Why are some people against creating hybrid tegus?

[RareDragonkeeper]

Why do some people seem so adamant about not crossing different types of tegus (or other animals for that fact?) Especially considering all of the beautiful kinds we've gotten like the purple and blues.

 

[AlphaAlpha]

My view is that cross and selective breeding has lead to so many animals true traits being destroyed, because of this so many animal breeds now suffer and have a limited life span and are plagued with illness and disabilities because we as human like the look of them.

 

[rantology]

Blue tegus are a locality, not a mix breed. But like Alpha said- there can be a lot of downsides to breeding reptiles since, like other animals, there's not really any regulations or laws to protect the well being of the animals and not everyone has their best interests at heart. Also there is a beauty in the natural genetics of the animals to be had for sure- To admire what nature has carefully selected for.

On the flip side, if it is done responsibly, there are some truly beautiful animals produced by line breeding. It comes down to personal preference. Or in some cases, like the dart frog hobby, where the animals are threatened in the wild there is also a conservational aspect to keeping the genetics pure. However I think most everyone can agree that in the end responsible husbandry and well being of the animal should be the top priority in either case...

 

[Walter1]

Best one is the one you want; however, there are consequences to designer herps and hybrids. Too often it's done for novelty to line pockets, and the fitness of the animals suffers through get rich quick schemes. Dispositions become less predictable. Encourages the idea of the animal as a commodity rather than an interesting member of an ecosystem.

The choice is for the individual to make, but awareness of rationale and consequences is key. Personally, the few corn snakes I keep come from specific regions in Florida, and I revel in the biology of the animal.

 

[Debita]

My view is that cross and selective breeding has lead to so many animals true traits being destroyed, because of this so many animal breeds now suffer and have a limited life span and are plagued with illness and disabilities because we as human like the look of them.

Good answer. You just have to look at the over-breeding practices in canines that have created allergies, displasia, even diabetes and seizures. We love how they look, but the result is a little bit of chaos. Too many people that aren't qualified in genetics doing breeding. When I was young....there were no allergies in dogs. None. The only thing I remember was displasia in German Shepherds. I guess that was the beginning. (3-4 decades ago)

 

[Walter1]

Good answer. You just have to look at the over-breeding practices in canines that have created allergies, displasia, even diabetes and seizures. We love how they look, but the result is a little bit of chaos. Too many people that aren't qualified in genetics doing breeding. When I was young....there were no allergies in dogs. None. The only thing I remember was displasia in German Shepherds. I guess that was the beginning. (3-4 decades ago)

Agree totally.

 

[rantology]

Just saw an example of extremely poor breeding practices this week that made my blood boil... sure doesn't make it easy for those trying to do it responsibly

 

[Debita]

Yes I agree. It's not something any of us would say should NEVER be done, but doing it responsibly takes people more time, research, etc.

 

[Dylan koch]

Glad someone said something about the blues not being hybrids. I just wish we could get some more of the other tegu breeds inaccessible currently to usa

 

[RareDragonkeeper]

Glad someone said something about the blues not being hybrids. I just wish we could get some more of the other tegu breeds inaccessible currently to usa

Like what other breeds? And wouldn't a "breed" be by definition something that was "bred"? So they have even more breeds in south America?
"A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species."

 

[RareDragonkeeper]

Forgive my ignorance of not knowing blue tegus weren't bred, let's just replace the color blue with purple. Are those a breed? Or are they a naturally occurring animal that was imported too? How many different kinds of tegus are there? I know about chacoan, blue, b/w, gold, red, "purple", what else am I missing?

 

[rantology]

Purples are a man-made morph/breed, yeah (A hybridization between a Blue and Red tegu). I've found that the Tegu hobby is particularly indulgent about morph names. It seems like every breeder comes up with a new morph name for every new pairing .... (For instance "ghost" and "silver flame" are the same morph, just produced by different breeders). Though this is because there are not many established lineages yet (the hobby is still young compared to other species with more numerous morphs).

I have seen it debated about whether Chacoans are a true locality or just an extra buzz word used.. hard to find info on that though. There are numerous other wild tegu species not currently in the general hobby. But also important to make the distinction, Chacoans and Blues are not a species of their own. They are localities of Salvator Merianae, the B&W tegu.

 

[RareDragonkeeper]

Purples are a man-made morph/breed, yeah (A hybridization between a Blue and Red tegu). I've found that the Tegu hobby is particularly indulgent about morph names. It seems like every breeder comes up with a new morph name for every new pairing .... (For instance "ghost" and "silver flame" are the same morph, just produced by different breeders). Though this is because there are not many established lineages yet (the hobby is still young compared to other species with more numerous morphs).

I have seen it debated about whether Chacoans are a true locality or just an extra buzz word used.. hard to find info on that though. There are numerous other wild tegu species not currently in the general hobby.

I wondered that about the chacoan, they look an awful lot like Argentine b/w tegus sometimes. I tried looking them up to see the differences between them, didn't really come up with anything truly solid. Some sources refer to it as the "giant" tegu. But when I type in giant tegu in Google all I get is mostly Argentine b/w info. Most of that info isn't super consistent throughout all of the sources

 

[Walter1]

Seems that Chacoan Giant is a gimmicky name for an Argentine Giant Tegu to fetch a higher price. Chances are good that closely related forms have been imported under the umbrella of Argentine Giant Tegu. The Blue appears to be one.