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I highly, highly recommend Greg Maxwell's book "The More Complete Chondro". It's an easy read and a lot of us refer to it often. Greg also has a lot of information up on his web site that might help you get started. http://www.finegtps.com

I would recommend a yearling to start off with to make sure you've got your cage and husbandry correct. You can get some yearlings that haven't gone through their color change yet. Watching their colors change is a lot of fun. Yearlings are going to be a little more hardy than neonates. I'd then purchase a young neonate so you can practice feeding this age chondro. Chondros can be finicky at any age and you need some experience under your belt before you can help others when you go to sell babies. Part of being a good chondro breeder is being able to provide follow up support for these sometimes sensitive snakes.

To start yourself off right I always recommend to first time owners that they purchase a US CBB chondro from a breeder they can trust. If you look around our classifieds you'll find only US CBB chondros for sale. Another good place to purchase from is the Morelia viridis forum classifieds but chondros there are not always CBB. Ask lots of questions and feel comfortable with the person you're purchasing from. If you purchase from a reseller (they aren't always honest or up front - but there are exceptions) or importer you run the risk of a bad, and costly experience. Save farm bred/import purchases until you're a little more comfortable with the species.

1. Prices vary a lot and you are typically going to pay more for an older snake, especially one that turns out unusual. You may luck out and find an older snake from a high end clutch that carries the awesome genetics but doesn't have the high end look for a little less than its neonate price.

2. Locale's aren't very important other than it's something interesting to guess the snake's background based on the looks. Go for chondros with coloration you really like rather than a locality. Locality-type labels mainly give you an idea of what the chondro might turn out like or to describe a particular look.

3. Sexing isn't that difficult to learn but it can be tricky and a little nerve racking at first. I learned from my vet and I just paid for an office visit (around $40) and he showed me how on a couple of my chondros and I got to practice.

4. No, that is not how we sex chondros. Check out this video where Rico is using a probe to determine the sex of the chondro. Rico & Marcial sexing a snake Chondros aren't typically sexed until they're about a year or age of 100g.