Breeding Childrens & Spotted Pythons?

[Beardonicus]

I was wondering if breding these 2 together is considered hybridization? I have a female Children's Python and it seems that the Spotteds are much more common here in the US....are they subspecies of each other? I'm just curious. Thanks for any info! :)

[Invictus]

They are actually different species of the genus Antaresia. Spotteds are Antaresia maculosa, Children's are Antaresia childreni. So yes, it would be considered hybridization to breed them together.

[Beardonicus]

Thanks Ken! :D

[Stockwell]

David, when I starting keeping those species they were both considered the same thing, in fact you can add Stimpsoni to that group too. We used to call those Desert childrens, or Red phase Childreni.
When I got my first specimens they were exported from Europe as Liasis Childreni, then for a while they were Bothrochilus Childreni, then the Childreni complex got split into Childreni, Maculosis, and Stimpsoni, of the Genus Antaresia.
Most of what was bred early on and sold as Childrens pythons were probably "spotted pythons"
I know for a fact that what I was selling as childrens pythons in the 80's would now be called spotted pythons. It's also probable that childreni, maculosis and stimpsoni where being crossed, because of the fact they were just considered color phases of the same snake.
Now that the current taxonomy has them split, it would be best to try and breed them pure, and yes Invictus is correct any crosses would now be considered hybrids.. thats a rather upsetting fact to a purist like myself, considering a few years back crossing member of the "childrens complex" to bring out the spots, or the red would have been simply selective breeding

[Jeff_Favelle]

Interesting. So now that the man-made moniker of specific status has been designated, we now don't breed them together?

I agree with Roy can Ken though, its just weird to think that such a small artificial thing can skew our perspective.

Although, I guess scientific study determined that these animals warranted new specific status, so our perspective SHOULD change.

Ok, don't mind me, I've been drinking.........

:D

[Stockwell]

It's Ok Jeff, I think it's weird too... I was probably guilty of mixing the things.. I actually liked the high contrast spotted ones best, so my bland looking Outback dew worms would usually get bred by the more colorful Aussie Night crawlers.

To think I was hybridizing bothers me quite a bit, but it would be the same as breeding Blair phase grey bands to Alterna phase, or striped cal kings to banded ones
What's even weirder is the way the market has reacted and how the price changed when they were given new status.
I had purchased "childrens", but a couple years after I got them I received a phone call from my supplier explaining that the animals I had were suddenly "Spotted Pythons" I was told the good news is the price just went up, and for several years, Spotteds cost more then the lighter tone childrens and that was primarily because not everyone was on board yet, and those first guys that advertised their childrens as spotteds, got more money for them, just because there was a perception that they were a "New" species.. they were scientifically.
Eventually everyone caught on and now the so-called "true childreni" cost more than spotteds.
I currently have both, and wont be doing any Hybridizing!
It's both neat and weird owning animals that have been 3 species, but that's taxonomy for you.
I'm just waiting for them to conglomerate the Anthills with childreni so they are all 150.00 :)

[Jeff_Favelle]

That's a great anecdote Roy! Thanks for sharing the experience. I wouldn;t hold it against you, as you weren't doing it on purpose, You're still a good-guy man! LOL! ;)

I miss Liasis. I'll have to dig up this wicked picture from an OLD euro reptile book of a childreni. It was very very cool!

Cheers man. Anthills are nothing more than red worms, LOL!

:D