Thoughts on culling...when and/or when not to?

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Originally Posted by RobNJ

There's no money in culling, so I fail to see the argument...but I'd say that there are plenty of people who wouldn't think twice about pairing a space cadet spider to a kinked caramel with their primary focus being on the money that can be made.

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That is my argument, if you feel the animal isn't healthy enough to sell is it really healthy enough to live. So by culling you do right by the animal and by selling you do what is right by your wallet.

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Originally Posted by ChrisS

That is my argument, if you feel the animal isn't healthy enough to sell is it really healthy enough to live. So by culling you do right by the animal and by selling you do what is right by your wallet.

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x2 thats what i meant. I didnt mean that if i dont think i can make money off of it then i cull it...

It depends on a number of things.

For example, I have an amazing normal female who was born eyeless. She is otherwise completely healthy and normal, and I was grateful to adopt her. She will never be bred, even though she is gorgeous.

On the other hand, I did have an import hatchling that despite repeated feeding attempts and force feeding efforts, she would not eat on her own. After 9 months of effort on my part, she still weighed only 55 grams. Eventually, I had to admit defeat, I simply could not help her, and I culled her. I still do not regret it, she would never have survived without constant force feeding, and that was hard on us both.

So, it depends on the individual situation.

Gale

There was a local breeder I walked away from.
He talked about how hard it was to move normals and how he needed his limited space for snakes that he could sell, so when his eggs hatch out, he culls off any normals.

I ended up just walking away, I wasn't going to give this guy my business.

I have also been curious how common this is.

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Originally Posted by Maixx

There was a local breeder I walked away from.
He talked about how hard it was to move normals and how he needed his limited space for snakes that he could sell, so when his eggs hatch out, he culls off any normals.

I ended up just walking away, I wasn't going to give this guy my business.

I have also been curious how common this is.

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Shows poor foresight on the part of the breeder, I wouldn't buy from such an irresponsible person either.. Who would cull perfectly good normals? If you don't want to take the time to find them individual homes wholesaling them out or donating to local pet shops both seem like valid options to me. It honestly sounds like the person was trying to show off and failed miserably while losing a potential customer.

Normals are just as good as anything else in my eyes. Have a ton of normals and 3-5 gene males and bang you are producing a few different morphs still. I tend to keep all the female normals and sell the males. I will only cull an animal if its 100 percent necessary.

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Originally Posted by angllady2

For example, I have an amazing normal female who was born eyeless. She is otherwise completely healthy and normal, and I was grateful to adopt her. She will never be bred, even though she is gorgeous.
Gale

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Im not questioning your choice but why not breed her? I mean bps dont have the best eyesite anyways and its not like they need to really see to breed. Is it bc youre afraid it might be genetic or something?

This has been a really interesting topic, and while preparing my rack setup that i plan to house future adults in for breeding my mind stumbled across this. Like john1982 who said

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If you don't want to take the time to find them individual homes wholesaling them out or donating to local pet shops both seem like valid options to me.

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I strongly agree with this option and it was one for the first things that came to my mind!

Personally, i am attracted to very bright snakes in which have lots of color. Its not to say that i don't like the other morphs its more that i have a preference towards something else.

With that said however if i were to ever hatch a normal in my future breading (given its a female) i would keep it with out thinking twice. WHY?, again i currently only have one snake 0.1.0 Pastel which i hope to breed with a 1.0.0 bumble bee. So i would be looking to keep anything that i don't already have.

Snakes which become duplicates in my collection will be sold off, and if no buyers can be found they will be donated [to a home that i know they will strive in]/

I am not a breeder, and have no plans to ever become one, but I can certainly understand why culling can be necessary at times. Animals with deformities that affect their ability to thrive should be culled.

Breeders who cull Normals due to lack of "storage space" show poor judgment and lack of foresight.

Culling is and should only be done in a management scenario. For example over populations of wildlife. I manage 4 big tracts of land along with a few small parcels for deer management and hunting. I work with the states dmap program and recieve management tags to cull the herds. I take out selective does and genetically inferior bucks out of the herd. This allows me to control the gene pool and sex ratios to prevent a number of things such as over population and quality of the deer. Now as far as an aninal we keep and breed for hobby or pleasure such as snakes or dogs or cats culling is absolutely absurd. We choose to breed these animals. If we are not able to handle the number of babies we expect to produce then we shouldnt be producing them plain and simple.