Hybrid talk

[Hypancistrus]

The problem for me is not the hybrid as much as it is the ethic of breeding hybrids.

Imagine 3, 5, 10 generations from now when someone buys a BP, Carpet etc or so they thought but the animal is just the result of several generation of hybridization and is not pure, that to me is where the issue lies and we have already seen that issue in Colubrids.

The only issue I see with hybrids is what everyone else has pointed out, transparency with the breeder so the customer knows what they are actually getting.

The biggest problem I see with hybrids is that even when the ORIGINAL breeder is as transparent and honest as possible... with how often reptiles are swapped, that honestly and lineage may be accidentally or purposefully lost in subsequent buyers, which then muddies the gene pool considerably. If you consider herp keeping as "just a hobby," it seems like not as big a deal... but if you consider it to be a repository of genetics that might someday become useful should the animal become threatened or endangered, it becomes a very serious issue indeed.

So while I have kept and do keep hybrids (a jungle corn and a creamsicle corn), I'm not certain that it's a good thing for the hobby to be engaging in.