Reptile Industry Ethics - Culling

A topic of conversation and much controversy in the reptile industry is culling. Culling is the process of removing certain animals from the population based on certain criteria. In the reptile world, there are many snakes and lizards that come into this world severely kinked (twisted and deformed skeletal structure) or fused together in unnatural ways. The general rule of thumb is that if the animal is able to eat, shed, and defecate properly, there is no reason to cull the animal and it can be placed in a pet home that would care for it. If there is simply no chance of survival, humanely euthanizing the animal is the best option.

Last breeding season two of my 12 ball python eggs had babies that were severely kinked. One had a missing eye, deformed skull and jaw, and an extremely kinked body. This animal made it out of the egg, but died a few hours later. If it had managed to survive I would have waited to see if it would thrive on its own. If it didn't, I would have made the responsible decision to cull that animal.

The second animal that was very kinked died in the egg. Here are photos that were taken of the body once I removed it from the egg. As you can see, there is no way this individual would have survived. I was glad it passed on its own so that I didn't have to put it down.

There is a lot of controversy revolving around breeding animals that are known to sometimes produce deformed babies, whether breeding scaleless snakes or lizards is okay, and whether or not the common types of housing for these animals are ethical. Even though these things can be discussed endlessly, the general consensus is that as long as the animals are healthy enough to eat on their own, shed on their own, and pass bowel movements, there is no reason for that animal to be culled, but that animal should NOT be allowed to breed.