Hello from Atlanta GA

[Kurt]

Despite your repeated attempts to characterize me as an arrogant dart frogger, the primary focus of my collection and my real passion is Central and South American tree frogs.

Same here, my main focus are treefrogs particularly those of the Neotropical region. I also agree that man-made-morphs and hybrids are just plain wrong, maybe a little evil. Why do people feel the need to make wild animals into domestic animals? If you want something like that get a dog. What attracts me to frogs (and wild animals in general) is the fact that they are natural and untampered with, a slice of the wild. I want what I have to be just like I would find it in the great outdoors. I think that bringing hybrids into batraculture will eventually make the hobby more about domesticated amphibians and less about of the wild and mother nature, and I think that is just sad. Look at corn snakes, they're just about domestic animals at this point.

So people please stop tampering with the natural order. There are plenty of species out there to keep you busy. That's why I wrote the Meet The Frog Series. I wrote it to expose people to what is actually out there. Of course some of it is beyond the reach of most of us, but there are some in the series that are quite attainable. Just go to CalPhotos: Animals and be blown away by what you see.

[SethD]

What attracts me to frogs (and wild animals in general) is the fact that they are natural and untampered with, a slice of the wild. I want what I have to be just like I would find it in the great outdoors. I think that bringing hybrids into batraculture will eventually make the hobby more about domesticated amphibians and less about of the wild and mother nature, and I think that is just sad. Look at corn snakes, they're just about domestic animals at this point.

Normal corn snakes are available for those who want them, it is not that they have been lost, it is just that a lot of people like color morphs. If you are a "natural snake" fan there are still a enormous number of possibilities and your options have not diminished. It is just that other things are more popular. That is true of all species with a lot of morphs on the market. The morphs didn't destroy the natural part of the hobby, they just added to it. If it isn't an issue of just wanting everyone in the hobby to like only "natural" animals because that is what you personally like show me examples in the reptile or amphibian hobby where color mutations or what have you made "natural" animals wild colorations unavailable. They didn't do that, what they did was bring a lot of new people into the hobby and create new fans for that particular type of animal. To use your example, people kept corn snakes before all the mutations started, but the number of keepers exploded once more and more morphs became available. I wonder if some of the anti-morph anti-hybrid-anything sentiment in some people is more due to a concern that a lot of new people with view not exactly like theirs could enter the hobby. I guess it depends on your point of view if new people in the hobby is a good or bad thing.