Quote Originally Posted by zackw419 View Post
So are morphs, to a certain extent, its definitely not natural and is done by man for looks. Personally I think the most beautiful ball python is a NORMAL ball python. But I do like the looks of alot of morphs.
Quote Originally Posted by Slim View Post
Here's where I draw my personal line in the sand; BP morphs, while not naturally occuring, are products of the same species of snake. Hybrids are not, and that's why I think they are abominations...at least I stopped short of saying they should all be thrown in the freezer or shot in the head like zombies....oh wait, I guess I didn't stop short
Morphs are natural occurances in nature. A lot of people seem to be under the impression that some genetics engineer created these mutation in an underground lab in New Mexico.
Every base mutation keepers breed for, and even some combos and homozygous co-doms were originally found in the wild.
Plus, every one of them is the same species, sub species and locality. While some of them might not survive long in the wild, a lot of them would likely thrive in the wild, and some even more so than normal, wild type balls. Some morphs have colors and patterns that would make them better camoflauged in the wild, and some have feeding responses that seem to trump normals. While we are heavily involved in producing greater numbers of each mutation, I don't think they can be put anywhere near the same catagory as hybrids, or even intergrates.