A constructive proposal, Aaron. My point of view, though, is that hybrids are harmful and should be discouraged, not that they're ok so long as they're properly identified.



I'd support your proposal, so long as it didn't seem like an endorsement of hybrids, because:

a) it would reduce the number of mis-identified hybrids accidentally getting into the herpetocultural mainstream where they could pollute subsequent generations;

b) it should put downward pressure on hybrid prices, which would discourage further breeding;

and

c) by drawing attention to the "hybrid" issue, it would help more people understand the distinction (if you've gotta explain what something is, you probably need to explain why you need to explain what it is, too!)



My own wish is to change behavior through education. Over time, public opinion can change, does change: Bear-baiting's fallen out of favor, people no longer routinely defecate in the streets (yep: read Pepys); blacks and woman can vote, we eat healthier; etc. My maternal grandmother left school after the fourth grade to go to work. She'd walk the Ohio River bridge from Kentucky to Cincinnati to work in a sock factory. On breaks, while the older workers talked and smoked, she and the others her age played hide-and-seek among the boxes. They were just children, some like her only 9 or 10. We don't approve of that any more. And while that's now built into the legal code, it, like so many other laws, is just the result of changed public thinking.



There are a couple outspoken and articulate defenders of hybridizing on here. But I think the general reaction is that yes, those critters are creating problems for herpetoculture, and yes, there is something intrinsically superior in an animal that can be found in the wild.



As SNL Weekend Update's Colin Quinn used to say, That is my story, and i'm stickin' to it.

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