Your Reptile and Amphibian Resource and Information Site

Back to Rat Snakes Forum   Forums   Home   Members Area  

Rat Snakes Forum

Silenceafable   Slitherinslors   Candy_Corn   Sw1c   Wisema2297   Sw1c   MOZIAK66   Kojak  
 Member  Message

 #1510971


Silenceafable
View Profile

 Old World / New World question

I know the topic of hybridization is controversial, and I don’t actually planning on trying this, but I am curious; is it possible to hybridize old world rat snakes with new world rat snakes? Again, this is purely for curiosity’s sake.
11/12/07  11:29am

 #1535284


Slitherinslors
View Profile



   Message To: Silenceafable   In reference to Message Id: 1510971


 Old World / New World question

it shouldn’t even be an idea. hybrids ruins the whole hobby. it is the most ridiculous thing to do. you are insulting nature and all real hobbits
12/04/07  03:22am

 #1535369


Candy_Corn
View Profile



   Message To: Slitherinslors   In reference to Message Id: 1535284


 Old World / New World question

Quote:

you are insulting nature and all real hobbits



LOL can’t help but comment here, but Silence definitely wouldn’t insult a hobbit!



12/04/07  08:13am

 #1537823


Sw1c
View Profile



   Message To: Candy_Corn   In reference to Message Id: 1535369


 Old World / New World question

i dont agree with hybrids for most part, but corn rats some of them have made very beautiful snakes. but its hard to say if new/old world rats can be bred together. in a sense youd thingk they can as they are form same family grouping etc, but other hand sizes and stuff can be quite different and one snake or other may not livew long enough to breed.
12/06/07  04:13pm

 #1541302


Wisema2297
View Profile



   Message To: Sw1c   In reference to Message Id: 1537823


 Old World / New World question

Do hobbits make good pets? Could I breed one with a dwarf..........what type of hybrid would that make?
12/09/07  08:51pm

 #1543133


Sw1c
View Profile



   Message To: Wisema2297   In reference to Message Id: 1541302


 Old World / New World question

maybe a dwarf and hobbit make a dwobbit, or a horf, or many other options lol
12/11/07  01:48pm

 #1544163


MOZIAK66
View Profile



   Message To: Sw1c   In reference to Message Id: 1543133


 Old World / New World question

LOL



12/12/07  11:07am

 #1575571


Kojak
View Profile



   Message To: Silenceafable   In reference to Message Id: 1510971


 Old World / New World question

As with many hybridization, there is no clear cut answer. Genetically, yes. Since as stated already, old world/new world rat snakes come from the same family, Colubridae. Of this family there are approximately 250 Genera, which further breaks down into about 2500 different Species. But all of these snakes carry pretty much the same fundamental DNA. So again, yes it is possible. The same would not be true of, say trying to cross a rat snake with a ball python, or trying to cross a rat snake with a copperhead. The DNA is different, therefore it just is not possible.
Now, whether or not you could or should is a different question altogether. First of all, unless you have the facility and equipment to fertilize in vitro, you would have to get the two different species to actually mate. That in itself may be a huge obstacle, and prevent the cross from happening. Since many species and subspecies of snake have evolved due to geographical isolation, the unfamiliarity of another species within the same family may be enough to prevent breeding.
And of course you have the ethical dilemma. From a purist stand point, by cross breeding such different species, you are muddying the gene pool and run the risk of being viewed as someone who is attempting to play God or Mother Nature. Some hobbyists feel that if such interbreeding was meant to occur, it would have done so naturally without the help of mankind directly. Also there is the consideration of unknown character traits that may arise by combining different phenotypes, and not all of them good for the species or even the individual animal (for the same reason you don’t find many albino animals naturally occurring in the wild).
On the other side of the coin, there are those who feel that by interbreeding, you diversify the gene pool, therefore possibly giving a species the opportunity to achieve unforeseen adaptations. This, in turn, may help the survival of a given species by offering it new techniques of survival. This would only apply to released animals allowed to procreate into the wild population.
Personally I don’t see a problem with it, other than 10 to 15 years down the road you may end up with snakes that no one can identify, and if continually bred, you run the risk of diluting already existing species, and possibly encountering birth defects and undesired characteristics (an example being the tendency of the Luesistic Texas rats being "bug-eyed"). If this is something someone was doing within their own collection for the sole purpose of creating new and unusual display animals, or creating new morphs within the same species by interbreeding a limited number of times, I don’t see it being evil or unethical.



01/10/08  02:13pm


Back to Rat Snakes Forum   Forums   Home   Members Area