>> as hellbenders, their
>> <)> > requirements are generally more than the average
>> <)> person can accomodate,
>> <)> that
>> <)> > is why you had better be damned good before I
>> <)> feel that it is ethical for
>> <)> > just anyone to keep them, let alone try to breed them.
>> <)> Don4t get me wrong but I think I am damned good
>> <)> with sticky animals.
>
> You may be good with these animals, how do you come to that conclusion?
Have
> you bread similiar species as hellbenders? Have you kept them for even
> close to their life expectancy? What is you success rate with surrogate
> species? How do we even know how to judge. I am cautious about individuals
> who are boastful. Nothing personal. You may be the best, then you may
think
> you are the best. (This is just rhetorical, not personal. No offense
> meant.)
I understand your position and don4t take anything personal. Of course it is
questionable how to show performance in this case. Just to mention I don4t
take me for THE best but I am cool enough to say I am in the top group. I
know breeders having more species than me actually and raising more
offspring (for sale). I don4t do that, I rather give some hundreds of fry
away for free or feed the surplus to other fishes. In amphibia I have 30
years of experience with native newts and salamanders. The climate is very
similar as in the central of the USA. Unfortunately we don4t have any
surrogate species for hellbenders (if so I would still want them, I think).
Before the rstrictions came into action here I always put my salamanders
back into nature and took new ones again. I raised many of them and brought
up wounded specimen with good success even if they had no more legs and
tails at all (at least most of them, not all). I think one of my advantages
is to be able to observe habitat and excerpt the key conditions for a
species. Same in the tank. I observe and come to conclusions. Sometimes
trial and error as well. I call this "feeling" for the critters and know
this from ohter breeders to have it. Maybe it4s just like the "green thumb"
for plants. But this alone is not suitable for a screening of perspective
candidates for endangered species. There has to be some definite knowledge
and understanding of biology in general and the proposed species in
particular.
But all of this can be avoided if it is commonly agreed upon the fact that
hobbyist collectors don4t put a threat on endangered species. Now we are
back to where we started.
Steffen
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