Morphs, Colors and Health

[hilabeanz]

In the ever-daunting research phase of adding a beardie to the fam, I have come across many breeders selling a TON of different morphs and colors of dragons. What I've had a little trouble discerning is if these genetically modified animals suffer for it.

• Does the breeding of certain morphs and colors create a less hearty dragon?
• Are zeros and witblits prone to skin issues? Or even sunburn?
• Is the closer dragon to "normal" healthier than a fancy designer dragon, or does it make no difference at all - just as brunettes are no more or less healthier than blondes?

Curious...


Hilary

 

[BeardedHippy]

This is just my opinion, should not be taken as fact. All of these different morphs are the result of selective breeding, essentially genetic mutations. Who knows if they will have mutations that can cause them problems further down the line. Dogs for instance, we have been messing with their genes for thousands of years and many so called 'pedigree' breeds suffer from horrendous medical conditions which are inherant to the breed, from cancers to neurological disorders.
Now dont get me wrong, im not saying that these dragons will get similar problems, but you never know until it happens, they are still a fairly new phenomena. A factor would be how ethically they are bred, if they are the result of say, heavy inbreeding then the genetic mutations can get pretty bad. I know some people will do anything for money and some of those morphs are super rare, ethics go out the window for the unscrupulous breeder. So, yes in that regard a 'normal' dragon will always be healthier.
I think they are all amazing, no matter the colour, wouldnt swap my 2 normals for flying glow in the dark paradox dragons.
Still, its a very interesting topic of conversation

 

[Dogdayz1215]

Totally agree with BeardedHippy. I am a vet on the dog/cat side of things. While I can't state it as fact for beardies, look where selective breading got us in the dog world.......dogs that need a csection bc their genetics have made them so they are incapable of giving birth (not to mention the skin, respiratory, and heart issues....English bull dog). Or golden retrievers and boxers that are labeled "tumor factories". I adopt my dogs and cats as mutts and hope to do the same with my beardie (ie normal not fancy )

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[hilabeanz]

That was really my frame of reference coming into this discussion - dogs. I have a Doberman and when researching the breed I come across kings, warlocks, albinos, blues, etc. These various dilutes and genetically out of standard dogs were a mess, both in temperament and in health, but lousy breeders charged a ton for them.

Just wasn't sure if the heavy breeding done to achieve these designer looks on beardies resulted in similar temperament and health issue. I guess only time will tell.

 

[rdoyle225]

Trans Bearded dragons good breeders are trying to make them stronger. So you really don't want to breed a trans to a trans. You want to breed the Hets to Hets for your trans. I'm not sure about the others. I pretty sure silks are not good to breed I know you should not breed a female silkies because the boys like to bit and rip silkies skin. Now the others I have not really looked into.


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[KrissyLeigh]

As far as the genetic effects from breeding lines, I think there are too many unknowns to determine for sure what the effects are....
BUT I firmly believe that dragons coming from GOOD breeders are going to be way more healthy from the outset than pet store dragons.

I have a collection of reptiles, and about 1/3 of them are from the pet stores and the rest are from breeders. Almost EVERY SINGLE ANIMAL from the pet store I have had to take to the vet. Even within the same species - I have a pet store redfoot tortoise and a bred redfoot tort, and the one with issues is the pet store tort. Of the animals I have from breeders, I have only had to take one to the vet - but that was after a year of having him.

My dragon is actually a 'designer dragon' from a breeder - he is a hypo citrus, so bred more for color than structural changes as you would find in german giants or leatherbacks. I also have a 'designer' leopard gecko and tortoise. My other reptiles (the not pet store ones) are normals bought from breeders.