Lineage...is it necessary?
I read a post on FaceBook where someone doesn't feel lineage is necessary. Let me preface this post by stating my personal opinion. I do not condone breeding non-lineaged gliders, I will not encourage it, and I will try to explain to someone why I don't feel it should be done. With that being said, it's your choice, not mine what you do. But let's just take a look at why lineage may be of some importance.
Will breeding only lineaged gliders guarantee me healthy animals? Lineage is very important. But let's be honest. We can have unhealthy animals that come from parents with lineage. We can have unhealthy gliders from non-lineaged parents. We can have what we feel are healthy gliders from both as well. "Lineage" doesn't make gliders healthy.
When we breed, and track their lineage (and hopefully any defects/health issues) we can selectively breed for desirable traits. That is what we need to do. We also need to ensure we are not inbreeding or irresponsibly line breeding. This can be very detrimental to their overall species. When we breed, we should be doing so for the betterment of the species. There has been much research done on the effects of inbreeding depression. This is why breeding gliders without lineage is truly frowned upon. (The following link is to a research paper that I had done by a student at Oberlin College on inbreeding. http://www.glidernursery.com/inbreeding.html)
If you breed gliders and you have no lineage or history on their lines, there is no way to know if you are introducing or enhancing a negative trait (gene/mutation). On the other side, you don't know what positive traits you could be introducing either. The risks are pretty substantial when you think about it.
Just because we have gliders that have nice fur, bright eyes and breed successfully, doesn't necessarily mean they are "healthy". We can't see what is going on on the inside. Most times we don't know there are health issues until they die and a necrospy is done. And to be perfectly honest, this is where I feel the majority of breeders and owners fall very short in the responsibility area. If there is a health issue found, people are so afraid to put it into the database for tacking purposes due to what I feel is fear of their lines being attacked. People may then bash the line, stop buying or breeding the line. This isn't always necessary. The tracking needs to start and see if there is a pattern before it can be determined to be strictly a genetic issue. But with this, we could try to eliminate issues rather than continue breeding them.
Fact is, each of us has our own opinion on whether or not every glider should be bred. These animals are your pets to do so as you choose. My only plea to anyone wishing to breed is to seriously research it first. Once you have done your due diligence, then decide for yourself if your gliders meet your personal criteria for "breeding stock" (sorry, had to use that term). If so, then you have made your decision, if not, then please keep them as the marvelous pets they are and seek out breedable stock.
Another thing to take into consideration when breeding is marketability of the joeys. There are some people that don't care about lineage, some people that don't understand lineage, and some people that will only buy if they are lineaged. Be aware of this and use this as part of your decision making process in determining if you should or should not breed your gliders.
Will breeding only lineaged gliders guarantee me healthy animals? Lineage is very important. But let's be honest. We can have unhealthy animals that come from parents with lineage. We can have unhealthy gliders from non-lineaged parents. We can have what we feel are healthy gliders from both as well. "Lineage" doesn't make gliders healthy.
When we breed, and track their lineage (and hopefully any defects/health issues) we can selectively breed for desirable traits. That is what we need to do. We also need to ensure we are not inbreeding or irresponsibly line breeding. This can be very detrimental to their overall species. When we breed, we should be doing so for the betterment of the species. There has been much research done on the effects of inbreeding depression. This is why breeding gliders without lineage is truly frowned upon. (The following link is to a research paper that I had done by a student at Oberlin College on inbreeding. http://www.glidernursery.com/inbreeding.html)
If you breed gliders and you have no lineage or history on their lines, there is no way to know if you are introducing or enhancing a negative trait (gene/mutation). On the other side, you don't know what positive traits you could be introducing either. The risks are pretty substantial when you think about it.
Just because we have gliders that have nice fur, bright eyes and breed successfully, doesn't necessarily mean they are "healthy". We can't see what is going on on the inside. Most times we don't know there are health issues until they die and a necrospy is done. And to be perfectly honest, this is where I feel the majority of breeders and owners fall very short in the responsibility area. If there is a health issue found, people are so afraid to put it into the database for tacking purposes due to what I feel is fear of their lines being attacked. People may then bash the line, stop buying or breeding the line. This isn't always necessary. The tracking needs to start and see if there is a pattern before it can be determined to be strictly a genetic issue. But with this, we could try to eliminate issues rather than continue breeding them.
Fact is, each of us has our own opinion on whether or not every glider should be bred. These animals are your pets to do so as you choose. My only plea to anyone wishing to breed is to seriously research it first. Once you have done your due diligence, then decide for yourself if your gliders meet your personal criteria for "breeding stock" (sorry, had to use that term). If so, then you have made your decision, if not, then please keep them as the marvelous pets they are and seek out breedable stock.
Another thing to take into consideration when breeding is marketability of the joeys. There are some people that don't care about lineage, some people that don't understand lineage, and some people that will only buy if they are lineaged. Be aware of this and use this as part of your decision making process in determining if you should or should not breed your gliders.
Tracking Lineage
Tracking lineage is typically done in a pedigree program. Many people use The Pet Glider to keep track of lineage. This is a fee online site. Others choose to use their own programs themselves in order to maintain more secure data. It's preferable to be able to track a sugar gliders lineage back to the founding gliders whenever possible.
Lineage is the family tree. This will trace all of their ancestors and can be used to determine kinship and potential genetic compatibility. It can also be used to track lifespan (by birth and death dates) and health issues when the data is provided by the owners.
Lineage is the family tree. This will trace all of their ancestors and can be used to determine kinship and potential genetic compatibility. It can also be used to track lifespan (by birth and death dates) and health issues when the data is provided by the owners.
