Here is the thread to the eyeless boa on Kingsnake.
http://market.kingsnake.com/detail.php?cat=8&de=270600
I am still in the middle of the same debate on another forum regarding the boa.
I didn't have time this WEEK to read a 63 page thread...so I don't know what all your views are...or what has already been said.
Here is how I feel about the situation.
Breeding subpar animals is a load of crap.
Intentionally breeding physical birth defects is wrong.
(Although, in reality, that is what the morphs we all cherish are)
This boa was not eating...only force fed twice.
If it was eating I would have bought it for twice what he was asking...for multiple reasons.
Yes...it is human nature to be drawn to the freakish and grotesque (Carnival Freak Shows, Faces of Death, Jim Rose Side Show, etc. etc.) and I was definitely captivated by this animal.
It would make a great addition to my own personal menagerie. If it was eating on it's own...I'm NOT in the habit of paying $75 plus shipping for a dead boa.
I was shopping for one anyway...and have no plans to breed boas in the future.
HOWEVER...by purchasing this animal MYSELF...It would be GUARANTEED to never breed. I can make that assertion...and anyone who knows me can tell you...I am a man of my word.
This animal is not fit for breeding...and I am not into reptiles for money. It WAS an interesting specimen...and very unique.
If I had a bicephalic corn snake...you bet I would keep it...and it would never breed (although the San Diego Zoo had one that laid 15 eggs and they all hatched with NO DEFECTS).
Thing is...by the time JV Reptiles got back to me...it had already been sold.
This animal was going somewhere regardless...and it was going to be sold (I know people who offered to adopt it, but he was going to find SOMEONE to buy, just bound to happen)...now it has been sold.
To who? I don't know...
And neither do you.
Now in three years YOU may own the offspring from this animal...
Or I might.
All because everyone told this guy it was WRONG to sell it...instead of jumping in and buying the damn thing to keep out of breeding populations...
Some people argued that, by paying this guy, he is making money off of deformed animals and it will only perpetuate their sales.
The snake was $75 plus shipping...DEFINTIELY a fair price for a boa...
Worth every penny to know where it is and that it isn't being breed if you ask me.
Someone is going to buy it regardless...this way I could have kept it out of the hands of some unscrupulous breeder who WANTS to produce deformed animals.
You do know there is a huge market for 6 and 7 toed cats, don't you??
They can go for $500 with NO PAPERS.
People like weird stuff...and where there's a market, SOMEONE will supply it.
I had the chance to remove one of these deformed animals from the marketplace.
Too bad I was too late.
How do you feel about that?