You must keep in mind that the genus is just something that has been given to the animal. It really is only one insight as to whether or not breeding is possible. I think a good example to show this would be trying to breed a corn snake, Elaphe guttata, to a king rat, Elaphe carinata. I don't think it has been done, though one might think they are closely related. Fast forward to the present, and you now have the corn snake changed to Pantherophis guttata. It's still a corn snake, but evidence suggests that we were wrong to put it in the same genus as the asian rat snakes. Taxonomy is always a work in progress.

Nevertheless, other things affect the production of hybrids. Even if two animals are closely related, if they are unattracted to each other (would you have sex with a chimpanzee?), then you'll have problems making the hybrid. Of course some persistent keepers have successfully tried "bait and switch" techniques, or other methods to trick their charges.
Further, some animals are physically incompatable. Hemipenile shape is a large part towards successfull copulation. This can vary greatly among species.

I'm pretty certain that most potential hybrid mixes have not been produced simply because it's more work than it's worth. Why have a mutt when the real deal is so readily available?

Ian

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