Standards
The published Standards of The Reptile Club. Authoritative definitions and procedures governing the Registry of pedigrees.
The Standards are The Reptile Club's authoritative documents on the language and practice of reptile pedigree. Each remains in effect until superseded by a later issue. Standards govern the words by which lineage is recorded, the procedures by which records enter the Registry, and the conventions used in the publication of registered animals.
Standards are published as they are adopted. Several are presently in preparation; their entries below indicate the expected scope and the season of expected adoption.
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Pedigree Terms and Lineage Documentation
Establishes the vocabulary by which the Registry records and reports lineage. Defines registered animal, registration code, Certificate of Pedigree, producer, current owner, sire and dam, lineage as a graph, and the unregistered parent slot. Governs the language printed on every Certificate of Pedigree.
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Registration Photos
Establishes the requirements for the photos submitted with a registration: original and at full quality, legible, free of text other than a breeder’s watermark, and taken by the submitter or used with permission. Governs how review treats a registration whose photos fall short.
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Registered Names
Establishes the requirements for the names carried by a registration, which appear on the permanent public record and on the Certificate of Pedigree. Governs how review treats a registration whose name falls short, and applies to every name the Registry prints.
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Trait Recognition and Evidence
Will establish the evidence on which the Registry recognizes a heritable trait, the classes in which a recognized trait is recorded, and the language used when a trait is published on a Certificate of Pedigree. Applies to every species for which the Registry publishes structured traits.
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Crested Gecko Morphs
The first species-specific Standard. Will establish the morph terms recognized by the Registry for Correlophus ciliatus, the conventions for combining trait names on a Certificate of Pedigree, and the position of The Reptile Club on contested or proprietary trait designations. The working draft is readable now, and it is a draft: nothing in it is adopted until the crested gecko morph committee has voted and The Reptile Club has published the result.
The committee record
Species standards are recommended to The Reptile Club by standards committees of breeders who produce the species. The first is the Crested Gecko Morph Committee.
Closed ballot records will be published after The Reptile Club completes its adoption and publication process. The public record will include the questions considered, the counts, the outcome of each question, any recusal, whether The Reptile Club adopted the recommendation, and any minority position without naming the member who submitted it. Individual votes will not be published.
Editorial enquiries
Proposed corrections, comments on existing Standards, and suggestions for Standards in preparation may be addressed to registry@reptileclub.com. The Reptile Club reviews submissions on a continuous basis. Adopted revisions are published as a new issue of the affected Standard.