Responsible breeders, culling, and overall health (long read and questions)

[Serpent_Nirvana]

I won't touch the more discussed issues here, but will add that although I don't think that poor morph examples should be removed from breeding pools, I do think they should be discounted price-wise from breeders. That way they'd be setting a clear precedent as to the quality of animals they feel would make the best breeders. The not-so-hot snakes could still be sold as breeders, but the individuals buying them would most likely be hobbyists who are more interested in the actual breeding than they are with producing mind blowing animals. This would make certain morphs and combinations more obtainable to those who can't afford huge price tags, and might at least make reflecting quality in price more of a standard in the industry. Inevitably this would create two different niches in the industry, but would alienate less people in my opinion; there's nothing wrong with breeding just for the fun of it! This is probably unrealistic however, haha, as people seem partial to their own animals, and sometimes have trouble keeping a clear head about the quality of animals they're producing. Not all snakes are created equal, and price should really reflect that more than it does currently.

Cheers,
-Matt

I do think we're starting to see this more and more. I've noticed that many (if not most) big breeders, even many small-time breeders, absolutely DO price different individuals of the same morph differently based on quality. I think that pastels and bees get priced this way the most often, but I've seen it for other morphs as well.

I think it's only natural, if only from a supply-and-demand perspective!

IMO, I think we as BP breeders don't use the word "pet" often enough! I don't think there's anything at all wrong with marketing those animals that are lower-quality in terms their appearance more towards the pet market than the breeder market. (Though of course, in our industry those lines are perhaps MUCH more blurred than for other species ...)

For this species, I think there's still a large enough pet demand (which is currently being filled largely by CH/import animals) that I would agree that low-quality (appearance) animals don't "need" to be removed from the gene pool. However, for those whose goal is to improve the overall quality of the gene pool of that morph, it does make sense to suggest these animals more strongly as pets than as breeders ... At least, it does to me. That said, I certainly won't fault anyone who is breeding BPs just for the fun of it, as long as they're healthy, well-adjusted specimens!