more colourful reptiles will be produced in years to
come, and I can only see the positives that the ‘morph
market’ will bring. The obvious one is that morphs can
only be bred in captivity, so poaching will become point-
less, thereby reducing stress on native populations.
Attitudes within the community are changing for the
better, and even those with a deep-seated fear of
snakes may be enticed to take a second look at animals
that are so visually appealing. The notion that the ‘only
good snake is a dead snake’ is disappearing and people
are becoming increasingly interested in the conservation
of our scaly friends.So, am I of the opinion that the purists should get with
the times and give up with this nonsense of trying to
keep animals as natural-looking as possible? Absolutely
not! Pure, wild-type bloodlines are essential to retain
vigour in captive populations – as any self-respecting
morph breeder will tell you. I still have locality-type
animals in my collection and probably always will. I
breed them every now and then simply because I like
them, but that doesn’t stop me selecting the best of thehatchlings. If I can continue to convince the odd person
to put the shovel away and come have a look at one of
my designer animals, in the hope that it may change
their mind about reptiles, then I will continue to breed
morphs for many years to come.Morph
Above: Caramel Zebra Jaguar Carpet Python.
Right (slide show): albino Spotted Python; Centralian
Carpet Python with Zebra Jungle; albino Darwin Carpet
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