so let them go for it. If they want a muddled gene pool of snakes in the US let them go for it.

 

[harlemrain]

please do not create a fecal storm of righteous indignation

Can't help you there sorry I don't know much about breeding but this ^^^^ made my day lol I love your wording there classic

 

[Gruni]

Ask them what is wrong with keeping a strong genetically pure line? I don't see how that can create a 'super snake' of any sort, just a mongrel that may have some nice patterns.

 

[Trimeresurus]

Let them do what they want.

 

[Gruni]

Not that it bothers me if they do it over there as it has no bearing on us here but I would be curious why they are so keen to mud the waters.

 

[ronhalling]

The trouble i foresee Gruni is the "monkey see monkey do" mentality of some people, and if they do what they are proposing to do and end up with something spectacular then someone here under the Southern Cross will want to try and do the same thing, and "That has to be wrong" (edit, :i do not mean SXR i mean AUS).............................Ron

 

[Gruni]

True, but there are already drongo's crossing all manner of stuff but as long as it becomes public knowledge and they get reported then the authorities have a hope of controling it as much as possible. Over there they just seem to want to cross every nice snake they get their hands on.

I'd also be curious to hear Caliherps thoughts on this one.

 

[Snowman]

They do it with the hopes of creating something different and new.... different always sells... It's a lot quicker to mix sub species than try to line breed a specific species for a different look.

 

[adderboy]

Imagine their disappointment when the end product is not a "super snake" but just another morelia, with muddled genetics.

Whatever they produce, it won't be as if no one else has done it before, also likely to be a disappointment to them. Sadly, there's plenty of this stuff going on.

 

[Cold-B-Hearts]

its okay there jungles look like our coastal they have nothing on our snakes....

 

[borntobnude]

not a mongrel snake but
A friend in NZ has just purchased a Pohuahua , ooops that should say chidoodle


See coming up with the names isn't easy and you can 't just call it a Super Snake!!

 

[mcloughlin2]

its okay there jungles look like our coastal they have nothing on our snakes....

Not true. They have both poor and excellent examples of all aussie pythons. Some of which have ended up back over here (such as jaguars).

 

[GeckoJosh]

They can do what they want with them, it's their snakes in their country!

Same in Australia, worry about your own snakes, not everyone else's. People will do what pleases them regardless of how you or I feel

 

[Ramsayi]

Not true. They have both poor and excellent examples of all aussie pythons. Some of which have ended up back over here (such as jaguars).

Do you class jags as poor or excellent examples?

 

[champagne]

I hate to break it to some of you but most captive pythons in Australia come from few founder animals that have all been crossed with each other. There are very few pure bred locality animals. In the old days, if you could get two carpets of different sexes you put them together no matter where they came from. If they came out looking like a coastal you called them a coastal and if they came out looking like a jungle you called them a jungle. Captive animals are just a big mish mash of different pythons which come from wild populations that can't be definitively defined anyway

 

[Tobe404]

A good looking Snake is a good looking Snake. Pure or not. IMO.

In saying that though, it would be nice if there remains a percentage of pure ones out there... Just to keep the genes clean.

 

[Xeaal]

I am so sorry to tell you this Ron, but if you are seriously trying to prevent stupidity in Herping.. you're too late dear

 

[GeckoJosh]

I hate to break it to some of you but most captive pythons in Australia come from few founder animals that have all been crossed with each other. There are very few pure bred locality animals. In the old days, if you could get two carpets of different sexes you put them together no matter where they came from. If they came out looking like a coastal you called them a coastal and if they came out looking like a jungle you called them a jungle. Captive animals are just a big mish mash of different pythons which come from wild populations that can't be definitively defined anyway

So what about all the legally wild caught reptiles that are regulary for sale, are they a "mish mash" as well? (not to mention the massive amount of poached reptiles)

 

[Red-Ink]

I hate to break it to some of you but most captive pythons in Australia come from few founder animals that have all been crossed with each other. There are very few pure bred locality animals. In the old days, if you could get two carpets of different sexes you put them together no matter where they came from. If they came out looking like a coastal you called them a coastal and if they came out looking like a jungle you called them a jungle. Captive animals are just a big mish mash of different pythons which come from wild populations that can't be definitively defined anyway

Out of curiosity... got any concrete evidence of this?