As to protected i am not sure hence why i am still seeking permission, the ones we have permission for is the 3 species on there that are not protected, but are illegal to sell in the commercial trade, which we do not do.


Thanks all for you input

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which ones arnt protected then?

The grass snake, uk common lizard and slow worm are not protected against anything but commercial trade and for any harm to come to them.

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so you have permission to capture, breed and sell the offspring of the above?

As far as I'm aware they would still have to be 3rd generation CB before you could legally sell them...?

Also have you checked up on the regulations regarding the release of animals into the wild? I haven't, so I wouldn't know how it applies to native CB species, but there may be issues there about releasing any CB animals. Assuming you wanted to prevent inbreeding (and it would be a good idea if part of this plan is to boost wild numbers etc), you would need to start out with 16 WC animals (8. of each species to allow you to eventually produce even a single unrelated 3rd generation pair; for a "side" project that's massive - for the 8 species you are looking at, you would be talking about 128 breeding animals just to get to unrelated 3rd gen-CB... I assume if you are planning on going down the selling-CB-babies route (and they are still required to be 3rd-gen CB before they can be sold) you would be wanting to sell pairs to people?

How are you planning to tackle quarantine to ensure that nothing from your collection gets passed to some of the native CB animals that have been earmarked for release, which could then be spread amongst the wild population?

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No we are not selling, were does it say anything about selling?

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As stated above we are not selling as we dont do it for the money, just the love and general interest for the reptiles involved.

I am aware of the breeding process and the dangers of in breeding, but thankyou for your input its appreciated.

Regarding quarantine, all will have a 3-6 month check up from qualified vet, and our program will not be mixing with any other CB animals of the same species.

Phil

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Hey Phil,

Site looks good mate, well done on that.

Just one thought is that there is very little chance you (or anyone else) will be granted permission to catch and breed any of our protected species. Release of CB of any of these would also not be a good idea. I did some work with a guy called Dr Graham Rowe who along with Prof Trevor beebee have done a lot of work on natterjacks, and all their study progeny have to be destroyed, and cannot be released...

Shame... Nice idea though
Andy

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Ah ok - apologies, I misinterpreted it that you would be selling the ones that you chose not to release. It would still be worth checking up on any regulations that may apply to individuals wishing to release animals into the wild...

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Indeed we are having trouble with the directly protected species such as the natterjack toad and the smooth snake.
The others that are only protected against commercial trade and deliberate killing we do however have permission for.
We contacted the local council, defra, and land owners and have been granted permission with certain guidelines.


Phil

Thats ok, i realize you are trying to give out good advice and bring up the pros and cons of it. For some reason Rachy seems to be attacking the idea or playing devils advocate.
However the project is still being planned and has not commenced yet, so if to many complications arise it will be scrapped.

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