Why the heck do people keep breeding spider morphs?

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Originally Posted by m1lkhoney

Thank you so much for all the replies! I would love to breed on a small scale (but not for YEARS, when I know much more) and was hesitant about any animal with spider in it. But for now I'd just like a pet, and who knows. The wobble might even be endearing. I certainly have some odd traits myself. ;)

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Erin check this out. Here are some "issues" with other morphs as well. http://owalreptiles.com/issues.php

Wpow, that's fascinating. Thanks.

I think my cinny lesser guy has a slight duckbill.

Not all spiders exhibit "weird behaviors " either. My spider girl has no wobble, and so far none of her spider gene offspring have shown any issues either.

Your statements would almost be like telling someone with a disability that they shouldn't have kids because they might be "defective". I have a daughter with Muscular Dystrophy, she's FAR from "defective"!

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Originally Posted by tat2d1

Not all spiders exhibit "weird behaviors " either. My spider girl has no wobble, and so far none of her spider gene offspring have shown any issues either.

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They ALL DO to a degree if you know what to look for it can be mild and hardly noticeable but they ALL DO, anyone saying any different, is either not paying attention, not knowing what to look for, or using this as a sales tactic and lying.

^^^ What Deborah said plus you can have a situation where you never notice anything or have mild symptoms then suddenly the animal displays extreme symptoms. Just this weekend one of my boys that hasn't done anything extreme in months went totally wonkers on feeding day.

Spiders have what is likely a neurological disorder and I personally will not breed this gene because of it. I agree that the gene is very attractive, but that is not enough for me. If I have to justify its quality of life than I have no interest. This is especially true in animals that it is hard to judge how well they are. Just because an animal attains the basics for life such as breeding, eating, and of course not dying, is it truly living a good life? I am not here to tell people what they should breed, but I definitely think it is ok to think twice about breeding certain traits even if they are well established in the hobby.

Also to the human comparison, I think one of our biggest problems is not being able to look at producing children logically. I agree no one should be able to tell you you shouldn't breed, but I hope as our species moves forward we will be able to self regulate our own breeding for the good of the many. My wife is possibly a carrier for a rare blood disorder, and if there was a chance I was also a carrier than we would just not have children. I hold a similar stance will ball pythons.

Unfortunately due to the fact that we cannot communicate with these creatures the only way to tell that they have a good "quality of life" is by how they thrive. Bp's are notorious for not eating, having poor shed and getting sick when stressed. Knowing this would lead me to believe that if your snake eats well, sheds well and is not sick, it's quality of life is good. Anything beyond that is assumption based on nothing more than personal bias and based on nothing scientific nor factual. But everyone is entitled to their opinion.

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Originally Posted by enginee837

Unfortunately due to the fact that we cannot communicate with these creatures the only way to tell that they have a good "quality of life" is by how they thrive. Bp's are notorious for not eating, having poor shed and getting sick when stressed. Knowing this would lead me to believe that if your snake eats well, sheds well and is not sick, it's quality of life is good. Anything beyond that is assumption based on nothing more than personal bias and based on nothing scientific nor factual. But everyone is entitled to their opinion.

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I totally agree that is hard to judge how well they are, and I am certainly not saying I am more adept at it than others. My point is that I refuse to justify a neurological condition if it is already hard enough to judge the well being of a normal animal. For me spider is out.

Kind of a complicated ethical dilemma. I see it with people who are trying to preserve "heirloom breeds" of livestock. There are pigs whose ears cover their eyes. Pigs whose fat folds cover their eyes. Pigs with such tiny legs and fat bodies they can barely walk. Chickens who can't function as chickens because of breed traits. But some people want to preserve those breeds. I don't believe that just because a breed (or morph) exists, that means it needs to be preserved and continued.

And if a human has a genetic/hereditary disorder, it would be the responsible course of action to consult with a genetic counselor before deciding to make their own babies. Not that anyoen should force them to do so. But I would hope they'd want to.

But if that genetic disorder doesn't severely impact quality-of-life, meh. Do whatever you want.