Mixing color morphs of the same species?

[froggsong]

I agree that arguments such as "other's will shun you" and "you won't be able to sell your stock" aren't really good reasons. This all falls into a hazy area of the hobby (herp keeping in general here, not darts specifically), where it's up to ones own judgement and level of commitment to try, IMO.

Should someone breed these darts together and then sell them as pure stock? NO! Does that mean they shouldn't do it at all? I don't think that one leads to the other.

Selling the offspring of mixed morphs shouldn't be discarded out of hand. There may be many people out there that would desire these animals, and saying that they can't have them just because other's don't agree with it is wrong. Using the argument that they may one day be released back into the wild isn't good enough either, as most of the captives would never be able to survive in the wild. You aren't going to take your frogs and release them into the rain forest anymore than rudukai13 is. Even WC animals that are released after a while of being in captivity have a poor rate of survival, and they once had those skills needed for survival in the wild. If it comes down to a matter of trust, trusting whether or not someone will pass off impure frogs as pure, how does one know for sure that the frogs they are buying NOW are pure? Because someone tells you they are. They are no less accountable or more respectable than someone who interbreeds morphs and wants to sell their offspring that is honest that they are mixes, just because they don't breed mixed morphs.

I'm not saying it's ok. I'm not part of the dart frog scene, and I don't really care to be, honestly. They don't really appeal to me. However, I think this is an issue that is argued based on passion, and not what is reasonable. It seems to me to be more of an "it's not in style" than someone actually laying out how someone who might interbreed morphs would be ruining the hobby.

[rudukai13]

And that's exactly why I haven't changed my opinion on the matter. If someone could show me concrete evidence that through my actions I'd be causing detrimental effects to the hobby or the frog population as a whole, I'd drop the subject entirely. But other than the worry of allowing the crosses to infiltrate the pure gene pools (a concern I've already adressed), as far as I can tell everybodies arguments against boil down to "We don't do that, so you shouldn't either."

[RecycledAgain]

I look at it like a Frankenstein mentality.(just an example/not a comparison) Because I can.. isn't good enough in my opinion. Its not helping the frogs in anyway, it's purely self gratification. The harm comes from the apathy and the acceptance that volume brings, before long the dam has enough leaks in it it's coming down. I use the reptile hobby as an example because the trend seems to be geared to designer morphs.
I also think this is why people get so polarized, most serious dart hobbyist are predominately true conservationists. I know that may come across self righteous, but I would wager the percentage is much higher than in other segments of the population.

Obviously your going to do what ever you want, I just think your working against a different set of principals.

Dan

[rudukai13]

You may have just swayed my opinion.

[Grimm]

Good point Recycled...It reminds me of my local reptile forum, how they always end up with juvies that have the "head tilt" or how they walk/crawl in circles, or just act wierd. All due to designer breeding.

I think darts are some of the most amazing creatures that can be kept in captivity, and its just one of the many reasons I am starting a frog room. Trying to breed something "better" looking is just greedy imo. Do you really want the same reputation as ball python breeders? Plus there are just so many different species and morphs with different colour variations already. I dont think I can even name a colour that you cant find in a dart frog....

[rudukai13]

What got to me was his comparison to my reasoning. Even though "We don't do that, so you shouldn't either" isn't the strongest reason against, "Because I want to" is an even weaker argument in defense of the action.