Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Is there/should there be a pedigree program? If I purchase a snake from vendor/breeded A, how can I guarantee it is from A stock and not just a trade in from hobbiest B that picked it up from petstore C. Not to name drop or start anything but soley for argument sake: A normal ball from Bob Clark may be worth $150. A normal ball from Petco is worth(IMO) $35. If "A" says it's a Bob Clark and it came from Petco...Well, do the math.
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Quitters never win, winners never quit, but those who never win and never quit are idiots

BTW I love your little signature quote

I think it would be awesome if we could put together a pedigree program for BPs... but I think that we are probably many years away from that.

Apparently there is something of a pedigree program for corn snakes, so maybe when BPs have been messed with for as long as corns someone will put one together.

Until that happens, the best thing you can do as a consumer is a lot of homework. Some breeders take a lot of pride in giving you as much information as they themselves have on the origins of their breeding stock, the parents of the offspring they hope to sell you. Those guys give me much more of a 'warm and fuzzy' feeling when I do business with them... but that's also because I like to try to avoid a lot of the inbreeding trends that are SO common in the reptile trade in general. Other people are either blissfully unaware of that, or are not worried by it.

If you are likewise concerned about inbreeding, then make an effort to purchase unrelated pairs for your own breeding projects, and to ask breeders about the relationship between the parent animals of any offspring you consider purchasing. Some breeders may have developed a knee-jerk answer of "they're not related," so just be subtle and friendly and ask about their business and what lines they're working with (how many females they like to hold back, etc).

It's a buyer beware, but I would be lying if I didn't also admit that that is just a little part of the shopping thrill.

~Rebecca
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0.1 Dumeril's Boa '04 (Courtney)
1.2 Ball Pythons
[1.0 '05 Orange Hypo (Specter)]
[0.1 '05 Het Orange Hypo (Sylvia)]
[0.1 '03 Normal (Sue)]
0.2 American Pit Bull Terriers (40lb darling lap dogs:Brandy&Mara)

www.herpregistry.com. There is a cornsnake registry and some for geckos too. I think the owners are looking for other species enthusiasts who want to set up additonal registries. So talk to them if you are interested in furthering this idea.
Cornsnake registration site

That is pretty much it. Thanks. I suggest everyone checking out the site. If not for a Ball Python registry then just as an example of keeping track.

Thanks again.
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Quitters never win, winners never quit, but those who never win and never quit are idiots

Here is a program for any species.
Lineage 1.0 by Cornell Univ.