I have just taken a look at the ivory tortoise site. WIERD!!!!! So this guy breeds specific sulcata torts together that carry the same gene in order to get this ivory sulcata. Is this medling with nature a little too much? I can't actually decide, because they are the same species. But then with all this outcry with crufts... how dogs have been bred for looks to the point where their health is suffering... well alarm bells are ringing for me on this one.

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Your alarm bells are ringing for all the right reasons, Trouble in the making.

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Take care
Sue

wizzasmum@aol.com

Go and have at the lizard & snake sections - look at what they do with royal pythons / corn snakes & leopard Gecko's. Provided it does compromise the health, life span & quality of life of the animal in question I don't have a problem with it. They are domesticated animals now - if you like their evolutionary niche is being pets.

in the very near future the reptiles will be as disfunctional as some of the dog breeds are.as you say look at royal pythons and leopard geckos , somewhere down the lines of inbreeding and out crossing there will be the gronks , with no legs ,and other probs and guess what someone will breed from them and try fixing the strain just to be clever and make the legless leoprd gecko or the transparent royal python ...........its sad that the animals will suffer for it tho.

Oh don't. This makes me feel ill, but it is so true. Having worked with dogs for 20 years I saw and felt the damage only too well. All those yorkies with luxating patellas, poodles with tiny noses and big bulging eyes nothing like their standard forebearers, pekes which were so deformed they would pass out just from being groomed, westies with the most dreadful skin problems. I could count on one hand the pedigree with no noticeable problems - very sad

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Take care
Sue

wizzasmum@aol.com

so they are ubterbreeding?

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I personally think that us humans should just leave well alone, I mean for gods sake why mess around with such beautiful creatures, come on for godsake we are in fact killing the things that we all claim to love so much.

well look at the 'enigma' leopard Gecko - many of them have neurological problems which are a genetic problem to do with inbreeding. I don't think the problem will effect tortoises as much because of the time it takes for a tortoise to reach sexual maturity etc.

Yer u agree they are beaterful creatures cant we just leave them alone!



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<-----------------clicky ;0

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unfortunatly its not mans way to leave things alone , everything and i mean everything is a target for improvment even if it means destroying the natural and origional concept be it an animal or place or what ever,... god i sometimes hate the human race, my horse a thoroughbred is so highly bred his coat is so thin he has no natural thermal properties and really feels the cold even on sunny days, the race horse has been highly developed by man through inbreeding that as a horse they are very disfunctional, either physically or mentally.all in the name of improvment. i,ll get off the soap box now .lol.