Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just bought a Biak yearling at the NY Show for $300.00, which I do not consider inexpensive or cheap by any means. On line, I am seeing outrageous pricing on GTP's, and truly don't understand the variance in pricing.

The difference in pricing you see is CAPTIVE BRED vs. WILD CAUGHT or IMPORTED. These babies can be a pain in the a$$ sometimes. It's worth the extra money to get an established captive bred animal. In the long run, with imports, you may spend the same amount or twice as much on vet bills, or end up with a chondro that dies for no apparent reason.

The low end price for captives is around $400-450. I know I wouldn't sell them for less than that. Just to give you an idea........here's a pic of a chondro I had for sale as an established hatchling, advertised on kingsnake for $450. Easily a $3-4K animal now.

BTW, there were a ton of biaks in Daytona this year......which is an indication that a lot of biaks were imported. About 90% of these were on wholesaler tables, not breeder tables.

Sorry for rambling. It's just that, until you have them and keep them for a few years, most people really don't understand how much better captives are. Good luck.

Brandon Osborne

I agree wholeheartedly with Brian on this one(great looking snake by the way Brian!!!).

TRUE CB chondros are far superior to most imports. I say MOST because there are SOME imports that can do quite well, but only AFTER you've invested a fair amount of time and money(in vet bills and check ups). I have a couple of imports in my collection that are doing great, but I have also put alot of work into, well over the initial $300-350 purchase prices. Imports are usually riddled with both external and internal parasites, and these need to be dealt with. Also, when it comes to breeding, imports generally have a very sketchy track record. And another big problem is SIDS(Sudden INSTANT Death Syndrome). Many imported chondros will do great for a while, but then will suddenly drop dead for no apparent reason, often times within two years.

I said it before in another thread here, but GTPs are a definite "you get what you pay for" type of animal. I would much rather spend $400-450 on a well established CB animal than spend $300 on an import that I will have to spend another $200-300 on in vet bills.

In my opinion, chondros are kind of the Mercedes Benz of snakes. And you don't go to a Mercedes dealership expecting to pay Hyundai prices.

I will admit that $300 is quite a bit of money to be spending on a snake, but for one of the most sought after species on earth, $300 is a drop in the bucket. I've got a farm bred baby Chondro that's never been any trouble at all and is extremely low maintenance...because it's dead and in my freezer. I just came home one day and it was dead...no symptoms, it was feeding fine, etc. If for no other reason, I think that spending an extra $100 or $200 would be worth the peace of mind...but that's not the only reason to buy CBB.

Nobody ever mentions how much better looking CBB Chondros can be. Whether it's selective breeding of locale specific snakes, mixing locales to get designer Chondros, or selective breeding for high yellow animals, high blue animals, etc., they typically end up being better looking adults. It's just tough to get that through someone's head when all Chondro babies are pretty.

Take a look at some of the breeders' websites that sell these "ridiculously priced" Chondros, and look at some of the adults or juvenile animals that they've produced. Some of them are just unbelievable...something you can't get by buying a $250 or $300 baby Chondro.
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Anthony Caponetto
http://reptiles.drivennewmedia.com

Hey guys, I never said the GTP I bought was wild caught. So don't assume that my GTP for $300.00 is inferior or wild caught and is going to die in one week. I think for the age of this GTP, the price is exactly what it should be ---- this snake is not an adult, is not 'green' and should not cost $500 or $600.00.
It was purchased from a reputible source at a local Reptile Expo - and is not wild-caught. This snake is not worth any more than I paid for it, and she is flawless.

Knowing your source is very important. There is a big difference between CBB and CB babies as has been discussed above. Did you ask the seller that when you purchased? Most chondro babies sold as CB are most frequently imported farmed babies. Were you able to see pictures of the parents? Did the seller have the babies for enough time to know that it was healthy and established? Most chondro breeders (hobbyist or serious collectors) aren't selling CBB yearlings at $300 so it's easy to jump to the conclusion that yours would also be the more common captive hatched/farmed baby.

Either way, it is true... I don't think there is such a thing as an ugly chondro baby. The high end chondros of today started out many years ago as WC animals. I have two farmed babies in my collection and they have been wonderful to work with so far. I got the pair for $500!! I have no idea how they're going to turn out, but it's been fun having them, and they too are "perfect"! But, I've also got a few high end designer types and they are worth every extra penny I spent on them, at least to me. It depends on what you want to do with them. Not all farmed babies will die a horrible death, nor will all cbb babies turn into exquisite animals. Just being realistic with expectations is a pretty good thing with these beauties.... and knowlege is a valuable tool.

..

I'm not going to get into why I doubt that your $300 Chondro was produced and hatched in the United States, but I do doubt that it was. I'm not saying that it's not healthy, but only that it was probably not hatched in the US. If I'm wrong, just tell us who produced it.

Lookswise: Do you know what the parents of your $300 baby "Biak" look like? Are you absolutely certain that they were even "Biak" locale animals? Were they high yellow or just green? I doubt you know any of the above.

Healthwise: Did you get shed/feeding records from the time your baby hatched? Do you know how many times it's eaten? Do you even know the date that your baby chondro hatched? I doubt that too.

Do you honestly believe that babies who come with all of their feeding & shed records and come from blue adults, high yellow adults, high black adults, or adults with yellow diamonds down their dorsum, etc. should cost the same as your $300 "Biak?"

Designer animals like that have taken several years of selective breeding to produce, and I wholeheartedly believe that their babies should cost significantly more than $300.

-Anthony

>>Hey guys, I never said the GTP I bought was wild caught. So don't assume that my GTP for $300.00 is inferior or wild caught and is going to die in one week. I think for the age of this GTP, the price is exactly what it should be ---- this snake is not an adult, is not 'green' and should not cost $500 or $600.00.
>>It was purchased from a reputible source at a local Reptile Expo - and is not wild-caught. This snake is not worth any more than I paid for it, and she is flawless.
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Anthony Caponetto
http://reptiles.drivennewmedia.com

I'm not going to get into why I doubt that your $300 Chondro was produced and hatched in the United States, but I do doubt that it was. I'm not saying that it's not healthy, but only that it was probably not hatched in the US. If I'm wrong, just tell us who produced it.

Lookswise: Do you know what the parents of your $300 baby "Biak" look like? Are you absolutely certain that they were even "Biak" locale animals? Were they high yellow or just green? I doubt you know any of the above.

Healthwise: Did you get shed/feeding records from the time your baby hatched? Do you know how many times it's eaten? Do you even know the date that your baby chondro hatched? I doubt that too.

Do you honestly believe that babies who come with all of their feeding & shed records and come from blue adults, high yellow adults, high black adults, or adults with yellow diamonds down their dorsum, etc. should cost the same as your $300 "Biak?"

Designer animals like that have taken several years of selective breeding to produce, and I wholeheartedly believe that their babies should cost significantly more than $300.

-Anthony

>>Hey guys, I never said the GTP I bought was wild caught. So don't assume that my GTP for $300.00 is inferior or wild caught and is going to die in one week. I think for the age of this GTP, the price is exactly what it should be ---- this snake is not an adult, is not 'green' and should not cost $500 or $600.00.
>>It was purchased from a reputible source at a local Reptile Expo - and is not wild-caught. This snake is not worth any more than I paid for it, and she is flawless.
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Anthony Caponetto
http://reptiles.drivennewmedia.com

I'm not going to get into replying to your response ---- The Chondro I got was the Chondro I wanted, at the price I wanted, and for the PET that I wanted. Let's just leave it at that.

are you taking offense to these posts? Is this your first chondro? You're getting solid, sound advice from experienced keepers, and you are snapping back with very definsive replys.....at least it seems that way. No one is flaming you... just giving you information that you should take into consideration. I for one, have had negative experience with import chondros on a few occations. We're only trying to help here. I'd hate to see you lose that beautiful baby in 2 years for no apparent reason.......it happens quite often.

BUY CAPTIVE BRED

You asked why some Chondros cost more than others, so we told you why, and you got bent out of shape because nobody told you what you wanted to hear. That's really all there is to it.

Apparently, you came here wanting someone to tell you that they're all the same, so that you'd feel better about buying a lower end animal. Well, I'm sorry, but there is a difference, and I don't think anyone that's been keeping chondros for any length of time is going to tell you any differently.

I'm glad you got the animal you wanted, and I hope your chondro works out for you.

-Anthony

>>I'm not going to get into replying to your response ---- The Chondro I got was the Chondro I wanted, at the price I wanted, and for the PET that I wanted. Let's just leave it at that.
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Anthony Caponetto
http://reptiles.drivennewmedia.com

Because this person did not hear that they got "the deal of the century" like I think they were expecting.

So let me get this straight, several people here, including myself, offer you insight and ask questions to see if in fact you did get a real CB chondro. You respond by getting rude.

You got the chondro you wanted for the price you wanted? Fine, but please let us know in about two years how your animal is doing. Why two years? Because that is the life expectancy for many "healthy" imported chondros. And you won't know why it died or see any real health problems leading up to it's death, you will just see it dead. This might not happen to you, and in fact there are many people that do well with import chondros(I have a few in my collection), but they are the ones who KNOW what they are doing when they get the snakes.

As I said before, chondros are a you get what you pay for kind of animal. And by the response you made here when asked questions about who the "breeder" was and so forth, I can surmise that you bought your first chondro for a low price and you have absolutely NO clue about the history of this animal.

You also asked why some chondros are more expensive than others, and you got an answer from numerous keepers. We're not here to run you down for buying an import, but you should definitely do more research into what you are buying and who you are buying from.

And don't worry, the forum will still be here when you have moer questions or problems with your new charge.

Hi
I wish that I could buy a GTP for even a $1000. Here in Aus they are a minimum of $5000 for a hatchling, thats even if you can find any. Not that many in captivity. Yeah so I'm very jealous!