ClmbrJ
New Member
Let me start with spelling; I can't. I am not going to spell check, you know what I am trying to say! This post is going to be long and is a bit of a troll so let's get that out of the way.
Now, I have been wondering on something I think is going to be a tricky subject and have been working on a way to bring it up so it doesn't sound too bad and I think I have come up with an annalogy that works.
My Family and I have been animal people all our lives, My mom and Uncle taught me to hunt and fish when I was VERY young and I have a connection with nature I feel sad to say too few experience these days.My Family is native American and a lot of the traditional beliefs of us belonging to the planet, not the other way around were ingrained in me from the beginging; But, I am still a greedy American no matter how hard I try not to be. We have been raising, breeding, and training hunting dogs all my life, and I have had orfan pets ranging from Sharks, dolphin, turtles, gators, racoons, rabits, ....you name it. I have had three Vields, all of whom I took from a bad situation. But, I always knew that if one of these cams got sick I would most likely NOT take it to the vet.
That's right I said it, I don't think I would take my Cham to the vet. There is one exception, and that is if something I DIRRECTLY did could be reversed. (intestinal blockage might work as an example here) That is to say, that I would take to the vet if my dirrect hand had a dirrect effect and could be reversed only be a vet.
Now, Let me explain my reasoning here before you jump my sh!t.
The American Kenel Club is presently considering sub-specie classification for some of it's breeds. Mainly the labs. The reason for this is that what hunters and field trainers are after for in a lab has evoloved into something totally different from what a ring judge wants to see. Thay have actually evolved into two specie over the past 20 years or so, one being short and compact, with long hair for the ring, and the other tall and powerfull as well as easy to clean, for the field.
Back to Chams:
My point here is that we are currently breeding towards two different species, a wild one, and a domesticated one....
Now, I understand that what we keep are considered pets and we grow attached and feel obligated to do everything (humanly) possible to prevent any sort of "harm" to our pets; but don't we also have an obligation to the overall health of the captive specie? If a breeding cham is constanly going to the vet for eye infections and he/she is of a population where the other chams are not showing the same symptoms, we are breeding a tendancy for eye infections. The fact of the matter is that we are taking away the natural selection process (this applies even more so to human populations if you can bear the thought) Thus weakening the overall captive population.
I am not saying ignore your cham and let it die at first sign of illness. But, I know my husbandry is accurate...if Jet develops MBD then more than likely he was at a genetic disadvantage and no amount of money or vet time can change that. And, in the wild he would quickly be gobbled up by something if he was anything but tip-top shape, this is the way of the world (or at least the world we have yet to gain control over)
We try to mimic there every condition in the wild...sun, rain, food, light......but not illness or death? Evolution?
ofcourse, the only true solution here is to let them all go back to the wild and I would let mine go in a heart beat if you could garuantee me he would make it safely back to yemen, but that just aint gonna happen is it?
So, let's see if I can sum it up...we find ourselves in a situation where there is established captive breeding populations, as well as a market for more. How do we go about enusering the best for the ENTIRE captive specie?
do we continue to run to the vet for every little thing pumping them full of antibiotics and weakening thier immune systems. Growing them as fast as we can to lessen the time to maturity and breeding readiness. Feeding un-natural amounts to have large clutches for higher profits? (no offense breeders I know this is not how it is always done but it does happen)
Or, do we try to take in consideration what really is natural? That some Chams die for a myriad of reasons, that captive bred animals do not have predators and we are acting god-like and accept the fact that we do not have a 100% or even 80% survival rate? Thus stregthening the overall specie and encouraging even more hardiness and a cham better suited for the indoor environment?
p.s. please don't flame me too hard for this
Now, I have been wondering on something I think is going to be a tricky subject and have been working on a way to bring it up so it doesn't sound too bad and I think I have come up with an annalogy that works.
My Family and I have been animal people all our lives, My mom and Uncle taught me to hunt and fish when I was VERY young and I have a connection with nature I feel sad to say too few experience these days.My Family is native American and a lot of the traditional beliefs of us belonging to the planet, not the other way around were ingrained in me from the beginging; But, I am still a greedy American no matter how hard I try not to be. We have been raising, breeding, and training hunting dogs all my life, and I have had orfan pets ranging from Sharks, dolphin, turtles, gators, racoons, rabits, ....you name it. I have had three Vields, all of whom I took from a bad situation. But, I always knew that if one of these cams got sick I would most likely NOT take it to the vet.
That's right I said it, I don't think I would take my Cham to the vet. There is one exception, and that is if something I DIRRECTLY did could be reversed. (intestinal blockage might work as an example here) That is to say, that I would take to the vet if my dirrect hand had a dirrect effect and could be reversed only be a vet.
Now, Let me explain my reasoning here before you jump my sh!t.
The American Kenel Club is presently considering sub-specie classification for some of it's breeds. Mainly the labs. The reason for this is that what hunters and field trainers are after for in a lab has evoloved into something totally different from what a ring judge wants to see. Thay have actually evolved into two specie over the past 20 years or so, one being short and compact, with long hair for the ring, and the other tall and powerfull as well as easy to clean, for the field.
Back to Chams:
My point here is that we are currently breeding towards two different species, a wild one, and a domesticated one....
Now, I understand that what we keep are considered pets and we grow attached and feel obligated to do everything (humanly) possible to prevent any sort of "harm" to our pets; but don't we also have an obligation to the overall health of the captive specie? If a breeding cham is constanly going to the vet for eye infections and he/she is of a population where the other chams are not showing the same symptoms, we are breeding a tendancy for eye infections. The fact of the matter is that we are taking away the natural selection process (this applies even more so to human populations if you can bear the thought) Thus weakening the overall captive population.
I am not saying ignore your cham and let it die at first sign of illness. But, I know my husbandry is accurate...if Jet develops MBD then more than likely he was at a genetic disadvantage and no amount of money or vet time can change that. And, in the wild he would quickly be gobbled up by something if he was anything but tip-top shape, this is the way of the world (or at least the world we have yet to gain control over)
We try to mimic there every condition in the wild...sun, rain, food, light......but not illness or death? Evolution?
ofcourse, the only true solution here is to let them all go back to the wild and I would let mine go in a heart beat if you could garuantee me he would make it safely back to yemen, but that just aint gonna happen is it?
So, let's see if I can sum it up...we find ourselves in a situation where there is established captive breeding populations, as well as a market for more. How do we go about enusering the best for the ENTIRE captive specie?
do we continue to run to the vet for every little thing pumping them full of antibiotics and weakening thier immune systems. Growing them as fast as we can to lessen the time to maturity and breeding readiness. Feeding un-natural amounts to have large clutches for higher profits? (no offense breeders I know this is not how it is always done but it does happen)
Or, do we try to take in consideration what really is natural? That some Chams die for a myriad of reasons, that captive bred animals do not have predators and we are acting god-like and accept the fact that we do not have a 100% or even 80% survival rate? Thus stregthening the overall specie and encouraging even more hardiness and a cham better suited for the indoor environment?
p.s. please don't flame me too hard for this