Brad, I totally agree. On the other hand, Jimmy, let's use bairdi for example. From east to west they are differently pigmented, would you agree? Therefore, to take a Val Verde county animal and put it with a Jeff Davis county animal would still get ya' pure bairdi, but at what cost? You'd neither get the silver animals you may want or the darker orange you may want, but something in between, yes? So, using this snake that has a small range (in comparison to other species) the mixing of genes from even a few counties away could lose (or gain) you something. I don't think many snakes travel as far as you may think, once a suitable (for them) habitat is found most stay put. Males tend to wander further than females, (of course) but once they find what they are driven to, they stand pat. (mostly) If you breed for deli cup snakes fine, if you breed for locality, fine, but what most of us really want is as much info about the snakes we are getting as possible. With locality animals and a trusted breeder, you get the most bang for your buck. Also, the other end of the stick, by breeding sibs from locality animals, down the line, (just my opinion) you get a better chance to more quickly bring forth unseen possibilities.









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Todd Hughes

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