a year or two ago but I have met so many "different" folks in this hobby that it doesn't stun me like it used to. The idea of purity in private captivity is somewhat laughable to me. If the average hobbiest had an inkling into what professional organizations go through to insure "purity" and genetic variability they would understand that short of collecting an animal yourself the idea of purity in hobby collections is mostly faith based (and the only person I have ultimate faith in is myself).

Even when we have "pure" animals we often select progeny that display characteristics that are seldom seen in the wild. After a few generations our "pure" animals don't represent wild types at all. Again work with species that you like (and that hopefully spurs some further interest in the biology of the species) but if you want pure go out in the field, find the animals in their own habitat, and take a few photos (what the heck could be better than that?)

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