Posted by:
Jeff Schofield
at Fri Jun 18 00:08:18 2004 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by Jeff Schofield ]
I think your points bring up some underutilized but inherantly valuable commodities bservation,input of peers and common sense.Too many people breeding today are in it for either the $$ or the god complex,not for the overall well being of the future.I personally like morphs because having bred for 15 years(wow is it that many already?)I find that there are fewer "new"things so we end up manufacturing them.SO WHAT.I am behind whatever it takes to keep each individual keepers mind and attention to keep healthy animals.Anyone can now be a breeder,but it is the truest test to continually have not only constant breeding successes but CONSISTENT ones as well.It is no accident that the successful breeders are doing well financially.It is the hard work as well as the scruples needed in any business to be both lucky and good.
Myself,I always seem to be splitting the difference here as I started breeding with locality milks,taught at the feet of many legends here.Morphs in their regard were anomalies to be avoided for a multitude of reasons,but damn I cant think of a SINGLE one of them anymore.Like the horse and buggy some still cling to old fashioned purity,but not many.
As a scientist I understand genetics better than most,and I can sympathize with the person who either finds or breeds new morphs......lucky you! But I dont think many now appreciate the simple uniqueness of these without trying to make a buck.....For me its not the fact that inbreeding HAS TO OCCUR by definition to replicate a morph,the problem lies in the haste and total lack of understanding of basic biology by breeders.To reproduce a morph you have to inbreed at least one generation.Breeding morph to morph to produce single morphs will continue to be a problem until it is addressed by those making names for themselves by doing directly the opposite.Responsibly breeding morph to het adds at LEAST 50% more new genetic material(unless they are siblings of course,lol)each breeding.Dont get me started with double/triple/multi morph production because simply put each trait added HAS to be inbred that many generations MINIMALLY.Granted,a single outcross is needed to produce double/triple/multihets but from there their genes can sweep through collections completely anonymous until they finally do poke their head up.Maybe its not today,likely its not a kinking problem....but it should and likely will happen.WHY on earth would any responsible keeper knowingly weaken the very line of animals they are working on?? $$ doesnt seem a good enough reason to me.Besides,any economist knows that the price will stay higher longer with fewer morphs being produced....but most are afraid that someone else will beat them to it and take that market share away.
We do have many things in common here,not the least being that we are into these types of animals TO BE DIFFERENT from "normal" people in the first place!! LOL. There will never be any kind of consensus on any issue here because of this,I have come to accept this.The most we can do is share knowledge,drown in our beer together,celebrate the individual accomplishments done for some other reason than the almighty $$and attempt to inspire what TRUTHS we have learned to the next generation of breeders/keepers.
These TRUTHS may never be found,I for one hope they dont.While they may lead to more good questions that will also likely signal a further changing of the guard here again.I have met many good people,getting to know them better through educational discussions.I hope those that read my followups take the time to understand what is behind the product,I do....Jeff
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