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My, people do like to make things difficult. To clarify my previous remarks:
In breeding is a form of selective breeding and ALL animal Husbandry uses it. The Cat Fanciers Association is 100 years old this year; The American Kennel Club is 126 years old; As Bill Love's excellent documentary, REPTILEMANIA, points out, the domestication of snakes is in its infancy. There are almost no studies on snake genetics available. I am, therefore, relying on almost 40 years of my personal experience and research with other species.
As for the application of selective breeding and in breeding (and by in breeding I mean brother/sister and parent/offspring pairings. Less closely related pairings, I consider line breeding). In breeding specimens with the visible desired trains will produce the trait in off spring more reliably than when breeding unrelated specimens exhibiting the trait. I stand by the turkey and cattle example.
As for the discussion of hybrid vigor or "inbreeding depression" I suspect that there are very few of you out there who have five generations of your own breeding to test my theory. I am basing the five generation rule on a study done with birds by the San Diego Zoo in the 70's. I found that data to be reliable in dogs, cats, birds and fish, all of which I have bred to the fifth generation or more. As far as the hetero/homo-zygosity of your initial population, tell me, who has viability data on their snakes for even three generations? The five generation rule is based on the "probability" that fertility, viability issues OTHER THAN specific disease will manifest within five generations.
Bottomline, In breed to develop the traits you want, then line breed to maintain that trait, with an occasional outcross to maintain vigor.
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