Pros and Cons

Is it not obvious that we need to keep up an animals population size so that they do not become extinct? People like the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation team say that "There are far fewer amphibian and reptile populations than in previous decades... We have to consider alternative means of ensuring that animals can populate unoccupied patches of habitat." Breeding is an alternative way to keep the numbers at a safe level or bring them up from endangerment by reintroducing an animal back into their habitat. Though this is a good process to use to keep the numbers up there still seems to be some cons that may cause a couple snags. Like how Rob Nielsen explains that "most animals bred in captivity by or for amateur herpetoculturists would prove to be pore seed stock for restoration of wild populations." Meaning that after many generations of a breeding an animal such as a snake it loses its natural instinct. Its the same thing as if an American went to Africa and got really sick. We are not used to their environment so we become ill-suited there.

The pros to breeding and the reintroduction of animals is fairly straight forward. It allows endangered species to come back up in population resulting in them not going extinct. There are two ways that Amphibian and Reptile Conservation team does it. One, "taking animals from one area in the wild, and releasing them in the introduction site." Though that has nothing to do with breeding their second second way does. That literally is them just breeding and bringing those animals into an introduction site. They have seen great results and also re-established the populations of the smooth snake, sand lizard, natterjack toad, and pool frog in the U.K.

The cons to this said by Rob Nielsen are primarily two different situations. (He talks about fish and other animals, but I am going to nit pick his ideas on reptiles specifically.) "Domesticated strains of reptiles are also breed to display unique color patterns." This causes a problem because if snakes are released that don't have their natural colors they could be more easily spotted by prey. Breeding also causes the loss of some needed genetics that allow for adaptation in the wild. Causing them to get sick or loss their natural instinct to find food or have an aggressive attitude for defense.

Even though there are still problems with breeding it can literally save lives. In my opinion it is a great recourse to bring back up populations, but people who are working with this need to know that there could be possible hiccups.

Work Cited:

"Reintroductions and Captive Breeding." Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust. N.p., n.d.
Web. 28 Feb. 2015.
"Captive Breeding As A Conservation Tool." Captive Breeding As A Conservation Tool. N.p.,
n.d. Wed. 28 Feb. 2015.

History: The history of reptile breeding is a bit of a mystery because it is a very new industry. It started only as catching snakes from your backyard and keeping them as pets. Though around 1960(ish) someone (again... this is too new of a subject and we don't know the first person to start it) had got the idea to hold many snakes at one time in captivity and use the knowledge of animal husbandry and started breeding amphibians/reptiles. This is... once again is a very very broad statement. Fun fact: buying snakes at the beginning of this was very very cheap. For example you could have bought a sand boa for $1.50. Today you can buy a normal/natural morph (morph: the combination of pattern and color) sand boa for $40.00. If you want an albino morph it will cost $150.00. The change is massive.

This shows what the timberline insects do for
the health of these animals.
The one on the right is fed chain food (petco for example).
The one on the left is fed with timberline insects.

Present: Transitioning from that... these last few years (10 years ago to present) is basically going to be known from people 100 years from now as the "actual" history because this industry has been rising so quick in such huge numbers. There are huge companies out there that are breeding reptiles and amphibians. Such as BHB Reptiles, Timberline (they aren't reptile breeders but they breed genetically healthy engineered insects for reptile food... so they become a great part of the cycle), Reptile Industries, Underground Reptiles, ect. Not only are there big industries mass breeding there are many hobbyists who breed inside their homes. Sometimes they're big enough to make their own little business. Some people just breed for fun without doing it for money. The amount of new colors and patterns combined are amazing to think that they have never been or will be born naturally in the outdoors. Instead there is prime examples of beauty coming out of nature artificially. Through all this process there are a ton of people out there who are educating people about reptiles. They are teaching them that not every snake is evil, slimy, or gross. Even the vicious poisoness are sweet, but people need to understand how to respect them otherwise they will be bitten.

Future: Its hard to say what the future holds. There could be thousands of new morphs to be purchased. Maybe the really cool morphs today could be super cheap compared to the thousands of dollars they cost now. Every household could hold a snake, lizard, gecko, ect. Though there could be a bad side though. Like I mentioned in the last couple of sentences in the "present" paragraph I say that people are being educated to love all the reptiles. That might not be the case because today and knowingly in the future the government is putting/will put bans on snakes coming across different borders. So maybe in the future there will be more restrictions on the bigger snakes for example. More so than there are today. Hopefully not but that could still be the case only because certain people are afraid and don't know how to handle them. Lets hope those educators in the future will put a footprint in peoples minds so that restrictions are less likely to happen.

Work Cited:
1. http://www.applegatereptiles.com/articles/history.htm
2. http://bhb-reptiles.myshopify.com/collections/boas/sand-boas
3. http://snakebytes.tumblr.com/post/16010829987/r-i-p-big-snakes

Five Big Questions: Reptile Breeding Industry

Reptile Breeding Industry!

Reptiles today are sadly decreasing in population due to many factors around the world. This could include evolutionary reasons (when an amphibian species dies out due to natural selection because that species does not have the necessity to survive) to human interaction [deforestation, the building of cities, and basically anything that the human race does that involves the environment(that could include excessive amounts of CO2 being released into the atmosphere)]. Though ironically because of some human interaction these populations have been rising thanks to the process of breeding.

There are many industries/companies involved that help in the process. Such as BHB Reptiles, LLL Reptiles, and more. It can be as simple as someone breeding reptiles in their own home just for fun or as a hobby. These companies/home hobbyists breed only for the need to have reptiles for pets. Bringing out different color variants to the animals through herpetology to create beautiful and unnaturally colorful animals.

Don't get me wrong. They do not only breed for those reasons only. They use breeding to bring the population back up of a certain animal. For example the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation team breeds reptiles or amphibians in a controlled environment. These environments are close to their true habitat in order to breed the animals and put them out into the wild resulting in population growth.

The Five Big Questions:
1. Who is involved in this process?
2. What do they do to help the population of animals, both recreationaly and environmentally?
3. When did the thought of breeding reptiles start?
4. Where does this process primarily happen?
    - and why in that area specifically?
5. Why is breeding even necessary for the world?