Grow Faster, Breed Sooner? (NOT POWER FEEDING)

[Bogertophis]

While I don't personally enjoy breeding snakes commercially to sell, I don't see anything wrong with those who do so ethically. After all, don't we all love to have good breeders to source c/b pets from? Breeding snakes is a lot of work & an investment of time and money- with all the potential losses that farmers face, & while there are some who don't care about their animals as we'd hope, I think they're in the minority & it doesn't sound to me as if Mike Wilbanks is among them.

I don't think this bit of research truly crossed any lines, ethically speaking. I can remember hearing about some guy who was trying to breed & sell snakes that just couldn't be bothered to give the snakes water bowls ("so they wouldn't spill water & mess up the cages"!), much less any other quality of life (like cleanliness). The snake-equivalent of a "puppy mill". I do have a huge problem with that. But not this, not as this was explained.

[Hugsplox]

I don't think this bit of research truly crossed any lines, ethically speaking. I can remember hearing about some guy who was trying to breed & sell snakes that just couldn't be bothered to give the snakes water bowls ("so they wouldn't spill water & mess up the cages"!), much less any other quality of life (like cleanliness). The snake-equivalent of a "puppy mill". I do have a huge problem with that. But not this, not as this was explained.

I agree. I've followed Mike enough to know how passionate he is about the species, but he's also running a business. I don't think his intentions, and they're his intentions I have no clue I'm just speaking as an observer, but I don't think his intentions with this was to create a "BP mill" and try to turn and burn breeders just to get to the next best thing. I have zero interest in breeding, but if I can breed a species ethically, in a manner that causes no harm to the animals, AND on top of the enjoyment I get from it as a hobbyist, I can make a little money, I don't see an issue. I don't agree with power feeding but I don't think that this is power feeding.

The big issue I think people are taking with this, although I don't think Mike did anything wrong, is what's the benefit of doing this IF NOT to breed them faster. I mean that's the topic of his whole post. Again I trust him, I think he's doing things ethically and safety, but short of having that male of breeding size in a few months, why do this? I think it's hard as a big breeder to enjoy what you do, and enjoy and be passionate about the species on one hand, but on the other this is your livelihood, so you have to find ways to improve and at times speed the process up. I DO NOT believe by any means that this should be done at the risk of harming the animal, but he's not forcing any of his snakes to eat at this pace so, I don't know that it hurts anything. Again, if he could tell me that there are no long term health effects of doing this, I think I'd feel better, but short of that all I can do is trust that he's doing right by his animals.

Also as a side note, I just want to say that I'm aware that we're all very passionate about our animals and that we can at times get a little hot over topics like this. That being said, nothing I say in this post, or any post I ever make, is meant to be a shot at anyone or an attempt by me to prove anyone wrong or start an argument. I love a little friendly debate and hope that you all know that I have the upmost respect for you all.