Hybrid snappers... It's possible!

TroyMIfishkeeper

Jack Dempsey
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Dec 7, 2015
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Found a guy in Hong Kong who collects snappers... I'm not going to disclose his name yet... He keeps alligator snappers, common snappers, Florida snappers, albinos, leucistics, melanistics, hypos, piers, any snapper you can think of... Including CST x AST hybrids!
Or, so he claims. image.jpeg image.jpeg image.jpeg
These are some images he sent me in a private conversation. They seem legit to me but I wanted everyone else's input. The head looks like a common snapper and the shell is round like a common, but the spiky scutes on top of the shell definitely say this is a hybrid.
I just wanted to share before I order a youngster from him in a few months :)
 
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krichardson

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Interesting,the head looks more like that of a common but as you have said the carapace is like that of the alligator's.Also,I can see the ridges around the eye but I don't see any false worm inside the turtle's mouth.Either way I'm not sure what the point would be in hybridizing the two species other than personal acheivement?
 
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TroyMIfishkeeper

Jack Dempsey
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Interesting,the head looks more like that of a common but as you have said the carapace is like that of the alligator's.Also,I can see the ridges around the eye but I don't see any false worm inside the turtle's mouth.Either way I'm not sure what the point would be in hybridizing the two species other than personal acheivement?
To be honest, I don't really think hybridizing any two species has a point other than personal achievement or profit. I usually don't like hybridization unless it's with two very similar species, but a hybrid snapper is something I thought I would never have the opportunity to own. Snappers are a personal favorite of mine, and I think it will be a very interesting experience to own a hybrid.
 
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predatorkeeper87

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Interesting,the head looks more like that of a common but as you have said the carapace is like that of the alligator's.Also,I can see the ridges around the eye but I don't see any false worm inside the turtle's mouth.Either way I'm not sure what the point would be in hybridizing the two species other than personal acheivement?
agreed, its still going to be a massive animal so its not a "keep a mini AST now!" thing...though if this is true then that's how they'll be marketed....
 

krichardson

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agreed, its still going to be a massive animal so its not a "keep a mini AST now!" thing...though if this is true then that's how they'll be marketed....
This is along the lines of what I was thinking...never had the pleasure of keeping an AST but I am a big fan of the CST and have had a few....one local shop has a large one that is very tempting as a matter of fact..but if this is true the hybrid does not look unique enough for me to be too excited about it.AST do have the better looking shell though.
 

TroyMIfishkeeper

Jack Dempsey
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Dec 7, 2015
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Troy, Michigan USA
agreed, its still going to be a massive animal so its not a "keep a mini AST now!" thing...though if this is true then that's how they'll be marketed....
Exactly. That's why I'm not disclosing the name of the seller... It's probably better that this doesn't become a trend in the US. Sort of like the dwarf caiman. "Dwarf" doesn't really mean "dwarf."
I do wonder as to HOW large the hybrid will get... Larger than a CST, but will it be slightly smaller, the same size, or could it be even larger than an AST?
 

predatorkeeper87

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Exactly. That's why I'm not disclosing the name of the seller... It's probably better that this doesn't become a trend in the US. Sort of like the dwarf caiman. "Dwarf" doesn't really mean "dwarf."
I do wonder as to HOW large the hybrid will get... Larger than a CST, but will it be slightly smaller, the same size, or could it be even larger than an AST?
I'd compare it to an RTCxTSN hybrid. Somewhere in the middle but still too big for the general hobby lol.
 
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predatorkeeper87

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This is along the lines of what I was thinking...never had the pleasure of keeping an AST but I am a big fan of the CST and have had a few....one local shop has a large one that is very tempting as a matter of fact..but if this is true the hybrid does not look unique enough for me to be too excited about it.AST do have the better looking shell though.
I love CST's, kept a fair few in my younger days haha. Always let them go when they got to about the size of a softball though because I knew I couldn't house them.

EDIT they were WC to begin with and kept outside...for all the "OMG DONT RELEASE ANIMALS!" people about to jump down my throat.
 

convict360

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I love CST's, kept a fair few in my younger days haha. Always let them go when they got to about the size of a softball though because I knew I couldn't house them.

EDIT they were WC to begin with and kept outside...for all the "OMG DONT RELEASE ANIMALS!" people about to jump down my throat.
OMGZ PRUDATR KEEPR UR S IRRSPONSBLE MAHN WAT THE HLL
 
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