Accidental Cross Breeding

[liveunderoath]

I have a female checkered garter 100% het albino, and a male checkered albino. Back in March my brother caught a common garter snake and put it in with my checkerd. Before I could remove him he had already started mating with my female. Afterward I released him. My female showed no signs of being gravid, but a little over a week ago she had 28 babies. They all look like normal checkerd garters. I don't know what I should do. They are all healthy and eating nightcrawler pieces and feeder guppies.

[guidofatherof5]

Welcome to the forum. Tough situation you are in. Above all DON'T release them. These snakes should not breed, period. Steps need to be taken to be sure this doesn't happen. They must be kept in captivity by someone that knows about this being a hybrid. On the other end of this discussion is, they should be euthanized. I don't advise this but if they cannot be accounted for the rest of their lives it would be best.
I value life very much but keeping the genetics pure is also very important. This was very hard to respond to.

[Dan72]

Yeah I agree with Steve, it would appear from your telling of the story no attention was paid to a quarantine period which is not very responsible toward the checkerds you have as pets. I don't want to start a soap box, bottom line for people that enjoy the hobby are pure breed lines of snakes. I love ball pythons, garters are not bp's and we don't want them to be. So these guys need a home where it is known what they are and they will not be breed, or put down. How sure are you the wild caught is the sire?

[Tommytradix]

Yeah I agree with Steve, it would appear from your telling of the story no attention was paid to a quarantine period which is not very responsible toward the checkerds you have as pets. I don't want to start a soap box, bottom line for people that enjoy the hobby are pure breed lines of snakes. I love ball pythons, garters are not bp's and we don't want them to be. So these guys need a home where it is known what they are and they will not be breed, or put down. How sure are you the wild caught is the sire?

if no albinos were produced its a hybrid plain and simple haha i agree with both dan and steve......

[liveunderoath]

I wasn't home and I thought my brother would have known better than to put a wild snake in with mine. I was severely pissed. I am pretty sure that the wild one was the sire because my 2 snakes were bought from Bhb reptiles. The female is supposed to be 100% het albino, and the male is albino.

[oman]

I absolutely agree with and understand not releasing them, and that if they change owners it should be known they are hybrids. But why should they not be bred at all? Does crossbreeding never happen in the wild where different garters exist? Would they even be able to breed? Is crossbreeding known to cause problems, or is it just a concern for muddying the gene pool?

Sorry for all the questions, but ever since I read a passing remark about hybrids in a thread here, I have been curious. This post roused that curiosity.

[oman]

I absolutely agree with and understand not releasing them, and that if they change owners it should be known they are hybrids. But why should they not be bred at all? Does crossbreeding never happen in the wild where different garters exist? Would they even be able to breed? Is crossbreeding known to cause problems, or is it just a concern for muddying the gene pool?

Sorry for all the questions, but ever since I read a passing remark about hybrids in a thread here, I have been curious. This post roused that curiosity.

Reposting this because it got thrown in the middle.

[d_virginiana]

Reposting this because it got thrown in the middle.

Okay, yes garters VERY occasionally interbreed in the wild where ranges overlap. This rarely happens, however. There are reasons for differentiation between species; in this case the reasons are primarily geographical and temporal (meaning that slight differences in timing of mating season and brumation could come into play keeping them separate in the wild as well).

It is a concern within the hobby, but also because basically anywhere in the continental US as well as parts of Canada, garters are native. Any escaped or released animals can interbreed with the wild ones in that area (even if they aren't native to it) contaminated the wild gene pool. I'm an ecologist, and that's really serious business that can cause negative effects in wild populations.

[Tommytradix]

Okay, yes garters VERY occasionally interbreed in the wild where ranges overlap. This rarely happens, however. There are reasons for differentiation between species; in this case the reasons are primarily geographical and temporal (meaning that slight differences in timing of mating season and brumation could come into play keeping them separate in the wild as well).

It is a concern within the hobby, but also because basically anywhere in the continental US as well as parts of Canada, garters are native. Any escaped or released animals can interbreed with the wild ones in that area (even if they aren't native to it) contaminated the wild gene pool. I'm an ecologist, and that's really serious business that can cause negative effects in wild populations.

what are the negetive effects?

[AntTheDestroyer]

Okay, yes garters VERY occasionally interbreed in the wild where ranges overlap. This rarely happens, however. There are reasons for differentiation between species; in this case the reasons are primarily geographical and temporal (meaning that slight differences in timing of mating season and brumation could come into play keeping them separate in the wild as well).

It is a concern within the hobby, but also because basically anywhere in the continental US as well as parts of Canada, garters are native. Any escaped or released animals can interbreed with the wild ones in that area (even if they aren't native to it) contaminated the wild gene pool. I'm an ecologist, and that's really serious business that can cause negative effects in wild populations.

Then you should understand that keeping any garter snake that is not specific to your location is just as big a risk to native populations than a hybrid. I am not only talking about the right species but the locality as well. Unless you are breeding a specific locality to only other snakes of that locality with the intention of rereleasing them, then it comes down to entirely about personal preference. Even then if you are not collecting the animals yourself with enough experience to know the different species, then who knows what is in your bloodline.

If you are someone that prefers only "pure" blood snakes than you should probably be very careful who you purchase from. On the other hand I see no problem with someone being curious about hybrids and even breeding them as long as they are honest about it and are willing to deal with the offspring. Very few hybrids in my opinion are attractive so they may be difficult to sell.