Interesting but unethical Hybrid attempt.

Originally Posted by Biscuit71

I can see no real problems with it as long as whatever offspring that is produced is sold (if it is sold) AS a hybrid.

I don't have any particular problem with Blood x Ball crosses or Burm x Retic crosses. I do have a problem with Blood x Angolan crosses and Carpet x Diamond crosses.

There's no shortage of Bloods, Balls, Burms or Retics in captivity. There aren't a whole lot of Angolan Pythons or 100% Diamond Pythons available. I'd hate to see a 75%/25% Angolan/Ball introduced unknowingly into that very limited stock. As I understand it, there are already a lot of 75%/25% or 88%/12% Diamond/Carpet crosses being sold as pure Diamonds.(*)

(*)Yes, I know that Carpets and Diamonds are officially different subspecies within a species. They're unique enough to deserve preservation in any event.

Just a little bit of background, for those that may not know - Diamond/carpet crosses are a naturally occuring intergrade, which is fairly common knowledge. Comments about preserving the integrity of the species notwithstanding, it is a bit difficult to argue against it since Mother Nature has given it her blessing. Aside from that, there were "legitimate" reasons that the practice became common here in the States. Diamond pythons were outrageously expensive (no, that is not one of the "legitimate" reasons I mentioned, but I am sure it played a role also), and proved to be difficult to breed. Males tended to be disinterested in the concept, and many people were of the idea that one needed to maintain diamonds in different ratios than other snakes - where we typically keep several females for each male, the reverse of this became the logic du jour for diamonds. When that method found limited success, many breeders started putting proven Jungle carpets in with their females (or adding the female diamonds to their JC groups, as the case may have been). This, of course, worked; and the progeny were gorgeous and well received.
Another problem with diamonds was that individuals, and even entire collections were falling prey to a mysterious illness...characterized by brittle bones, poor muscle tone, and frequently respiratory infections that responded poorly to treatment. This became known simply as the diamond syndrome.
Now, back to the comments about 75% and 88% diamonds being passed of as pure. Most of the 75% diamonds I have seen have been easily discernible as crosses (I say most in case some stellar specimen slipped through unrecognized). As for the 88%ers, a common argument that I have read goes something to the effect of: If some of these are unknowingly introduced to the gene pool, how much impact will it really have if the recipients breed them true?
Besides, since diamonds and carpets interbreed in nature, how can you ever be sure that the founding stock is 100% pure anyway?

*edit* My apologies to the ball python people - I thought this thread was in a different forum. While my post adheres to the general topic at hand, it is better suited to discussion in a more generalized forum.
H.

Does anyone know the result of the orignal post - ball/burm?

I never saw an update, but I think it's pretty safe to say that it was a failure. If it had successfully created a burm x ball cross, it would've been widely known quickly.

I don't completely agree with this, none the less, i hope the babies hatch beautiful and most important, healthy, if they can produce healthy offspring that thrive as though they were 100% Burmese or ball python babies, then have at it, i am only interested in the well being of the offspring and parents, if this experiment produces dead or dysfunctional babies, i am against it, otherwise, i am for it.

Breeding 2 different species is wrong! For those that disagree, go hook up with an ape.
Then you'll have COOL babies.
Can't believe people do that.

Well, people actually hook up with animals quite a bit on some very disgusting sites, so to see them hook up with a chimp would at least bring them a bit closer to their own species.