Posted by:
FR
at Sun Jan 30 19:23:26 2005 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by FR ]
A couple of thoughts for you, First, 3 generations is nothing and will not change anything. Second, They are not adapting to captivity, at this time, we are adapting to them. If we do not supply what they need, they die. They do not change and adapt.
Lets use an example. If only 5% of our hatchlings would eat pinkies and crickets, and the rest died. Then inbreeding and selecting the pinkie /cricket feeders over many many generations would indeed cause change. But thats not whats happening.
The first things to change is, losing their fear of us and not getting as stressed living in our marginal conditions.
Also, I believe, you cannot take adult individuals from one area in nature, and move them a long distance. They too will have a very high death rate.
There are many many, relocation and translocation studies being done or recently been done. As it turns out, most commonly relocated reptiles like tortosises, gilas, gophersnakes, rattlesnakes, etc. cannot be moved far and survive. I am sure monitors have a greater distance then snakes, with gilas and torts being somewhere in the middle. But indeed, they will have a set distance in which they can be moved.
Adult reptiles, depend on both genetic abilities and learned information that is within their genetic range, to survive. The basics such as, where to go with temperature extremes, where do go in different seasons, where and how to avoid predators within all the different areas.
So back to your original question, and my original answer, first you can only consider hatchlings, and most captive and wild hatchlings will die very quickly. Thats how it works. FR
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RE: Thanks Frank, your opinion please - FR, Sun Jan 30 19:23:26 2005