Scaleless Snakes...What do you think?

Nada

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 3, 2013
Messages
281
I'm a bit of a purist I guess you'd say. I will never own a lucy or albino or scaleless snake. For me, keeping is all about the representation of what's thriving all over this planet. That said, I don't have an issue with morphs or mutations. I hate the head wobble ball pythons and some of the ridiculous hybrids out there. Bateaters, walls, bloody balls, carpondros etc.... scaleless are not something I have any interest in, but if you say they're free of complications then Im ok with it. Scaleless beardeds on the other hand.. Im under the impression that scalesless dragons cant be bred to each other because of the aggression in breeding. If that is in fact true I find it to be atrocious.
 

Ripa

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 17, 2015
Messages
341
I'm a bit of a purist I guess you'd say. I will never own a lucy or albino or scaleless snake. For me, keeping is all about the representation of what's thriving all over this planet. That said, I don't have an issue with morphs or mutations. I hate the head wobble ball pythons and some of the ridiculous hybrids out there. Bateaters, walls, bloody balls, carpondros etc.... scaleless are not something I have any interest in, but if you say they're free of complications then Im ok with it. Scaleless beardeds on the other hand.. Im under the impression that scalesless dragons cant be bred to each other because of the aggression in breeding. If that is in fact true I find it to be atrocious.
I think the spider ball line needs to die out... at least the ones with head wobbles (mine has a terrible head wobble which I rescued off of someone). A lot of brachycephalic dogs, as well...
 

Aviara

Arachnoknight
Joined
Jun 26, 2012
Messages
261
I don't mind mutations that deviate from the animal's state in the wild, as long as the mutation doesn't negatively impact that animal's welfare. After all, the process of domestication renders animals incapable of surviving in their natural environments, and I wouldn't want a world without domesticated horses, dogs, etc. We rely on domesticated animals for food, companionship and much more! But when a mutation makes an animal unfit for their captive life, it shouldn't be selected for. We've already pointed out good examples - brachycephalic dog breeds, the stargazing accompanying the spider ball python gene, etc. There are plenty of others - bulldogs can't naturally mate and often require cesarean sections to whelp, many horse and dog color genes are lethal when a homozygous animal is bred, munchkin cats have terrible leg problems, etc. etc. So to me, it's less about whether scaleless snakes are beautiful or not, and more whether they have accompanying health problems. I don't think the actual state of being scaleless is harmful - the two snakes I received had very thick skin, just like a sphynx cat does, and while I wouldn't expect them to survive as well in the wild, I don't believe their skin would rip or make them overly vulnerable in a captive environment. Scaleless bearded dragons might have more problems, as beardies rely heavily on basking, and I would imagine a lack of scales would effect their ability to absorb light in some way, but they seem to do alright in captivity. My concern with my two fading scaleless snakes was that some genetic problem surfaced upon shipping.
 

Najakeeper

Arachnoprince
Joined
Dec 10, 2010
Messages
1,050
I got a single fertile egg from a clutch of 8, father is unknown, mom is the scaleless:

[YOUTUBE]2Yw-NYi2rls[/YOUTUBE]
 
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