Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Is anyone breeding any hybrids? I love my male eastern, but haven't found a suitable female yet. I am so tempted to buy a single alpine blotched blue tongue and breed it to the eastern. Or if anyone would kindly donate a pair of western's to me I wouldn't have to hybradize! Or a pair of shinglebacks, keep the dream alive.

Ken

Why would you cross an Alpine Blotched with your skink???

I would only do it if I had one Alpine, the whole reason behind that being cost. At $1500 a pop for them it gets pricey.

Thats a pretty irresponsible thought. Most people are very against hybridizing blueys because eventually they get sold as something else and thats when get the people askin what kind they have and we have no idea. You should do it just out of conveiniance for you.
-----
1.0 Indonesian Blue Tongue Skink (Don)
0.1 Irian Jaya Blue Tongue Skink (Sausage Girl)
0.0.1 Tanimbar Island Blue Tongue Skink ( Spunky Sebastian)
0.0.1 Ornate Uro (Spike)
1.0.1 Green Tree Pythons ( Male=Floyd, Baby= Verdi)
0.1 Western Hognose (Piggy)
0.0.1 Egyptian Tortiose(Tank)
0.0.1 Sonoran Gopher snake ( Toro)
0.1 Albino Leo gecko (Sasha)

Well I have to disagree, I have yet to see any hybridized BTS. And like I said it was just a thought. Seeing on how the BTS is such a small market with only five species readily available, I don't see how someone wouldn't be able to tell an animal was a hybrid. I dont see why a breeder would even try to pass off a hybridized BTS as anything else, unless they were irresponsible or a thief. Also it would increase vigor in the offspring. How many different bloodlines of Northerns and Easterns are there in the country? The gene pool here in the states has to be pretty small. Hybrids can be beautiful as well, like the sunglow albino boa.

And I've never seen a wildcaught Pug before.

You've never senn a hybrid before? Maybe you have and didnt know it. When bred with anything else an Irian Jaya babies almost always look juist like Irian jayas. How could a breeder pass it off? Look at the classifieds and see how many bluey ads actually mention species. And look at your reasoning, cause its too expensive? thats ridiculous.

Quote from ZAch at Bluetongueskinks.net:

A note about hybrids...
(A hybrid is an offspring of two animals of different species. I.e the offspring of a Blotched and an Eastern)
Plainly put, we are against the cross breeding of any blue tongue skink. Crossing the species does nothing except put hybrids out onto the market, and there is absolutely NO POINT. People who breed hybrids and sell them, or even give them away have absolutely no control over where they end up in the long run. The easily forgotten fact that they are hybrids will probably also not be retained, and they will be sold as a Blotched, or an Eastern, or whatever... when they are in fact mixed. But who knows for sure once the blue tongue is shipped around? It looks like an Eastern doesn't it? Or a Blotched? There will be no way to tell for sure. Once the animals get changed hands one too many times, the fact that they're hybrids fizzles away. Plus, when you make hybrids, what do you have? It's not an Eastern, it's not a Northern; it's a mutt. And when you sell it or give it away, and that person breeds it (even if they say they aren't going to), it just starts a whole chain reaction of mixed animals. Many individuals maintain the excuse: "The babies are pretty", but there is no valid reason to mix up the species.

While some hybridization does occur naturally in the wild, it is not near enough to endanger or contaminate a species. In their natural environment, the ratio of hybridization is something like 1% of total wild populations.

Inbreeding
(To breed by the continued mating of closely related individuals, especially to preserve desirable traits in a stock)

Believe it or not, inbreeding is not necessarily harmful or damaging. Besides the idea of it seeming morally wrong, breeding offspring back to its parents is not detrimental to its health unless it's done over many multiple generations.
-----
1.0 Indonesian Blue Tongue Skink (Don)
0.1 Irian Jaya Blue Tongue Skink (Sausage Girl)
0.0.1 Tanimbar Island Blue Tongue Skink ( Spunky Sebastian)
0.0.1 Ornate Uro (Spike)
1.0.1 Green Tree Pythons ( Male=Floyd, Baby= Verdi)
0.1 Western Hognose (Piggy)
0.0.1 Egyptian Tortiose(Tank)
0.0.1 Sonoran Gopher snake ( Toro)
0.1 Albino Leo gecko (Sasha)

Part of my reasoning was expense, why is that ridiculous? You don't think $1500 for a blotched blue tongue and $3000 and up for shinglebacks is expensive?

Ken

No I think its ridiculous that you would hybridize just because you dont wanna pay for an animal that is the same species.
-----
1.0 Indonesian Blue Tongue Skink (Don)
0.1 Irian Jaya Blue Tongue Skink (Sausage Girl)
0.0.1 Tanimbar Island Blue Tongue Skink ( Spunky Sebastian)
0.0.1 Ornate Uro (Spike)
1.0.1 Green Tree Pythons ( Male=Floyd, Baby= Verdi)
0.1 Western Hognose (Piggy)
0.0.1 Egyptian Tortiose(Tank)
0.0.1 Sonoran Gopher snake ( Toro)
0.1 Albino Leo gecko (Sasha)

You mean subspecies. All blue tongues are the same species.

Actually that's not entirely correct, they are all Tiliqua. It's late! Well since this all conjecture at this point since I don't have $1500 for a single alpine I'll drop the thread. I am planning on picking more easterns and a group of northerns though. No hybrids for the forseeable future. Good night.

Ken