Pedigrees

[enigmamachine42]

I guess if nobody has any strong opinions on how the registration of animals should work, I plan to open my registry up to a few intrepid beta testers sometime in the next week or two, depending on work.  Then we will see what works and what does not.  My hope is that we will be able to cut down on, or even eliminate, inbreeding.  Breeders will have more animals to sell out of every clutch/litter, and buyers will have healthier pets with lower upkeeps.  Everyone wins!

[perfectly_flawed]

The only folks who would join such a registry are the ones who would never inbreed or take short cuts with their dragons care. Those who would, will continue to do so whether there's a registry in place or not. There are no laws preventing them from doing as they wish - and I'm not sure even laws in place would stop them.

[Thewolfmantom]

When I started breeding on a larger scale, I was taught to keep records. I keep track of parents, grandparents and soon to be a generation of great grandparents. I also note down any known hets in my genetics and any suspected hets till they are proven or dis-proven. With the amount of importing, captive breeding, smuggling, and whatever esle you can think of going on I dont think an active pedigree listing can ever be done for reptiles.

[enigmamachine42]

I think that a registry would make animals that were smuggled or bred without regard for genetics would become much more obvious to anyone who cared to check the family tree for dead ends and branches.  Think of the amount of hassle that could be eliminated from the process of picking suitable mates if a computer was keeping track of everything.  If a breeder posted a pedigree link in their ads, you could browse through the animal's lineage without ever having to contact them.  Many breeders I've talked to only had records going back two or three generations, but it would eventually be possible to have much more.  As it stands right now, they might know that they person they have a German Giant / Citrus / Skeletor / Sandfire, but that really doesn't tell us much about the parents.  Things could be a lot better.

[ladyknite]

Registries have been tried, to no avail.  The main reason being was the original line brought into the US, was bred to supply thru the years what the present population is today (thru the generations of course).  Bottom line is that it all leads back to those few.  And unfortunately, it was few

But i do wish you luck.

[enigmamachine42]

Given the limited gene pool, shouldn't tracking lineages be more of a concern, rather than less?  If it's worth tracking lineages at all, I think it's worth making it faster and easier to do.  Anyway, the registry will be open to any other vertebrate species people want to register.  If nobody is concerned about inbreeding bearded dragons, maybe they care about crested geckos, ball pythons, sugar gliders, etc.

[ladyknite]

tracking that gene pool would be beneficial to those that actually have stock from over seas lineage prior to equal exchange and do their breeding.  But not to those who breed on a regular basis.  Although these breeders should be able to show how their lines do not cross and do not inbreed over several generations, such as Tom.  He's been good to follow our advice on his note keeping.
There is a site that documents ball pythons, and if i'm not mistaken, pangea has information on lines for cresteds, but the rest i am somewhat uncertain about.  it is much easier to track mammals than reptiles.

Keep in mind, i am not trying to discourage you, it's a good idea with good intent.  Just don't be surprised.

[enigmamachine42]

In that case, I hope you try mine out and give me some feedback on it.

[enigmamachine42]

The site is live (and free) at http://www.farzoo.com.  Please let me know what you think.

[enigmamachine42]

If anyone is interested, I've added a bunch of new features to the site and made it easier for you to start webbing your family trees with other breeders.