Grow Faster, Breed Sooner? (NOT POWER FEEDING)

[bns]

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. ...

You can't agree 100% and then say it's ok because...

Respect is the same as trust for me...its earned not given.

In my opinion, when your breeding ball pythons, your either making a livelihood out of it or you're doing for enjoyment. If you are making a living out of breeding, I see no reason why its a problem to try and raise males faster. if you're breeding for fun, there's no reason to breed faster for more profit.

So it's ok if money is involved? How about with puppies?
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Ok, I'm not picking on you two...I just want you to think about what you said and the meanings that come with it...

We're heading deep into ethics here and we are just talking about a creature that gets killed on site because of what it is.

10 meals a year sounds really extreme to me. That doesn't even seem like enough to recover from the eggs alone, let alone the calories burnt the rest of the year, even if they are pretty large meals. How on Earth is 10 meals "as much as they will eat" in 5 months? I know he knows his stuff when it comes to boas, but I don't know anything about his experience with BPs and I'm pretty skeptical of the math here. If I feed a BP an adult rabbit, it's going to regurge. It's not like a boa or retic where they can eat proportionally massive meals.

This cuts to the heart of the matter in a way folks may have missed IMO. You're skeptical because you haven't observed it. I have and I apply it...if they told you how few meals it takes to keep an adult in proper form without breeding it would be even less.

These things can only be observed if the goal is about understanding the critter...as soon as money, a specific gene, a combination of genes, an appearance, recognition, a desire for being first, a desire to be among a group and so much more become the goal; understanding through observation with a desire for knowledge is lost.

I'm not trying to take some ethics high road or say I'm better than someone else because I don't breed for money...This started in the 70's for me...it was about fascination/understanding at first and it still is today.