This kind of thing is just a perfect example of probably wholly good intentions gone astray through simple lack of knowledge or understanding.

People cant help but mistake capturing, breeding by sheer luck and then randomly releasing animals as "conservation", if they just dont know any better

There are plenty of groups to join or volunteer with who might guide your interests better

__________________
http://www.durrellwildlife.org/
Kenyan Sand Boa (Norbert), Cornsnake (Stanley!), Suriname Red Tail (Saedcantas), Guyanan Red Tail (Kalessin), Crawley x Psycho O.G.G/Blood/Sandfire Bearded Dragon (Rhubarb), Ghost Mantid (Loki), Giant Asian Mantid (Thor), Macleay's Spectres, Thai Phasmids "Ban Salok",
Planted 10Gal aquarium; Pygmy Botias, Glowlight Danios, Cherry Shrimps.
Planted 30Gal aquarium; Green Spotted Puffer (Edgar) & random rockpool shrimpy friends...
Planted 30gal aquarium; Trilined Corys, Cardinal Tetras, Discus, Marbled hatchets.
Plus Eudicella beetles, springtails, crix and dubia roaches...

It is not illegal to breed and release NATIVE species into the wild, and shouldn't be a problem if the young are released back into the same locality from where the parents came from.
My concern, though is that, although this is all well-intentioned, does Lucifus have any understanding of ecology? If you are in an area where there is not a direct threat to the continued existance of grass snakes, frogs, toads etc as a result of habitat loss, pollution etc, then by breeding these animals, rearing them, and releasing them "as they would get eaten in someone's pond" is going to upset the balance within the ecosystem. Frogs and toads produce thousands of offspring for the simple reason that only a few will ever survive to adulthood. By interfering with this, you could put the population at risk. If there are more adults than naturally there would, the food supply will run out, eventually causing the population to crash.
If the population is stable and not under threat, don't interfere.
Regarding the grass snakes, how do you prpose to feed them? They are frog eaters, they don't eat slugs and snails. You cannot contemplate feeding them GALS!! How would you feed the hatchlings? They need large numbers of tadpoles and small native fish. If you start feeding them on non native food, how do you think they will feed when released? And it comes back again to ecology. releasing an entire clutch of artificially reared eggs is going to increase the population unnaturally, and so likely to cause a decline in the local amphibian popluation.
Your idea is good in theory, but not in practice.

every habitat has a specific carrying capacity. surplus offspring will not make it. this is why thoughtful harvesting of wild populations doesn't negatively impact a population. where i live i can catch say black rat snakes all the time and never make a dent in their population levels IMO. only when people go crazy and ruthlessly hunt snakes and deplete the population does it affect things. clearing the woods and destroying the habitat is what usually destroys a population, not catching a few snakes. cars kill more snakes than people typically collecting. still they build roads and clear woods to build residential neighborhoods... that's the situation here at least.

.. have the done any census studies there in good habitats?.. that might be a good idea in order to monitor a system's health. but i'm in kentucky where you have snakes in our back yards.

__________________

Actually the local area has severe problems with pollution and habitat destruction. There home is built next to a sewage line which is seeping into the earth.

__________________


lucifus@hotmail.com - feel free to add.

Sign My Petition: http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/Preachers/

Then there is little point in putting them back!

just been reading and its only illegal to re-ralease non native animals havnt seen anything saying you cant release offspring of are native animals back into the wild

__________________

many areas have too few herps there simply because of history... like here you can find great habitat but few if any herps because years ago there was a pig farm or something there that wiped them out.. herps are slow to re-populate areas devoid of their kind. some are cut off buy barriers. i say a deliberate attempt to re-populate prime habitat is a good thing as long as their is a good supply of prey items. here we have areas that have few herps but down the road they are under every log.. populations tend to flee to good habitat and compress their numbers till it max's out the carrying capacity. some areas of the u.k. are unnaturally devoid of herps simply because re-population has been slow going.

__________________

Go for it Lucifus. If you feel you can make a much needed difference then do it.

__________________
0.1.0 Girlfriend <3
My Snakes0.1.0 Albino Black Rat - Baldric1.0.0 Corn Snake - Kiwi1.0.0 Banded Cali King - Kitkat0.1.0 Royal Python - Pudding
My Lizards0.2.0 Normal Leopard Geckos - Spyro and Yoshii0.1.0 Albino Leo - Honey
Inverts0.0.2 Hermit Crabs - Unnamed
Fish2 Tropical Tanks3 Goldfish
WantedAdult Male Leopard Gecko any morphPM If you have these local (M22 or OL12)
Looking for 1.0.0 Sub/Adult Male Leopard Gecko pref. Albino or any morph Pm me if northwest. Can pick up/drop off. Cash or Paypal PM me to discuss prices.

i'm sure i've heard that grass snakes are protected and it's against the law to collect specimens from the wild???

__________________
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
you don't know you've lived until you're about to die.........
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1:2:4 Royal Pythons 0:1:1 Snow Corns 0:0:1 Anery Corn 0:0:1 Okeetee Corn 1:0:0 Amel Corn 1:0:0 Albino Everglades Ratsnake 1:0:0 Red-tailed boa 0:1:0 Common boa 0:1:0 Albino banded cali kingsnake 1:0:0 Red milk snake 1:0:0 Blood Python
0:0:1 Candy Cane Corn 0:1:0 Rough Green Snake (R.I.P)
+ horses, a rat, mice, budgies, finches, cats, dogs, a rabbit....and on and on and on.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

nope you can collect them, keep them, but not sell them, same as slow worms, if you can prove they are cb then you can sell them

__________________
New online rep shop opening within the next few months, (food, dry goods, and livestock).

around 360 various reptiles