Hi Folks,
I've been away and got back home to find a whole lot of emails sent to me about this WC versus CB debate. I usually choose to avoid these debates because I find the tendency to personally attack people a very unattractive aspect of our fabulous hobby and I refuse to participate. To all those reading this thread, let me assure you that what I write in my articles (and threads like this) are my considered thoughts on a subject based on more than a bit of experience. I suspect that these accusations about my motivations are more of a reflection of what motivates others than me. However, I am guilty of not considering that my comments about WC versus CB reptiles would annoy certain commercial interests - it just plain didn't occur to me and perhaps it should have?
Anyway, in the interests of all those growing numbers of reptile keepers that don't have the advantage of years of experience in the hobby and at the risk of inflaming some commercial views, I would like to make my view on this crystal clear.
I think it is nothing short of totally irresponsible to suggest that wild caught reptiles are in any way comparable to captive bred animals. All of us that have been through the school of experience from the days when nearly everything was wild caught through to the situation today know this whether we will admit it or not. It was the advent of captive bred animals that totally changed breeding success and reptile keeping in Australia. Once the first captive bred animals were grown through to adults, disease issues declined markedly and breeding success accelerated dramatically. I have kept and bred a wide range of WC animals over the years and have kept records of survival rates of WC and CB animals and the difference is marked.
Without going into too much detail, the problem with WC is their disease load and that they are much more prone to stress in captivity. Yes WC animals will sometimes settle down to become OK in a captive environment and yes the younger they are the better the chances. Its a bit like the difference between catching a wild bird, wild cat or wild dog, compared to raising one from a hatchling or suckling baby. This analogy is also relevant in that the more experienced the keeper the better the acclimatization of a wild caught animal can be achieved - but its not something for the inexperienced.
Reptiles are an ancient group and carnivores like snakes have co-evolved with a large number of unpleasant organisms. They tend to carry large parasite loads, many of which are extremely difficult to remove with medication - for example protozoa like entameoba and the coccidia's. To suggest that wild caught are safer from a disease point of view than well kept captive bred animals is a nonsense. I leant this the hard way over many years and today I will not take WC into captivity unless I absolutely have to. If there is a particular desirable animal that only occurs in the wild then if at all possible I will try and buy captive hatched babies to raise to avoid disease and to minimise stress.
This leads me to the importance of WC animals. Without them, their wouldn't be captive bred animals or a reptile hobby like we have today. The albino carpet and albino olive came from WC animals. The rough-scales were added to captivity because of the dedication of JW to finding and breeding WC animals in captivity. A whole lot of wonderful WA forms would not be available to the hobby without the WA permit system allowing animals to be collected in the wild. However, for animal welfare reasons and the stress placed on WC animals I would like to think this practise can be minimised over time.
Some of you will agree with these comments (especially those that have been with the hobby since captive breeding first started being successful) and some will not. It is one of the great freedoms of this country that we can all have our say. We all love our reptiles so let's respect each other for our views and avoid personal attacks on each other. I don't think it improves any debate or advances the cause of our hobby??
Doc R.
I've been away and got back home to find a whole lot of emails sent to me about this WC versus CB debate. I usually choose to avoid these debates because I find the tendency to personally attack people a very unattractive aspect of our fabulous hobby and I refuse to participate. To all those reading this thread, let me assure you that what I write in my articles (and threads like this) are my considered thoughts on a subject based on more than a bit of experience. I suspect that these accusations about my motivations are more of a reflection of what motivates others than me. However, I am guilty of not considering that my comments about WC versus CB reptiles would annoy certain commercial interests - it just plain didn't occur to me and perhaps it should have?
Anyway, in the interests of all those growing numbers of reptile keepers that don't have the advantage of years of experience in the hobby and at the risk of inflaming some commercial views, I would like to make my view on this crystal clear.
I think it is nothing short of totally irresponsible to suggest that wild caught reptiles are in any way comparable to captive bred animals. All of us that have been through the school of experience from the days when nearly everything was wild caught through to the situation today know this whether we will admit it or not. It was the advent of captive bred animals that totally changed breeding success and reptile keeping in Australia. Once the first captive bred animals were grown through to adults, disease issues declined markedly and breeding success accelerated dramatically. I have kept and bred a wide range of WC animals over the years and have kept records of survival rates of WC and CB animals and the difference is marked.
Without going into too much detail, the problem with WC is their disease load and that they are much more prone to stress in captivity. Yes WC animals will sometimes settle down to become OK in a captive environment and yes the younger they are the better the chances. Its a bit like the difference between catching a wild bird, wild cat or wild dog, compared to raising one from a hatchling or suckling baby. This analogy is also relevant in that the more experienced the keeper the better the acclimatization of a wild caught animal can be achieved - but its not something for the inexperienced.
Reptiles are an ancient group and carnivores like snakes have co-evolved with a large number of unpleasant organisms. They tend to carry large parasite loads, many of which are extremely difficult to remove with medication - for example protozoa like entameoba and the coccidia's. To suggest that wild caught are safer from a disease point of view than well kept captive bred animals is a nonsense. I leant this the hard way over many years and today I will not take WC into captivity unless I absolutely have to. If there is a particular desirable animal that only occurs in the wild then if at all possible I will try and buy captive hatched babies to raise to avoid disease and to minimise stress.
This leads me to the importance of WC animals. Without them, their wouldn't be captive bred animals or a reptile hobby like we have today. The albino carpet and albino olive came from WC animals. The rough-scales were added to captivity because of the dedication of JW to finding and breeding WC animals in captivity. A whole lot of wonderful WA forms would not be available to the hobby without the WA permit system allowing animals to be collected in the wild. However, for animal welfare reasons and the stress placed on WC animals I would like to think this practise can be minimised over time.
Some of you will agree with these comments (especially those that have been with the hobby since captive breeding first started being successful) and some will not. It is one of the great freedoms of this country that we can all have our say. We all love our reptiles so let's respect each other for our views and avoid personal attacks on each other. I don't think it improves any debate or advances the cause of our hobby??
Doc R.
