Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Yes, i am entering unchartered territory. CHONDROWORLD to be exact! I am on a crusade to be the best i can be at chondro keeping. I am on my way to being the best i can be in respects of my chondro husbandry,.... Yada yada yada, enough drama!

Well, some of you may know me, probably most of you dont. I deal mostly with boids. To be more specific, boas of various kinds, a few different pythons, monitors, tortoises etc. The one animal i have never dealt with but have always been very intrigued by, is THE CHONDRO. They are extremely beautiful animals indeed. Although i have never owned one of these great animals, it has always been my belief that they are probably the most beautiful snakes in the biz. Dont get me wrong, i enjoy all my non arboreal friends more than anything but these guys are in a league of their own. I mostly am intrigued by the so called "designer chondros". Lemon tree's, high yellow's, calico's, high blue, i am extemely amazed and am in awe of all these animals and am hoping to purchase one of the above or maybe one of its less expensive more "normal" team mates.

I have never owned a chondro before. Therefore i sure as hell am no expert. I have done my homework and am still doing a ton of research on these animals. I have Greg Maxwells "The Complete Chondro" which seems to be the most extensive learing tool i have found along with a lot of other info i have found on the net. So i have and am still educating myself on these animals as best i can. The question is this.

I would like and very much hope to eventually breed these critters after raising up some offspring. I am in the business but i am not large by any means. I am not a big breeder but i hope to be, one day. Along with my other special interest animals of breeding, i would eventually like chondros to play a large role in my breeding programs. This brings me to my topic.

My problem is simple. Since i have no experience with these animals, but want the best animal i can get, quality wise as far as breeding goes. Do i go with a nice healthy, captive bred baby that is a more plain and less colorful animal (not a designer chondro) but very nice for $500-$600 from a reputable breeder OR do i go with a Screaming animal like some of my favorites i mentioned in the beginning of this post that are also very healthy, captive bred and from a reputable breeder but very exceptional and much more expensive for $1-2000k (Probably closer to 2k for what i am looking for)? The reason this is such a decision for me is because i am a first timer with these animals although i have a pretty extensive background with herps in general for the last 10 years. If they are more to take on that i really think, spending a grand or two may be more than i should consider. If they are as i think, more of a special needs animal as far as care goes but not too difficult if you are an experienced herper, not out of reach for a newbie with Chondros as far as husbandry, feeding, setup etc goes then i would like to spend the extra cash to get a A designer animal to start with. Why? Because i want to get into breeding these guys eventually and if i am gonna spend the money, i would rather spend more and get a SCREAMER designer animal that can produce killer offspring for me a few years down the road. I am mostly interested in the very high yellow and blue animals, they are SPECTACULAR. So it may seem simple but it is a big choice for me.

While starting with something less expensive may be better for a newbie to chondros, in the sense that i have less to lose if i find they are not what i am really looking for (Or if i really screw up somewhere and lose my investment, have problems etc, not likely and not something i want to think about). On the other hand if i go all out to get a Kick a** animal, i will enjoy them just as much as i would the ladder but i will be rewarded (hopefully) a substantial amount more and considering i am hoping for a future with these animals, this could also be a great choice.

I would appreciate any feed back on this as i am interested in opionions on how to start the Chondro Journey and the difficulties i could endure with them as a first timer. I hope i get some replies on this topic and i appreciate any and all feedback.

Thanks,
Dallas Qualres

Dallas Quarles Reptiles
Link

I must admit, i am used to the boa forum and they are WAY more helpful than anyone in this chondro forum. I dont know, i guess i just thought you may be helpful. I am a newbie to chondros but NOT herps in general but i guess it does not matter either way. I am not in the "click" so i guess that means no replies. Thats cool.

Peace out,
Dallas Quarles Reptiles

Good advice brandon....ive had several species of boids, GTP are diffently a required taste, preety to look at and interesting feeding behaviors. But there not much of a hands on type snake, but there isnt anything that compares to there beauty that isnt poisonous LOL go with a nice CF and see if you can get it goin and go from there. PS NorCal reptiles has nice little CB arus for $300....cant beat that!!!!

It is much appreciated. I knew someone may answer eventually

Dallas Quarles

Yes, i am entering unchartered territory. CHONDROWORLD to be exact! I am on a crusade to be the best i can be at chondro keeping. I am on my way to being the best i can be in respects of my chondro husbandry,.... Yada yada yada, enough drama!

Well, some of you may know me, probably most of you dont. I deal mostly with boids. To be more specific, boas of various kinds, a few different pythons, monitors, tortoises etc. The one animal i have never dealt with but have always been very intrigued by, is THE CHONDRO. They are extremely beautiful animals indeed. Although i have never owned one of these great animals, it has always been my belief that they are probably the most beautiful snakes in the biz. Dont get me wrong, i enjoy all my non arboreal friends more than anything but these guys are in a league of their own. I mostly am intrigued by the so called "designer chondros". Lemon tree's, high yellow's, calico's, high blue, i am extemely amazed and am in awe of all these animals and am hoping to purchase one of the above or maybe one of its less expensive more "normal" team mates.

I have never owned a chondro before. Therefore i sure as hell am no expert. I have done my homework and am still doing a ton of research on these animals. I have Greg Maxwells "The Complete Chondro" which seems to be the most extensive learing tool i have found along with a lot of other info i have found on the net. So i have and am still educating myself on these animals as best i can. The question is this.

I would like and very much hope to eventually breed these critters after raising up some offspring. I am in the business but i am not large by any means. I am not a big breeder but i hope to be, one day. Along with my other special interest animals of breeding, i would eventually like chondros to play a large role in my breeding programs. This brings me to my topic.

My problem is simple. Since i have no experience with these animals, but want the best animal i can get, quality wise as far as breeding goes. Do i go with a nice healthy, captive bred baby that is a more plain and less colorful animal (not a designer chondro) but very nice for $500-$600 from a reputable breeder OR do i go with a Screaming animal like some of my favorites i mentioned in the beginning of this post that are also very healthy, captive bred and from a reputable breeder but very exceptional and much more expensive for $1-2000k (Probably closer to 2k for what i am looking for)? The reason this is such a decision for me is because i am a first timer with these animals although i have a pretty extensive background with herps in general for the last 10 years. If they are more to take on that i really think, spending a grand or two may be more than i should consider. If they are as i think, more of a special needs animal as far as care goes but not too difficult if you are an experienced herper, not out of reach for a newbie with Chondros as far as husbandry, feeding, setup etc goes then i would like to spend the extra cash to get a A designer animal to start with. Why? Because i want to get into breeding these guys eventually and if i am gonna spend the money, i would rather spend more and get a SCREAMER designer animal that can produce killer offspring for me a few years down the road. I am mostly interested in the very high yellow and blue animals, they are SPECTACULAR. So it may seem simple but it is a big choice for me.

While starting with something less expensive may be better for a newbie to chondros, in the sense that i have less to lose if i find they are not what i am really looking for (Or if i really screw up somewhere and lose my investment, have problems etc, not likely and not something i want to think about). On the other hand if i go all out to get a Kick a** animal, i will enjoy them just as much as i would the ladder but i will be rewarded (hopefully) a substantial amount more and considering i am hoping for a future with these animals, this could also be a great choice.

I would appreciate any feed back on this as i am interested in opionions on how to start the Chondro Journey and the difficulties i could endure with them as a first timer. I hope i get some replies on this topic and i appreciate any and all feedback.

Thanks,
Dallas Qualres

Dallas Quarles Reptiles

Dallas, I think the reason you didn't get any responses from this thread is, it's ultimately one's own choice as to what they want to get themselves into. If you have several years of python experience, ie. breeding, keeping, raising babies to adults, ect. then you should not have any problems with chondro.

Brandon Osborne
16 chondros and counting.

I've been keeping Chondros for a little over a year now and like you, I had quite a bit of experience with other boids before that...Carpet Pythons included. Carpets are a good species to work with before getting into Chondros, because they have similar (and very unique) quirk, such as snout swelling and the slight clicking noises sometimes heard prior to a shed cycle.

All in all, though, Chondros really aren't difficult to keep as long as you've done your homework (which it appears you have).

For a first Chondro, buying a yearling or older is the wisest decision you can make, in my opinion. If you do that, how much money you spend should not be much of an issue, because the animal will be out of that delicate baby stage and will be able to better tolerate the occasional slight husbandry error.

I'm not really sure who has what available at the moment, but I'm sure Trooper Walsh has some yearlings available, and I know for a fact that Eugene Bessette (Ophiological Services) had some as of a couple days ago, but I'm not sure what they look like or how much they cost.

Good luck!
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Anthony Caponetto
http://reptiles.drivennewmedia.com