FaunaClassifieds - View Single Post - Leopard Gecko Registry; Unneeded Bureaucracy?

01-24-2006, 01:47 PM

Just so you know where I am coming from…I am a registered breeder with the American Cornsnake Registry with about 60 animals pending registration. I only have a few leos right now and am not currently planning on breeding them on a large scale.

If I am not mistaken, the idea of having a corn snake registry was created after certain corn snake forum members created much stink about the “purity” of corn snake lines. For example, years and years ago taxonomy was different and emoryi rat snakes were considered to be a western race of corn snake. Therefore these now separate species were bred together and some offspring may not have been designated as hybrids. (Because back then they weren’t considered to be hybrids) So to this day there could be corn snakes out there being bred and/or sold with a minute trace of emoryi blood in them…. unbeknownst to the sellers and buyers. To many of us, this is not something to lose sleep over. There is nothing we can do about it…I am not aware of a way to test the DNA of our corn snakes to make sure there is not one drop of emoryi blood in there.

So as far as I know, we cannot go back and verify the ancestry (and therefore “purity”) of every single corn snake we currently have, but starting with 2005 we were given the opportunity to record everything we DO know about our animals by registering them with the ACR. These records will be available for all to see, and this way it establishes (or adds to the) credibility of those breeders registered. Plus as time goes by and more and more offspring are registered…there will be “family trees” created so people will be able to view which snakes are related.

With all that said, I am not aware of there being any “purity” issues with leopard geckos. If not, then obviously the leo registry is not starting up for the same reasons as the ACR. However, Stef is also a registered with the ACR, and my first thought is that after realizing the benefits that could come from such a registry, she just wanted to establish something similar for leopard geckos.

Yeah it is a lot of work, and the corn snake world is lucky to have certain individuals handling most of the load. But I think it’s a great thing and am thrilled to be part of it. I look forward to seeing it grow as offspring continue to be registered.

01-24-2006, 01:47 PM	#54
Traci1	Just so you know where I am coming from…I am a registered breeder with the American Cornsnake Registry with about 60 animals pending registration. I only have a few leos right now and am not currently planning on breeding them on a large scale. If I am not mistaken, the idea of having a corn snake registry was created after certain corn snake forum members created much stink about the “purity” of corn snake lines. For example, years and years ago taxonomy was different and emoryi rat snakes were considered to be a western race of corn snake. Therefore these now separate species were bred together and some offspring may not have been designated as hybrids. (Because back then they weren’t considered to be hybrids) So to this day there could be corn snakes out there being bred and/or sold with a minute trace of emoryi blood in them…. unbeknownst to the sellers and buyers. To many of us, this is not something to lose sleep over. There is nothing we can do about it…I am not aware of a way to test the DNA of our corn snakes to make sure there is not one drop of emoryi blood in there. So as far as I know, we cannot go back and verify the ancestry (and therefore “purity”) of every single corn snake we currently have, but starting with 2005 we were given the opportunity to record everything we DO know about our animals by registering them with the ACR. These records will be available for all to see, and this way it establishes (or adds to the) credibility of those breeders registered. Plus as time goes by and more and more offspring are registered…there will be “family trees” created so people will be able to view which snakes are related. With all that said, I am not aware of there being any “purity” issues with leopard geckos. If not, then obviously the leo registry is not starting up for the same reasons as the ACR. However, Stef is also a registered with the ACR, and my first thought is that after realizing the benefits that could come from such a registry, she just wanted to establish something similar for leopard geckos. Yeah it is a lot of work, and the corn snake world is lucky to have certain individuals handling most of the load. But I think it’s a great thing and am thrilled to be part of it. I look forward to seeing it grow as offspring continue to be registered.