Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello all. I've been interested in getting myself a green tree python for a while now, and have finally decided to go ahead and do it. I have looked into a few breeders, (namels allchondros and the urban chondro), and had a question on 2 of them.

First, recently at the Tampa Reptile Exhibity I spoke w/ Michael cole of Ballroom reptiles here in Florida. He was offering baby chondros that are feeding for $225 at the show (not sure what he'll charge me now), and was wondering if anybody else had worked with him in the past.

also, I've recently been communicating with Rob at Allchondros.com, and had the same questions. I was also wondering what you all thought of paying $500 for a baby chondro from "blue striped parents".

Any advice would be appreciated.

Chris
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0.0.1 Senagel Chameleon-Bud
0.1.0 Red-tail Boa-Xena
1.0.1 Bearded Dragons-Ruff and Alexis
1.0.0 Ball Pythons-Donnie
0.1.0 Carpet Pythons-

its all depends on what you want... i would guess that ballroom has imported snakes... and probably cant tell you the localty and if he did it might just be a guess... while rob has breed the snakes in-house and can guarantee you that the snake will have certin characteristics... GTP's come in so many different colors and patterns that its amazing...
if all you want is a GTP and dont care what it might look like you should go ahead and get the cheaper snake, but if you live close to ballroom i would recomend you go in for a visit and watch them feed... but if you favor the blue dorsal stripe then you should go ahead and dish out the $500 and get what you want...
its all about preference... variety is good... some of the top breeders have plain looking GTP's... they are all beautiful snakes... i personally have never seen an ugly GTP..

good luck

shiloh

Well, I agree on the no such thing as an ugly chondro comment. I'm met michael from ballroom in person and took up atleast a half-hour of his time at the show. He assured me that his chondros were feeding and captive bred (and seeing as how he had several adults, it's believable). My only worry is, last year at the show I went with the best deal...I got 2 red-tail boas and a blood python for $90. Less than 2 weeks later the blood died, and only about 2 months later one of the red-tails died. The other however, was more than well worth the $90 I pretty much paid for her (one of the most beautiful boas I've ever seen!). But due to that, I'm worried about going with the good deal on something like a GTP. Weither it's $200, $300, or $500 it's still a big chunk of change for a snake. I'd honestly rather go with somebody who has a very good reputation and pay the extra $ to ensure I get what I want, I was just checking to see if michael had any rep at all. And as for the blue striping, would you call $500 a fair enough price for a juvi?

Chris
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0.0.1 Senagel Chameleons-Bud
0.1.0 Red-tail Boas-Xena
1.0.1 Bearded Dragons-Ruff and Alexis
1.0.0 Ball Pythons-Donnie
0.1.0 Carpet Pythons-Lindsey
0.0.1 Savanah Monitors-Izzy

$500 for a snake that they can show you who the parents are and tell you that they guarantee a specific feature is a good deal... with GTP's its all about preference... look at some of the pics that have been posted on here by others... some of the snakes posted on here are ONE OF A KIND truley priceless animals...
if the guy at ballroom says they are cb... then he should know the localty, age and who the parents are... with all that in mind... i would request to see the parents so i could see what i am buying...
i might be wrong here and someone please jump in and correct me if i am but if a snake is eating their shouldent be any reason to suspect any issues will occer... now obviousley snakes can be difficult when stressed out but the seller can only guarantee so much...
if you buy the snake from ballroom and its eating and you keep it in a proper 24" cubed cage you should be just fine...
plus keep up the routene maintenance like proper temps, humidity, misting, feeding and cleaning cage...

it does not take a college education to house one of these snakes but its NOT a beginner snake... if you do all your reading and ask all questions your are unsure of you will do just fine...

shiloh

Good advice. I'm gonna talk to rob and see what he can give me as far as a guarantee and such, and call ballroom up too. Chances are I'll end up with Rob's though...why go GTP if you're not gonna go all the way, right?

As for beginers...I intentionally waited till now cause I wanted to make sure I was ready. And, after 3 bearded dragons, a senegal chameleon, a ball and carpet python, a redtail boa, and getting a wild-caught green anaconda to eat I feel I'm ready for a GTP. I've been spending almost all my free time researching housing advice and such, and am pretty sure I can take proper care of a $500 snake.

The one thing I've been iffy on is the housing...I don't feel a 24" cubed is big enough, but do agree that bigger is not always better. Here's a pic of my carpet python's tank, and i was planning on using that size cage. Too big?

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0.0.1 Senagel Chameleons-Bud
0.1.0 Red-tail Boas-Xena
1.0.1 Bearded Dragons-Ruff and Alexis
1.0.0 Ball Pythons-Donnie
0.1.0 Carpet Pythons-Lindsey
0.0.1 Savanah Monitors-Izzy

well i have heard many respected people say different things about cage sizes... to me it makes more sence to keep a baby GTP in a smaller enclosure... Brandon uses 24X20 and he is one of the modest experts in here...
if you are going to use that cage i would strongly reccoment you get some vegitated paper backing and cover 3 sides of the cage... leaving only the front open for viewing... that might reduce some stress...

also it looks like you have a screen top... it will be kinda hard to keep your humidity constant with that...
their is so much you need to know about housing a GTP that you can only learn by owning one...

shiloh

A 24" cube is plenty big for any adult chondro. I keep babies in 6qt. Sterlite shoeboxes until they are around 18 months old. I'm going to house adults in 20" cubes soon. It's plenty big and they will still breed and thrive in cages this size. Large cages can make the animals feel over-exposed. Just today I had a nice clutch laid from a female that has been kept in a 73 qt. Sterlite tub for the last 2 years. The tubs measure 24L x 16W x 17D. The male she was bred to is also kept in the same size tub. The larger the cage, the more difficult it is to aquire the correct temps and humidity. Humidity is especially hard to obtain in larger cages. If starting with a small animal, do what's best for it and don't be selfish. Keep it in something that will be beneficial to it's health......and yes, I'm suggesting a plastic box. Good luck with whichever route you take.

Brandon Osborne
p.s. Here's a pic of the female that just laid while she was ovulating.

Thanks for all the advice everyone. I will definately go with a smaller cage, and while I'm still not 100% sure, I'm probly gonna go with Rob's GTP.

One last qusetion though...

What about standing a 10gal critter cage on it's side? The built in/sliding screen would all easy access to the whole cage when needed, and the screen could be partially (about 50-75%) covered to help keep in humidity. Still too big for a baby chondro?

Chris
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0.0.1 Senagel Chameleons-Bud
0.1.0 Red-tail Boas-Xena
1.0.1 Bearded Dragons-Ruff and Alexis
1.0.0 Ball Pythons-Donnie
0.1.0 Carpet Pythons-Lindsey
0.0.1 Savanah Monitors-Izzy

The 10 gal. will work, but I would keep it sitting upright. I use these to quarantine new animals that come in and they work just fine. Just be sure to place some plexi-glass over the screen. It could be a little large for a baby, but if provided with lots of greenery for hiding, it could work.

Good luck
Brandon Osborne

I would bet the dealer's adults were also imports just as his hatchlings are. I could be wrong, but any baby chondro for $225 is not going to be a U.S. CBB chondro. I don't know of any breeder that would put all the work into them and sell them that cheap.

Any snake from Rob is going to be top notch. He will give you the best follow up service you could get. You can't go wrong with his animals.

Brandon Osborne

and talked with him a number of times and sure I will again in the future. I don't know this for a fact but I'd guess that the babies he has are CB imports. I bought a sweet little red one from him a few months back that is an eating machine.

I'd have to agree with what is posted above in that buying from a breeder you will know more about the parents and the local of the baby you get. But if you just want a chondro then I wouldn't hesitate in buying one from Michael.
Randy
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I don't care if the glass is half full or half empty !
I just want the full glass I paid for !

Michael seems to have good feedback. I ordered a chondro from him that I should be getting Tuesday. I will post my results.
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Jay A. Martin
Jay Martin Reptiles

Hey Chris, first I would find out if they are captive bred or not. I wouldn't hesitate spending $500 on a quality captive bred chondro especially if your looking for a locality type to add to your collection.
Travis

They've all said they are captive bred...ballroom is the only one I have my doubts on simply due to price. The only real reason I'm iffy on spending $400 on a GTP is because I'm not simply adding to a collection, I'm just starting my GTP collection. I could get 2 from ballroom and still pay less than I would for 1 at allchondros.com. Hopefully the person who posted above that they are getting one from him tuesday will have some good feedback for me, but even then he won't really know how good a decision he made for a few months.

Chris
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0.0.1 Senagel Chameleons-Bud
0.1.0 Red-tail Boas-Xena
1.0.1 Bearded Dragons-Ruff and Alexis
1.0.0 Ball Pythons-Donnie
0.1.0 Carpet Pythons-Lindsey
0.0.1 Savanah Monitors-Izzy

Hi:

Unless you know the person selling at a show to have a good reputation for selling quality, healthy, reptiles I wouldn't buy from them at any price. Most private collectors go to great lengths to maintain healthy collections. The last thing they need is a sick snake entering their collection.

So, if you have superior quarantine facilities, and you remember to thoroughly wash your hands after every contact with your new snake(s)...and you're willing to take the gamble...go for it.

I've bought three chondros at shows, but they were from very reputable people. And two of them were very expensive, but they came from a private collector. The less expensive one came from a friend of mine. He gave me a good price. I knew him to be reputable so I knew I wasn't risking anything buying from him.

I've bought several chondros from Rob and, while he is asking $500.00 for his chondros, that's not a bad price considering he is very consciensious, and I can say from experience that he stands by his animals 100%...and then some.

Here's a pic of the last one I got from him. A little more than $500.00, but a good investment all the same.

Good luck,

Stu

well, unless I can get a few people to vouch(sp?) for Michael I'll most likely be waiting a couple extra weeks to order one from Rob. So far I've very impressed with his reputation, and with his attention to customer service. Despite my being honest about not being sure about spending $500 on my first chondro and him not having a lot of time, he's been responding to my e-mails promptly and has done his best to answer all my questions and requests.
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0.0.1 Senagel Chameleons-Bud
0.1.0 Red-tail Boas-Xena
1.0.1 Bearded Dragons-Ruff and Alexis
1.0.0 Ball Pythons-Donnie
0.1.0 Carpet Pythons-Lindsey
0.0.1 Savanah Monitors-Izzy

Hi:

I know exactly how you feel about having to pony up $500 for your first chondro. I was in the same situation. I've kept chondros years ago, but the first one I bought the second time around, two years ago, came from Rob. I ended up buying a trio from him as my first purchase. More money than I've ever spent on three snakes previously (and my legs were like jelly parting with all that money let me tell you). But I needn't have been concerned. After having dealt with him with subsequent purchases (with more to come, no doubt) I can say that Rob has a well-deserved reputation in my opinion. If you decide to purchase from him I seriously doubt you'll be disappointed.

Good luck,

Stu

it was never an issue of being disappointed...it was an issue of me being cheap lol. If I could pay half and have it be from a reputable breeder, good news, ya know? But I haven't heard a thing about Ballroom from anybody, and I've learned my lesson on not knowing where my snakes came from, ect...back in august I bought a green anaconda for $200...it was an impulse buy and I didn't question anything...it didn't eat till january, then died 2 weeks later . Needless to say, I don't want to go through something like that EVER again.

Chris
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0.0.1 Senagel Chameleons-Bud
0.1.0 Red-tail Boas-Xena
1.0.1 Bearded Dragons-Ruff and Alexis
1.0.0 Ball Pythons-Donnie
0.1.0 Carpet Pythons-Lindsey
0.0.1 Savanah Monitors-Izzy