Those people that know me, including Steve I (Morelia Pythons UK) hi Steve, know I have some beautiful pure Aussie animals that I am very proud of, my SA womas are the purest locale, I should know I caught the original animals of my line & have never introduced any other animal into this line.
Now I am really happy that we have so many native pythons available to us, locale specific & more beautiful morphs each year & I know from US & UK forums that guys overseas would love to get their hands on some of our animals & believe me I & many others if they were honest would give their right arm for some of the stunning designer snakes that you guys own & breed.
The only time I see Australia getting in strife is if an animal becomes extinct in the wild or disappears from certain areas, then we would loose the pure gene pool & have to rely on captive specimens, but what worries people here & me included is that people can & have cross bred & then sold on as pure & so the mixed line begins & goes on.
This debate should not create a divide between 2 different passions with a common love for the same thing, each should be able to appreciate the other with equal regard. Some of my friends own hi tech turbo 4 cylinders & others would have nothing else but big V8’s, I love & appreciate both & it is the same with our hobby, I only own & breed the best looking & purest locale (to the best of my knowledge) animals that I could get hold of but if you ask me would I like to own a pair of stunning looking designer peach coloured Jag morphs that are available in the US or Europe, absolutely yes without a doubt, who could ever dispute what the offspring are, nothing else but gorgeous individuals & as long as that is what they are sold as is fine.
Like it or not we will follow the trends of the US & Europe in the way of designer snakes, what we need to consider is how we are going to cope or manage with this evolution, one way that comes to my mind is a register of certain breeders that are strictly licensed to keep & breed only certain species therefore maintaining the purity of that particular animal ie; Aspidites ramsayi Uluru locale only & maybe another Morelia spilota s for instance, breeders could apply, be checked & be certified, an idea only but we should think about it as it will happen its only a matter of time.
Cheers to all, Paul.