Doug,
I agree with you. In fact, one of the most maddening things in keeping Drymarchon is trying to find a good, pure Blacktail or Unicolor. They apparently intergrade widely in the wild so most of the imports are intergrades and there has been little effort in captive collections to keep them separate and pure. That is a shame. Either subspecies unto it's own is a beautiful specimen, both are much preferable to an intergrade. As you said, the intergrades make great pets, but I don't necessarily think that they should be intentionally crossed incaptivity. That being said, to me at least, this cross being produced in captivity doesn't seem to be quite as bad as crossing subspecies that never intergrade in the wild.
D.c.melanurus and D.c.unicolor are still separate subspecies, no matter what anyone says, and will remain so until sufficient DNA data shows that they are not distinct enough to be considered separate subspecies. At that point, they would be relegated to the status different color morphs of the same subspecies. I have my doubts that will happen. I have the utmost respect for Chuck Elliot and his expertise and knowledge in the husbandry and breeding of Drymarchon (he is one of the best), but I sincerely doubt that the "studies" mentioned in the earlier post included enough field work and DNA analysis to come to a scientifically sound conclusion that the two subspecies are one and the same.
I do not condone and would not ever encourage the crossing in captivity of any two subspecies, species, or genera. That, however, is just my opinion. It is something that I have never done and never will, but it isn't illegal. And, I think that there are varying degrees of "wrongness" attached to the practice depending on whether or not natural intergrade occur, and depending upon how the offspring are represented.
As far as the differences between hybrids and intergrades, that shouldn't take a whole 'nuther thread. As you said, it's not a difficult concept.
