Do you like scaleless snakes?

[whistlepig]

Natural selection and human selection are two different things

This would be an interesting topic that I'd love to delve into further, but a snake forum probably isn't the most ideal place to do it, lol.

By this argument all the health issues in dogs that are due to selective breeding, like incresed likelyhood of cancer and diplasia, are warranted because people still buy the animals.

I think you may be misinterpreting my arguments. I am more neutral with regards to selecting for atypical traits in general, but am against selecting for traits that cause suffering in animals. I'm only suggesting that the reality is that demand creates a selective force that can and does motivate people to breed for atypical traits even if it does cause suffering or harm.

I don't think our hobby should look to dog breeders for guidance, but use more discretion when selecting which traits to breed for.

I agree, unfortunately all we can really do as consumers is to decrease the demand. As with anything there are responsible and irresponsible breeders out there and if there is money to be made, some will pursue it, even if it means some animals will suffer.

One final question for you, and I think you may have partially answered it in your most recent post, If there were a breeder who developed a line of scale-less snakes that were otherwise healthy, would that satisfy your objection? Or is it your position that the potential for deleterious effects in the snakes too high that no one should even attempt it?

[Scubadiver59]

Scaleless snakes, just like hairless dogs and cats, are just plain ugly.

Originally Posted by whistlepig

One final question for you, and I think you may have partially answered it in your most recent post, If there were a breeder who developed a line of scale-less snakes that were otherwise healthy, would that satisfy your objection? Or is it your position that the potential for deleterious effects in the snakes too high that no one should even attempt it?