| thanks reptilesDownUnder, that does shed a bit more light on the topic for me. I guess this type of debate is going to be very dynamic and keep changing with research, as if some sub-species are not fully recognized in a wild population than the captive population is probably never going to be as strict on the individual recognition of sub-species (in particular cases) and in turn the breeding of these species.
I just had a lecture today on breeding captive wildlife (not reptiles specifically, but interesting), and as the main aim of breeding wildlife is typically seen as a conservation technique, i suppose an argument for this topic could be that the further away from the wild phenotype and genotype we get the less reliable the "back up" captive population is. However what are peoples opinions on this, do you view that breeding snakes as a recreational activity can be viewed the same as those bred for conservation?
Cheers
WR | 
