Socratic Monologue

Look back at the thread. Read it from the beginning. Note the point at which it turned away from criticisms of herpkeeping methods and toward criticisms of people. Then think about what it takes to keep a thread on topic.

Listen, I realize it takes a lot of time to figure out where the hobby has been, and where it is now, and where it is going (and there are certainly old-timers who could whoop me at this kind of understanding -- thank God we have those people). Because of that, it is pretty harsh to come down on newer keepers in such a firm way. No secret about that.

But just because someone doesn't realize that if he pisses in the river he's ruining things for those people downstream doesn't mean that anyone should just hold his beer for him while he does it. And like it or not -- better: know it or not -- animal breeding is a river.

People upstream set things up so that now, for me and you, things are like they are. Could they have done better? Yes, absolutely, and distinctly in the area of the more common colubrids, many of which are genetic messes. Do we right now have the ability to make things better or worse for those standing downstream -- that is, future keepers? Absolutely.

Are future keepers going to wish we, now, had made more intergeneric hybrids? Perhaps a multi-generic thing that can only be called 'Colubrid' since all the genera went into (or maybe didn't; is there lineage info kept on any of these animals?) making it? Or are future keepers -- like serious keepers now -- going to wish that they had access to actual species? Actual species with natural history information, and habitat data, and a captive breeding history plan beyond 'yeah, this'll look cool' or 'I wonder how much I could charge for this'.

The OP has brought this up before, and knows that this is charged territory. The first time there were well-reasoned arguments. Go read those and see how reasonable people can be.

This isn't a new discussion, this hybridization speculation. On other forums, in face to face discussions, it comes up -- too often. It gets old for people who want the hobby to be something more than pretty animals, novelty animals by the very definition of novelty. If a reader can't look past some firm -- not abusive, or insulting, or even personally-directed, ahem -- language from those who see all the harm that comes of these sorts of poorly thought out projects, then the reader will not be happy, I guess.