Hi everyone. This is my first post on this site.

Does anyone know the exact meaning of "domesticated" in the context of animal breeding?

I've been wondering this for a while, having encountered a number of sources claiming, or seeming to imply, that the Ball Python (and in some cases _Morelia viridis_ (the Green Tree Python) and other snake species) have been bred in captivity to such an extent that they have become almost domesticated (or "semi-domesticated," or something to that effect). The sources all seemed to assume the reader was already familiar with the definition of "domesticated," though, which invariably led me to some confusion. (Some of theses sources were clearly more — or less — reliable than others.) One particular subject of my uncertainty is whether breeding for traits such as funky colour morphs, dwarfism/gigantism, etc. (which seems to be the chief, indeed perhaps only, purpose of captive breeding among pythons and boas) really counts as "domestication." There seems to be little emphasis on breeding pythons for intelligence, increased toleration of humans, etc.

Examples of animals that are widely accepted as domesticated include dogs, cats, horses, camels, sheep, goats, mules, sheep, cattle, and pigs. The popularity of keeping wild animals (including snakes and lizards) as pets is probably too recent a phenomenon for captive breeding to have produced truly domesticated forms yet, although it is possible that the "DNA revolution" and resulting advances in genetic engineering may have sped up the process considerably. OTOH, the extensive black markets in wild-caught exotic animals, including snakes, may prevent captive breeding from having as much of an effect on pet and other captive populations as it might otherwise.

The earliest known domesticated animal, dating to prehistoric times, is the dog, probably originally bred (primarily, anyhow) from the Eurasian Grey Wolf. Dogs were most likely first bred for the purpose of helping hunter-gatherer humans in their efforts at hunting: they were first domesticated c. 15,000 years ago or more, so the earliest breeders of dogs would have been hunter-gatherers, not yet having developed agriculture (which led to the breeding of livestock animals).

It is true that reptiles and other non-mammals have been domesticated. The best known examples are (in the livestock and other agricultural uses category) chickens, turkeys, and honeybees, and (in the pet category) goldfish and . I don't know of any examples of non-avian domesticated reptiles.

I hope this proves a subject of interest, and TIA to anyone who can answer my question!

-polonga