Nightrainfalls
Arachnopeon
- Joined
- May 8, 2017
- Messages
- 13
Since I was a child, I have seen a major shift in the way that governments view wildlife. I remember spending my days, turning over rocks, and bringing home what I found. I learned to care for and breed many fascinating species: newts, salamanders, snakes, water beetles, frogs, spiders, Praying Mantids, and many others. Today, in Upstate New York, my entire childhood would be illegal. Like many state governments, New York has decided that all wild life in New York, must stay wild. The parents of a curious child who collects a garter snake from the back yard can be fined or imprisoned. The DEC rigidly enforces the prohibition on collecting all but a very few species that can be used as bait while fishing. It seems strange, but it is alright to catch a frog, and pierce it with a hook for sports fishing, but not alright to gather tad poles from a local puddle and raise them until they turn into frogs.
My state is not the only state to do this. In fact the trend of outlawing wild collection of species is growing both in the US and abroad. We can look at the example of P Imperator, Dictator, and Gambiensis. These animals where once common in the pet trade. Easy to get, and inexpensive, these marvelous animals provided a gateway for many inquisitive young people to embark on a life long passion collecting and caring for Arachnids and Arthropods. Sadly, as a result of irresponsible over collection, and rigid legal structures that ban instead of regulate, these species are on the brink of being lost to the hobby. Unless you are willing to spend over a hundred dollars, this animal is beyond your means.
It is a terrible shame that the next generation of Arachnophiles will have an ever shrinking number of species to choose from. The time to act is now. I am proposing that those of us who feel passionately about the hobby of keeping invertebrates start working to ensure that captive breeding keeps as many species as possible in the hobby. Of course many species take years to mate, gestate, mature, and mate again. Large numbers of pairs must be kept to ensure that founder effects, genetic drift, and inbreeding depression do not damage our captive stock. This means that very few single breeders and keepers are in a position to engage in the kind of breeding program needed to ensure we have a long term genetically viable supply of animals for our hobby. So, we have to work together. We have to find keepers with animals we want to preserve, and encourage them to pool specimens into mating pairs. We need to keep rigorous track of the genetics of these animals to ensure minimal inbreeding and preserve genetic diversity.
I am interested in starting sophisticated captive breeding programs for three species. I am currently awaiting the shipment of several pairs H. longimanus. I am asking anyone who keeps this species to contact me, either through this thread, or through a private message. I cannot keep enough pairs myself to ensure long term genetic diversity. I will need other keepers to outbreed my captive bred animals with. If we can find just forty keepers with single animals, or twenty keepers with pairs, we can virtually ensure the captive survival of this species indefinitely. I am willing to maintain the needed records, design a pairing schedule, and facilitate transportation of individuals. Please if you keep this species, contact me right away.
I do not currently own P Imperator, or P dictator, however I am asking keepers of these species to contact me directly, so that we can design a breeding program for both species.
I do not object to anyone profiting from this breeding program, however, I do not expect or desire any compensation for any work I do to ensure the success of this program. I intend to trade my scorpions to other keepers to preserve genetic diversity, and to provide scorpions to those interested in assisting in the breeding program. I need your help to ensure proper outbreeding. Please help keep this hobby alive. Once we have successfully started breeding programs with these species, we can begin to start programs with other important Scorpions and perhaps even T's.
Imagine how good it will be to know you will always have a supply of your beloved pets and act know. Contact me please. I need your location, gender of your animals, number of animals, contact information, and whether your animals are wild caught or captive bred.
Thank you in advance for protecting this hobby.
David
My state is not the only state to do this. In fact the trend of outlawing wild collection of species is growing both in the US and abroad. We can look at the example of P Imperator, Dictator, and Gambiensis. These animals where once common in the pet trade. Easy to get, and inexpensive, these marvelous animals provided a gateway for many inquisitive young people to embark on a life long passion collecting and caring for Arachnids and Arthropods. Sadly, as a result of irresponsible over collection, and rigid legal structures that ban instead of regulate, these species are on the brink of being lost to the hobby. Unless you are willing to spend over a hundred dollars, this animal is beyond your means.
It is a terrible shame that the next generation of Arachnophiles will have an ever shrinking number of species to choose from. The time to act is now. I am proposing that those of us who feel passionately about the hobby of keeping invertebrates start working to ensure that captive breeding keeps as many species as possible in the hobby. Of course many species take years to mate, gestate, mature, and mate again. Large numbers of pairs must be kept to ensure that founder effects, genetic drift, and inbreeding depression do not damage our captive stock. This means that very few single breeders and keepers are in a position to engage in the kind of breeding program needed to ensure we have a long term genetically viable supply of animals for our hobby. So, we have to work together. We have to find keepers with animals we want to preserve, and encourage them to pool specimens into mating pairs. We need to keep rigorous track of the genetics of these animals to ensure minimal inbreeding and preserve genetic diversity.
I am interested in starting sophisticated captive breeding programs for three species. I am currently awaiting the shipment of several pairs H. longimanus. I am asking anyone who keeps this species to contact me, either through this thread, or through a private message. I cannot keep enough pairs myself to ensure long term genetic diversity. I will need other keepers to outbreed my captive bred animals with. If we can find just forty keepers with single animals, or twenty keepers with pairs, we can virtually ensure the captive survival of this species indefinitely. I am willing to maintain the needed records, design a pairing schedule, and facilitate transportation of individuals. Please if you keep this species, contact me right away.
I do not currently own P Imperator, or P dictator, however I am asking keepers of these species to contact me directly, so that we can design a breeding program for both species.
I do not object to anyone profiting from this breeding program, however, I do not expect or desire any compensation for any work I do to ensure the success of this program. I intend to trade my scorpions to other keepers to preserve genetic diversity, and to provide scorpions to those interested in assisting in the breeding program. I need your help to ensure proper outbreeding. Please help keep this hobby alive. Once we have successfully started breeding programs with these species, we can begin to start programs with other important Scorpions and perhaps even T's.
Imagine how good it will be to know you will always have a supply of your beloved pets and act know. Contact me please. I need your location, gender of your animals, number of animals, contact information, and whether your animals are wild caught or captive bred.
Thank you in advance for protecting this hobby.
David