Posted by:
ancistrus
at Mon Jan 19 05:06:41 2004 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by ancistrus ]
I don't understand all the fuss about hybrids. I know this isn't the hybrid forum, but really, unless someone knows the exact locality of their specimens (say, locality North American ratsnakes or kingsnakes), then they could be producing hybrids without even knowing it. There are so many undescribed species of herps out there that breeders rarely know just what they're working with.
Who's to say that all ball pythons are one species anyway? We don't have the information yet. There's good evidence that green tree pythons comprise several species, yet the chondro people hybridize these freely, just because they haven't been formally split yet. Look at scrub pythons -- several forms that are obviously different were considered the same species until recently, and hybrids were produced. Now the same thing seems to be happening with retics.
Even within species, there are regional variants and local adaptations. Captive breeeding is still fun and worthwhile, but until we have detailed information, there's no way that the offspring can be considered viable in a conservation sense (i.e., do they represent "real" species and would they prosper if released back into the wild?).
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Breeders produce hybrids without even knowing it - ancistrus, Mon Jan 19 05:06:41 2004