Ethical Dilemmas

Hey y'all! I am working on my paper for my ethics class and I wanted to get some input from breeders. The paper essentially is about analyzing two ethical dilemmas facing a profession I am either in or a profession in which I wish to practice. So I decided to address the paper from a large scale breeder's perspective. Now here is the question... what do you as breeders feel are the two biggest ethical dilemmas in ball python breeding right now? A couple that came to my mind were breeding the desert morph or the spider morph. What dilemmas come to your mind?

Please note I in no way want this to turn into a debate at all. I am simply curious as to what other dilemmas people have seen discussed in the ball python breeding industry. Whether you agree with the dilemma, disagree, or impartial. I don't want any fighting! Thanks guys. :)

Only dilemmas I can think of is feeding live vs prekilled


and what do do with dying babies or babies born with bad defects.

There is nothing wrong with breeding spiders...as for desert... That's a good question

I think another dilemma, maybe not ethical, would be the less hands on you get to be. You don't get to handle each animal that comes out.


Browsing on Tapatalk from my iPhone :)

Here's a couple that I have seen debated. Most people were consider committing the following acts as "crimes against the industry", but I think they can still be addressed:

- Selling desert females as breedable/proven breeders
- Selling/shipping a snake that is injured, sick, has mites, etc.
- Selling a snake that was told was eating ____ but in reality he snake doesn't eat that food type or eat at all (this happened to me. I was sold a corn snake that had supposedly eaten several times. Unfortunately, she did not have the ability to digest [says the vet] so there was no way she could have eaten several times)
- Selling snakes with kinks without disclosing that information
- Not holding up your end of a breeding trade or any trade in general
- Overcharging for an animal who has any of the above issues
- Not packaging the shipping box in a way that is safe for the snake

Those are just to name a few.

Ethical dilemmas...

How about the responsibility for each animal you produce...
The act of selling a animal by misrepresenting the genetics...(hets)
"Flipping" snakes with or without holding them for quarantine...
Selling animals to a buyer who is not ready for them... (both animals like hots to inexperienced, and selling a pet to someone without information on proper husbandry)
Importing species commonly bred already vs importing any species at all...
Selling "dinkers"...
Selling wholesale vs selling only to individuals...
Feeding, both live feeding and simply feeding(vegans would have issue with using any animal for food, including for pet food, especially when it's used whole and obvious)

I'm not necessarily opposed to any/all of the above topics, and do not imply in any way that any/all are bad or good. I'm only suggesting issues that have been debated in the reptile world or outside the reptile world.

Thank you guys for all the help so far. These are all really great topics. :)

I do see somewhat of a problem with spiders and others with a wobble because it appears to be a neurological disorder, other than that I'm glad you asked this so I can get some insight into potential problems to keep my eyes open for!

I can't believe no one has included the idea of arguing the ethics behind breeding multiple species together. Like the Burmese-Ball Python or the Super Ball Python(Ball X Blood). Some are saying this will "Muddy" the genes with both species. Also I've heard mentions of Green Tree and Ball Python breeding. I myself don't discourage this practice as long as responsible efforts are made to not sully the trade. And for original genes to no longer be unidentifiable.

Oh, hybrid breeding is a very good one! And especially for the reason that you mention, mixed genes in an animal that you may not be able to ID as a hybrid, then it could be used as a "pure bred" in a breeding program and muddy the genes irrevocably.

Hmm all of the ones I've seen so far have been good but not allot of them are what I see as fitting "ethic's problems" as you probably know Ethics are defined as "being in accordance with the rules or standards for right conduct or practice, especially the standards of a profession" See that has been the big problem with this hobby/industry there are no standards set by a governing entity other than the laws regarding proper animal care and abuse. So to me one of the biggest dilemmas facing breeders is that there are no industry standards for ethics regarding anything from customer disclosures to animal care requirements. As such the standards are set by the customers personal desire to except or not except a breeders practices, This means that the ethics of the business are as varied as the people that patronize the breeders.