Message:
Subject: Re: Do brother/sister pairs reproduce safely?
Posted by Annie on July 22, 1998 at 13:51:13:
In Reply to: Re: Do brother/sister pairs reproduce safely? posted by Marmalito on July 22, 1998 at 12:04:12:
: : Do brother/sister pairs reproduce safely?
:
: NO! The risk of genetic defects is greatly increased. Most captive bred pets for sale in the U.S. suffer from a lack of genetic diversity as it is, so it's really not worth it... especially for the sake of their offspring.
As with most animals, inbreeding is not advised. I have a cat that is the outcome of inbreeding and he is very pretty, energetic, and completely healthy. It's only after 3, 4 or 5 generations of inbreeding do you tend to find MANY complications. It can get very disgusting so I suggest to never start inbreeding your pets. Once, accidentally, with farm animals such as dogs, cats, etc. that you can't really keep apart is a completely different matter. DON'T INBREED YOUR PETS ON PURPOSE. It's basically cruelty to animals if you do because you're allowing(and even encouraging) deformities and health problems in innocent babies.