Hybrid pythons

[zina10]

My point wasn't about hybrids created by breeding different localities of the same species. Those are still related and have much of the same needs. That can "simply" muddy up the genetics until you cannot be sure of locality anymore. Some people are bothered by that, others are not.

Then there are hybrids that aren't by the same species, but from the same general locality. They have similar needs, because they live in similar climates. They do occur in nature, but extremely rarely.

"Hybrid vigor" doesn't actually apply to breeding snakes. Dogs come from wolves. Yet look at certain breeds such as the english bulldog. Severely compromised breathing due to the smooshed face. The giant breeds have a lowered life expectancy. The tiny breeds have other problems. The folded over ears that are prone to ear infections (no wild species of dogs or wolves have floppy ears). You get my point, in order to create the different dog breeds and the extremes we like, we have created some with health issues that are genetic. Same for cats. Even horses. Most modern Thoroughbreds have terrible hooves. Bones that have gotten to light (for speed). Quarterhorses with upright pastern for looks but not function. And so on and on. So hybrid vigor comes into play when you take those breeds with very specific and overbred traits and cross them with others. By doing that you sometimes get "mixes" that do not have the problems their individual parents have. Doesn't always work that way, though, but the more "mixed" the mix, the less of the extremes the parents might display.

We haven't created wildly varying breeds of snakes. Yet. However, there is a good amount of "inbreeding" to get the color mutations we like. Some suffer health consequences because of that. But ...you don't have to breed hybrids to make healthy snakes, you can just avoid "morphs" if you worry about genetic defects due to inbreeding.

My point is, if you breed 2 snakes from completely different areas of the world, that have different husbandry needs, you do not create a "healthier" snake.

You create something "different", something that wouldn't be found in nature. That appeals to some people and I understand that.

The OP asked for opinions. And this is just "mine". I respect that others may disagree