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Old 05-16-2004, 01:34 AM   #136
Seamus Haley
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Seamus has legitimate concerns about making messes in the gene pool, and most people who freely produce hybrids to feed the popular pet market should heed some of those warnings. But I don't feel that it is abusive to the animals
I don't think it's abusive to the individual animals (usually)... Just more dangerous to entire captive populations. A venomoid animal, while having been subjected to something very negative, is the only animal affected by the procedure. If bred, it won't produce venomoid offspring. Hybrids are little time-bombs, one slip by someone who doesn't know better and the entire captive population becomes questionable.

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massassauga - Western diamondback
Which raises an interesting question... What's the venom composition like on that animal? Does it display the full toxicity of both parent species (making it very very very nasty indeed)? Does it take after one or the other? Are the individual toxins found in lesser densities than would be the case for either parent species?

Clearly it's a concern, especially for animals which may be closely related on an evolutionary scale but miles apart when it comes to toxicity and which antivenin is required. When tagged (If tagged) it might make a fairly substantial difference.

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Eastern diamondback-canebrake crosses which occur both naturally and in captivity
Which really just means that there might be some value to potential taxonomic revision. A species is defined as a naturally interbreeding group of animals, for far too long taxonomy was the work of individuals who had never even seen a live specimin of the animals they were describing. The modern emphasis that has shifted to field work (natural history), lab work focusing on DNA and some work with fossil chains seems to be a very positive step towards bettering our ideas of which animals are exactly which. The old scale counts and tendon length still has it's place to be certain, but there needs to be something balancing out the scale. The animals won't care of course, but names are important.

Heck, look what has happened (and been mostly accepted) to florida and brooks kings... Two species were found to have a wide natural zone of intergradiation; became subspecific in their designations.

At no point will I ever agree with venomoid production, nor do I see hybrids as being of greater concern... However both matters as they relate to captive populations and the way the general public views the hobby, the industry and the science are of importance and neither should be neglected or overlooked in favor of the other.