Aggression in high end morph babies?

[bigballs]

aggressive behaviour is not defensive behaviour in every single case as there are differences in behaviour between balls that clearly have a tendency for one or the other or a combo of both, misnomers or not.

The ones I'm wanting to cull from my collection are hissy striking adults that come from lines where I've seen a strong tendency for aggression/defensiveness to be passed from generation to generation and for the hissy striking babies not to grow out of it.

i see what you are saying and trying to do but i feel that there is also a perceived degree of aggression/defensiveness determined by the keeper and that some may not mind working with the animals that you may find aggressive/defensive.

i think its interesting though that you are working with the behavioural aspect of these animals and im not trying to argue that but feel that culling these animals may not be necessary.

[RandyRemington]

i see what you are saying and trying to do but i feel that there is also a perceived degree of aggression/defensiveness determined by the keeper and that some may not mind working with the animals that you may find aggressive/defensive.

i think its interesting though that you are working with the behavioural aspect of these animals and im not trying to argue that but feel that culling these animals may not be necessary.

That was actually one of my points; that many breeders don't care about temperment or maybe even value and select for agressive temperment. As I don't have high end morphs most of my babies go to pet stores or pet keepers and both tend to value the "normal" docile ball python personality. I also personally don't enjoy cleaning cages for adult females that strike several times every cleaning.

But I accept that everyone isn't going to agree on what to selectivly breed for in ball pythons, I mainly wanted to point out that I've seen strong evidence for agressive genetics on the nature vs. nurture discussion. Given that I personally want to select for docile ball pythons in my collection I believe that not breeding agressive adults will be a significant step toward that goal.

[rabernet]

But I accept that everyone isn't going to agree on what to selectivly breed for in ball pythons, I mainly wanted to point out that I've seen strong evidence for agressive genetics on the nature vs. nurture discussion. Given that I personally want to select for docile ball pythons in my collection I believe that not breeding agressive adults will be a significant step toward that goal.

What's interesting to me, however - is that my most aggressive/defensive hatchlings right now, came from my most docile pair.

However, as they are gaining weight, and I am handling them each time I go in to refresh water or change their tubs and working with them, they are becoming less aggressive/defensive.

[WingedWolfPsion]

I don't think it's fair to judge a hatchling's temperament until it's at least 4 months old. They change too much in that time frame.