Hey...
I just read the whole thread and I guess I am on the "who cares" side.
Why?
Because there is NO way of telling if a corn snake is a "pure" corn. Even a wc specimen could have come in contact with a different species or subspecies of snake and produced relatively normal looking offspring. WC corns that look "different" are the basis of most morphs today, so who is to say where those traits came from? With the number of species of snakes kept as pets today, and the number of snakes that escape to the wild every year, who is to say that a non-native subspecies of rat snake bred with a native species? For instance, my VERY first corn (anery) got out and someone thought she was a great plains rat snake and put her outside. So a non-native corn could have survived and bred with a native rat snake. Someone years from now may find offspring of this snake and collect it as a "pure" rat snake. The same goes for corns in Florida, Georgia, etc. There is simply no way of knowing what the background of any wild OR captive animal is. So the point for both sides, to me, seems moot. You cannot 100% claim that a collection is pure. There is ALWAYS the possibility that there is some sort of alien gene floating around in there.
Honestly, one can make the argument, that since snakes of all species are descended from a common ancestor, that any morphs found in one species, can therefore be found in another. SO that means the piebald, leopard, etc traits in ball pythons, can probably be dug up in corns and any other species of snake as well. So, when it comes to rat snake intergrades, who cares if the "white sided" gene came from the rat snake or the corn snake? Eventually, in the so-called "pure" lines, a white sided corn snake will pop up as well. It just depends what color genes are turned on when.
I do NOT have an issue with people breeding snakes to different snakes, I LOVE hybrids. I think they are absolutely gorgeous (most of the time). Those that look more like one species than they do as hybrids though, still should be sold as a hybrid. You cannot guarantee what the buyer may do, but at least you, as the breeder, were responsible enough to sell the offspring as hybrids. Also, selling a snake to someone who hybreeds (?) does not ruin your snake. Your snake is still what it was before.
I LOVE my ultramels. When I sell offspring will I label them as hybrids? No, because I don't personally believe that they are hybrids. I would be more willing to believe that tesseras are hybrids than they are, because, if tessera is a dominant morph.. then HOW did the original breeder get them? Did he not get them out of a stripe project, indicating that tessera was recessive for one or both parents? (Yes, I know I opened a can of worms there)
I will however, label any offspring, even those not displaying the ultra trait, as having ultra in their backgrounds.
I guess I like beating dead horses....
Oh well. I guess it'll go for another short spin.
