Grow Faster, Breed Sooner? (NOT POWER FEEDING)

[Hugsplox]

I think everyone has made some really solid points and I'm glad we're all being respectful and friendly discussing this, as that's clearly not quite the way the Morphmarket post went.

I don't think anyone here or on the Morphmarket forums, including the breeder, are trying to claim that this was started with the snake's best interest in mind. Mike hasn't shown me a "pro" other than getting his males to breeding size quicker. For him it's a pro because he's running a business, and regardless of what our feelings are for it, he's trying to make money, the hobby is his livelihood. For me it's not worth trying because I'm not trying to breed anything for pleasure or profit.

Now we can talk about the commodification of animals all we want, and I 100% agree with jmcrook, the animal comes first, our passion and enjoyment second, and the money that can be made way down at the bottom of the list, BUT we're talking about a very big, well known, and well respected breeder who's gotten countless people into the hobby by making these animals easier for them to get, at a price point that's low enough that your average person can afford them. My point in standing up for him is that I think we need to be careful vilifying some of these big breeders especially when states are continuing this practice of banning certain species. There may be a day when Wilbanks is one of the few places that you can get a BP for a reasonable price.

Again, we can debate the ethics of this, but this isn't much different than combining gene after gene after gene with no knowledge of what kind of issues the snake will end up with. I'm sure we've all seen and maybe taken part in the spider gene debate and I don't think that this is at that level yet. At the end of the day, we've all put money into the industry, it's up to us to choose who we do business with based on a variety of reasons including this one.