hows the market

[cyclone]

Is there a market for hybrid snakes? If so how big is the market? and where can I see actual pics of hybrid snakes?

In 08 I plan on breeding my Albino corn with my albino sonaron gopher snake, and my albino bull with my female albino jungle corn. Aswel as my female normal motley corn with my male albino bull. What would you perdict I will get from those? I think I will get some really awesome snakes.

 

[zwyatt]

I don't know what the market is. My guess would be that the market isn't huge, because I don't see/hear a lot about hybrids. It could just be that I don't actively search for hybrids, but I don't think that's entirely it.

Personally, I get uneasy with hybrids. If it's done in a responsible way, then maybe there is some usefulness to it. I worry about all sorts of people making hybrid crosses willy-nilly and not marketing them properly. I don't want non-corn genes in my corn lines. If someone is selling "corns" that look like corns but actually have non-corn genes how is someone supposed to know if the breeder doesn't tell them.

 

[Velvet]

I'm not a huge hybrid fan. I have also heard that Corns x Gophers are the ugliest darn snakes ever...lol Not sure how true this is but if it is true I am assuming there wouldn't be much of a market for them...

 

[starsevol]

Honestly I don't know how the hybrid market is.
Having the clutch pre registered with the ACR might help but many people are anti-hybrid (myself included) and wouldn't touch em with a ten foot pole!

Hybrids are just mutts, imo. They may look pretty but there's no point to it, really. It's like purposely breeding shelter dogs and expecting to sell the pups.

 

[Velvet]

lmao @ Starsevol, I must agree with you, I'm an "anti-hybrid" myself! lol The ONLY exception I would make to my rule is for ultramels and I don't think it's even 100% proven that they are hybrids yet...lol

 

[desertanimal]

The market may not be huge, but there seems to be some market, since you have a jungle corn. I'm not at all anti-hybrid on a philosophical level, but most of them don't appeal to me aesthetically. I think probably that would be the main thing to consider when breeding hybrids. I imagine people want hybrids that look cool, and for nothing else. It isn't like in corns where people might buy hatchlings only for the genes they are carrying with little regard for their appearance. So in that respect I'm sure the market is smaller.

There's some compny that breeds a lot of hybrids but I can't remember their name. It's like cenozioc reptiles are something like that. They have lots of really eye-catching stuff.

 

[cyclone]

I have owned snakes for 6 yrs, and I have been breeding one pair for three yrs. So I am not a "real" breeder, just a hobbiest. I like snakes with colour, personalitly, and size does matter sometimes. I want to make a collector crumble, I want to sell to someone that does not want to breed it. Corn mixed with bull/gopher or turbo corns and they keep the corn snake pattern but have the bull snake scale type and size. Given the right genes I could breed one heck of a nice snake. Imagine a Snow corn mixed with an albino sonaron gopher snake, those snakes can be stunning. That is what I want to do is make a stunning snake.

 

[starsevol]

To many, that would not be a stunning snake.
At all.
A lav blood or butter stripe cornsnake or one of Mohr's patternless beauties is what drops my jaw.
But a hybrid...not so much.

In my opinion, a cornsnake is snakey perfection.
And perfection should never be messed with!

 

[cka]

There's enough interest in them to warrant a thought out approach to it. If you really want to make a "stunning" hybrid, try to plot out a look you want to accomplish. that is going to take time, because you are going to want to express the look you are going for in the F2's, at least. You'll be looking to refine it in later generations, outcrossing for new blood, etc. To just breed a mix of snakes that you have, get babies and then go "Here they are" just floods the market with dull looking snakes that end up confusing people when they are released into the market.

Hybrid colubrids aren't going away; they are sucessfully bred and sold by ALOT of different breeders, opinions be damned. Be smart and passionate in how you want to go about it and be honest in their representation...JMHO as always

 

[Random8A]

I would suggest asking Vinman, he is very much into hybrids and genetics!!

Good Luck!

 

[HanneysCorn]

I have also heard that Corns x Gophers are the ugliest darn snakes ever...lol Not sure how true this is but if it is true I am assuming there wouldn't be much of a market for them...

Well I have a gopher/corn cross here. He was gifted to me last August, a four year old male. This year I proved him out breeding him to a amel corn.

There are 2 unique qualities to gopher/corns. Although they very much resemble corns in looks, their keeled scales and throaty trill (yup, Ben is very vocal when he chooses to be) just seem to add 'more' to the mix.

Here's a pic of Ben, the male...

And here's some pics of the 75% corn/25% gopher hatchlings produced here in 2007. The most interesting feature being...hypomelanistic hatchlings were produced from this matchup as well as normals.

Myself and two other breeders here in Canada have decided to project with these beauties and see where we can take this hybrid to genetic wise. Both corn and gopher genetics have been worked with individually, but what can result with the 'gopher/corn' cross is a whole new hybrid world to explore.

I personally think gopher/corns are awesome. Do hate the label attached...turbo corns...why? why? why? Hence I do and always will refer to them as what they are...gopher/corn crosses which result in some really great looking hatchlings who hopefully will, as they mature and shed show some keeled scales and have kept the throaty trill. Remember, these guys are only 25% gopher.

Ruth