I'm probably in the minority, but even when they were separate subspecies, I don't see "crossing" as an ethical issue as much as a personal preference. Taxonomy is a human construct, and like evolution itself, it's constantly changing and always in dispute. Heck, can anyone even define what a species, much less a sub-species, is?? As long as one represents his/her animal honestly and takes good care of it, it's none of my business what you or anyone else does. The whole "polluting the gene pool" is a slipper slope. Where do you draw the line? Between species? Between sub-species? Between large locales? Between canyon locales (like rosy boas?) And when it comes down to it, what does it really matter if a rainbow boa down the line is "88% BRB" and "12% PRB", especially now that they are the same subspecies? Heck, wild caught ones could be "intergrades." Part of the definition of subspecies is that they can "interbreed" with other subspecies, and in many cases their ranges overlap. There is no distinct line separating a lot of subspecies, it's a continuum.



Just my 2 cents.

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