I applaud you for sticking with the species you love. I know what you mean about non-profit. I work with some very under-appreciated species too.

But I do like to find locale animals that correspond to my tastes. I'm interested in seeing a situla that runs to less melanin. An amelanistic would not appeal to me but I feel that hypomelanistic strains tend to remain attractive later on in life.

Because of the problem of inbreeding, in general, I try to find a locale that tends to correspond to the appearance I'm looking for. For instance, if I wanted a gray ratsnake with a lighter ground color I would be better off starting with animals from the area where "white oak" grays were prevalent. That way I don't have to line breed for the trait I'm interested in. Of course selection would still be key to maximizing the trait. But that's only reasonable. Of course this is assuming that you can start with enough unrelated stock initially. Otherwise inbreeding will get you sooner or later.

Søe, what was your favorite herp event this year? Mine was receiving a pair of vietnamese mandarins in October.

Regards
John








>>Zamenis situla or the leopard snake isn`t so rare in captivity. I know of many breeders, but still they only produce a few eggs at most (not like a friend that had 11 babies in a single clutch) Hardy ongoing breeders are on the other hand VERY hard to find, and if you are looking for locality forms, you better look hard and long.
>>They are out there, but since I started with situla, I did find that it is a non profit animal, and "noone" sticks to them for generations. I have bred them in 3 populations ( 1 not perfectly due to inbreeding and I needed to breed in a nearbye locality)and I have done that for 14 generations maybe even 15. I have stopped counting. I have bred them since 1981 and will do it, to the day I die. In the beginning I fed the babies up to maturity in no time, but I didn`t have any good results from that. Now nature takes its time, and I breed them in their 4`th year. They get so much older and far more healthier that way.
>>The american way of producing various sorts of color morphs, isn`t my way. I had them among the babies a few times, but that isn`t my kind of breeding.
>>
>>Best wishes
>>Søe

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