Interbreeding Locale Alterna

Looking to start working with gray-bands. Had one years ago but haven’t payed close attention to this species for at least a decade. It seems that the locales have become super specific. I’m more interested in a particular look than a specific locale, but at the same time I don’t want to mess with intermixing locales just to get a specific look if that’s not what the trend is. If you work with this species, please share your thoughts.

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And that is how you make enemies :rofl:. But in all seriousness, most alterna keepers (well mostly breeders) are completely against interbreeding locals. If you do end up doing it, you are going to have a very hard time selling them and will most likely go for a very low price.

@t_h_wyman The all mighty Dr. Travis has been summoned to do information giving thingys.

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As long as you don’t misrepresent them as being localities, no one is going to get too worked up about it. “Hobby” Alterna are easier to move anyway. Localities only sell to locality guys for the most part. They tend to command a higher price and your average pet keeper just wants something that looks like an Alterna, not necessarily a Black Gap or Xmas Mountain.

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Summon

I am on the run but really quick and I will drop in with a more detailed reply later when I can sit

Don is mostly spot on. I disagree a little but not in a major way

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Okay, got a bit more time now

So… As Don noted, as long as you are very clear about your animals being “generic, non-locality” then you tend to be okay. However, there are a couple spots where this can come back and bite you and the broader alterna community that I feel are worth noting:

  • If you go this route, it can be very difficult to transition to locality-based projects and be accepted in the locality community. Collectively, they tend to be very picky and any “threat” of a mixed animal getting into a pure project makes them a little twitchy

  • You can only control the labels on your own animals. Once they leave your hands, other people may not be as interested in maintaining proper labeling. This is problematic because then you have non-locality animals that get into locality projects and create issues.

  • You also then run up against the very well documented history of intentional, deceptive hybridization that has occurred with the species but is very frequently ignored by newer people to the species that have more of a ball python, morph-driven mentality of the hobby. Every few years you get some young buck newbie looking to make a name for themselves crowing from the rooftops about how they miraculously managed to hatch an Albino alterna from undocumented (but “obviously locality XYZ, because look at the phenotype of the parents…”) animals

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Thanks for the detailed reply. Any online groups to get more involved with this species? I don’t do a lot of FB but could if needed.

Only place I have found is the two groups on FB. They are not super active, a couple posts a month and frequent months with nothing at all, but they have pretty good info and a handful of the old school guys are there