Jayson745":20ul6va7 said:
One could argue that all the morphs of the reptile industry across all species are genetic flaws. From a piebald python to a fantailed goldfish. Hypo translucent silkbacks are ok, but dwarfs are bad? Should human midgets not have a family? If it doesn't negatively affect them, then what does it do? Makes them cute? Thats a bad thing?
Now if the ones produced before didn't do well, then thats another story all together. Of course the first hypos and translucents were not healthy from what I hear.
I don't think anyone is purposely giving birth to human dwarves because they are "cute." Dwarfism does negatively affect humans as well as animals. It can cause deformities in the bones, difficulty with daily tasks, internal problems, and leaves you more prone to diseases like arthritis or back problems. Purposely creating an animal that will have a difficult time living seems cruel to me. I hope whoever takes this little guy gives him the best life he can have, even if it does end rather short.
Coloration such a piebald in pythons are not necessarily genetic flaws. The only reason they do not crop up often in wild animals is that they usually cause the animal to stand out from its environment (albinism, etc). These animals are easily preyed upon and the genetics that cause such colors die out with them. In captivity, there is no predation so these natural variations in color can thrive.
I personally think silkbacks seem unhealthy since they do not have the scales to protect their skin from their environment,other lizards, and seem like they would injure their skin more often than regular animals (rubbing while shedding, etc). I would be interested in seeing how the "durability" of silkbacks compares to that of regular and even leatherback dragons.
Edit: I just wanted to clarify that I'm not attacking anyone but would like to keep unhealthy genetic traits from these animals. Any breed or morph of an animal that causes a purposeful physical handicap just for the look is something I just don't want to support (English bulldogs, munchkin cats, etc). I don't want to see another "twisty cats" issue arise (if you haven't seen these cats, they were purposely bred from genetically deformed cats so that they have deformed front legs).