Gregg M

I am currently invoved in a what can now be looked at as a pissing match about hybrids on another site......

There are currently no hybrids (proven anyway) between a leo and a AFT..... But I wonder how long it will be before some greedy, irresponsible breeder produces a cross between these two species.....

It is a proven fact that hybrids can come with a whole bunch of problems ranging from infertility to cancers..... Sure some hybrids are viable but what is the cost of trying to produce viable hybrids???? How many clutches have to go bad before you can get a few babies to live????

With some of these hybrids, everything might look ok on the outside, but these hybrid producers have not clue what is going on on the inside and on a molecular level.....

On the inside, organ formation/placemnt can be way off.... Skeletal structure deformities, especially in the skull are found in many hybrids.....

DNA strand structure is way off and leaves many gaps in the bonding points in ALL hybrids.... Even in the lowest of multicellular organisms...... These gaps are open door ways to a ton of physical and biological problems that may or may not be visible from the outside.....

And lastly, what if these hybrids get into the hands of people that do not know any better and start breeding them to pure stock??? This means that the captive populations will be tainted with unpure blood lines.....

I think hybridization is a greedy, self-centered, irresponsible thing to do.... Breeder do this to "see what happens" and to make a bunch of quick cash..... There is no benefit to the reptiles or the hobby...... Hybrids are mad souly for personal gain or satisfaction...... I refuse to support those breeders involved in any type of unnatural hybrid production.....

I can understand producing natural intergrades but to hybridize two animals of two dufferent species that would never do it in the wild is just very unethical and irresponsible.....

I can not believe how many people there are that see no problem with this at all...... And some even support it...... Their argument is usually something rediculous like "hybrid vigor"....... What they do not understand is that the term hybrid vigor is almost always used in dog breeds..... All dog breeds are the same species so if you breed a poodle to a dalmation, it is not a hybrid..... It is an example of an outcross......