Breeding

[jonosd]

Ive noticed that alot of people have the intention to breed their animals.
i was just wondering what reasons they have for breeding ? if any reason at all. im not saying its a bad thing but it seems like alot of people want to breed just to see if they can, because they want free animals or they want to make money.
it almost seems as if just owning and keeping their reptiles (properly?) isnt enough and that you cannot be classified as anything other than a novice if you havent yet bred anything (succesfully?).
now im not having a dig at those of you who do breed, and i intend one day to breed to improve the quality of specimins available so dont flame me for what im saying.

does anyone else not think that breeding just for the sake of it is a little pointless, and not beneficial to the industry especially when animals are being crossbred when there is already a huge number of these animals around making it hard to actually identify or prove/certificate what they are?

[DeanThorpe]

I dont think any body here breeds just for the sake of it.
Its not generally financially helpfull unless your talking about very expensive species or morphs and the extra spcae and effort you go through to give them suitable conditions for breeding, having spare vivs for seperating male and female, babies, incubating the eggs.

I think if you love keeping the animals, and to breed is to be happy [or alteast have needs met] in captivity.. then its a natural progression from simply keeping a single specimen of a species.

[jamie_coxon]

Originally Posted by DeanThorpe

I dont think any body here breeds just for the sake of it.
Its not generally financially helpfull unless your talking about very expensive species or morphs and the extra spcae and effort you go through to give them suitable conditions for breeding, having spare vivs for seperating male and female, babies, incubating the eggs.

I think if you love keeping the animals, and to breed is to be happy [or alteast have needs met] in captivity.. then its a natural progression from simply keeping a single specimen of a species.

execpt for ur fijis which if you ask me is the only excuse there should be to intentionally breed

[Ally]

Personally breeding my reptiles is a challenge that I enjoy, I get a huge sense of achivement from it.
I am also hoping to strengthen the Leucistic and Albino Leucistic Texas Ratsnake morphs using unrelated and normal coloured outcrosses in the future.

[Johelian]

I can definitely sympathise with what jonosd is saying - all to often a thread pops up in which the users first post is "What is X reptile like to keep?", and the second "Are they easy to breed?". I think a lot of people just like the feeling of success that comes with raising a bunch of tiny new animals from scratch. Some people do it with an ultimate goal in mind - selective breeding for morphs, or to sell offspring.

The only species I have thought it worthwhile to try and breed are my skinks - due to a fear of a shortage of these in the hobby at a future date, I would really like to ensure that they will be a part of my future for years to come (and anyone elses in herpetology!). I have never really wanted to breed anything, I guess because I never personally saw the point.