a civil discussion-morphs

[HABU]

natrix, i never realised i had a clone!!! the early days are dead on...spooky!!

[LeviathanNI]

This is what my concerns are.. the loss of availability. Of course things come and go, then come back again, but this last while, all you see is the animals listed above, and in all manner of colours, and for some crazy money!

Personally, as I mentioned, I have decided to go with the natural 'version' of any animals I go for.. and I hope to breed from them and maybe swap with a few others who have the same breeds, but want fresh bloodlines.

Another quest is to help preserve and maybe increase the population of the only indigenous reptile in Northern Ireland.. but that is a long term task and goal.

I know for a fact I will have a couple of 'pink' snakes, as that is one of the 'deals' I have made with the other half.. anything for a quiet life, eh?

[captaincaveman]

One thing that i like about morphs, is say one particular snake really appeals to you, it gives you the bonus of having visually different snakes from one species

What im not a big fan of, is people buying a morph just because its the must have for this season, i like the idea of morphs as finely tuning what is aesthetically pleasing to an individual, and others have said, many of these morphs are naturally discovered, man just enhances or decreases a certain colour/pattern to suit

[Raiden]

My opinion on morphs is pretty much middle of the road (boring I know). I've had a long standing fascination with genetics, its application and theory going back to when ginger computer scientists called Clive were making machines that looked like doorstops and when not reading stuff everyone told me was "too advanced" (Z80 machine code manuals and advanced biology textbooks mostly) I was busy trying to beat "Jet Set Willy".

Back then, the idea that these big long chemicals could dictate what colour something was and how many limbs / heads / eyes it had fascinated me in a really Dr Moreau kind of way, but then I was only 8 at the time.

Now that i've got into the whole "reptile keeping" thing and discovered that the variety and diversity of these individual species and subspecies is WAAAAY beyond anything I'd thought possible the history of the differing morphs is what fascinates me. The serendipity involved in the original discoveries of the likes of Mack Snows, Blood morphs, etc. just boggles the mind.

The idea of keeping any animal reptile or not just because it matches your curtains is personally abhorrent... these wonderful animals deserve far more respect than that. Yet if the individual morphs in some way strengthen the knowledge and understanding of the public of herpetology in a more general sense then I can see multiple benefits, and example of which is my mum, she's not a fabn of "scaley things", but as an artist is fascinated by the diversity of colouration in wildlife of all types. One look at a pic of a rainbow boa or blood morph beardie and she's drooling. If an almost phobic like her can be made to see the beauty in these animals, even in such a superficial way then I fail to see the harm interest in differing morphs can bring to the table.

A bit of a wandering train of thought kind of post I confess, but just my twa'pennorth bashed out at silly o#clock in the morning

[HABU]

an honest, valid point of veiw. i can appreciate the fascination of it. it's not herpetology but something equal...genetics!!

[sami]

Great thread Habu.


The way we manage our collection, the way we plan for the future and the animals in our collection are all a balancve for us.

We have commons things, rare things, CB WC and everything in between. We have a great love and respect for the way things should be naturally but equally love some of the variety that morphs bring, as an example within our royal collection we have genetic morphs, CB babies, CF babies, CB sub adults and adults and LTC adults. Everything is there and everyhting has it's place and reason..

I've never been against WC, only against needless WC but recognise that it will always happen, some species will just always ben WC and CF through be it for financial reasons (eg boscs and iggies) or whatever.


One of the things you often here of on here is "wish list". I do think it's sad when you see people talk about what they want and it's only morphs they are interested in, it's like they have lost the point of what a reptile is and can only see either how much someonthing is worth or what colouration it is or how recent that particular cultivar is. A lot people seem to select a herp like they would select an item of clothing form a shop, they loose sight of the benefits, challanges and interests of keeping that species and see only how it looks, how much monetary value it represents and even worse in some cases the qudos that they think they get/they get for owning it.


Mason

[WeThePeople]

Originally Posted by quixotic_axolotl

One of the things you often here of on here is "wish list". I do think it's sad when you see people talk about what they want and it's only morphs they are interested in, it's like they have lost the point of what a reptile is and can only see either how much someonthing is worth or what colouration it is or how recent that particular cultivar is. A lot people seem to select a herp like they would select an item of clothing form a shop, they loose sight of the benefits, challanges and interests of keeping that species and see only how it looks, how much monetary value it represents and even worse in some cases the qudos that they think they get/they get for owning it.


Mason

Amen to that bro!

[Andy]

I purely buy something on its looks. I wont buy something that I dont like the look of. I dont buy stuff because I am interested in how it lives in the wild or if it will be a challenge to keep or not. If I like it, I like it! I dont mind if people want the newest morphs or the purest bloodline normal they can find. Its all part of the hobby. I only have a passing interest in how the animal lives in the wild if I am honest, I usually get advice on captive care from people who have kept them as it can differ to the wild.

[vikki_john]

I don't know about that. The more you know about natural history and physiology etc the more you can understand them. For example when people breed boas they give them a cooling period which does not hppen in the real world but if it works it works.

[sami]

Originally Posted by vikki_john

I don't know about that. The more you know about natural history and physiology etc the more you can understand them. For example when people breed boas they give them a cooling period which does not hppen in the real world but if it works it works.

You have that a little backwards..

the cooling period for boas is to try an emulate conditions in the wild that would indicate it's the correct time of year for them to breed. we provide a simulated version of that to increase the chances of captive breeding. It helps throw the "be sexually receptive" switch. It's a very loose cpative relpication of what happens to them in the wild, that's the point.

It's precisely because this happens in the wild that we do this.

Mason