Welcome to the Quality Captive Bred Chondros Website!
Promoting GTP conservation through education & captive breeding
Green tree pythons (Morelia viridis) are one of the most fascinating, beautiful, and misunderstood creatures on the planet. This Web site is intended to help spread proper information for succesfully keeping these amazing creatures in captivity and to promote & encourage captive green tree python breeding programs. Captive bred animals help preserve the natural populations while simultaneously providing higher quality animals to those who choose to become part of the lucky group of people working with these incredible creatures in captivity. Our number one goal is the conservation of the species.
domestically produced chondros -vs- farm raised imports : There is a difference
So why buy domestically produced captive bred chondros instead of the much less expensive farm raised Indonesian imports? This seems to be a pretty hotly debated topic and, in all fairness, some legitimate arguments can be made for both sides. In the end though, it should be the welfare of the animals themselves and the overarching goal of conservation of the species upon which the answer to this question should be decided.
Farm raised green tree pythons imported from Indonesia are much cheaper to produce. The simple fact that they are raised in their natural climate makes artificially manipulating such factors as temperature and humidity needless. Additionally, adult breeding stock is locally available at very little or no cost. Because of this, young farm raised green tree pythons can be produced and sold for considerably less than domestically produced animals from private breeders in the United States and other countries.
So what about the quality of care given to the animals at the Indonesian farms? Often it is very good; the farms are, afterall, commercial ventures which are designed to be profitable. Poor husbandry techniques are simply not part of a long term recipe for success. Some of the farms (such as the famous Bushmaster) actually employ world class herpetologists to further increase the chances of commercial success. It all sounds good so far, but there is more to consider when it comes to deciding whether to purchase a farm raised import or a domesticly produced green tree python.
Despite the high quality of care given to breeding stock and hatchlings by the better Indonesian green tree python farms, there are also those who succumb to temptation and take advantage of the lax or non-existent enforcement of bans on exporting wild collected specimens. This problem of less than exhalted ethical standards is further compounded by the harsh reality of the local economics. The reality of the situation is that trading in live animals, legally or not, is a fundamental means of support for many of the local people.
Because of these issues many illegally collected animals are shipped out each year, often mixed in with legally farm raised ones. The end result is that the health and welfare of both the wild populations and the domestically raised animals is adversely affected. In short, with Indonesian imports there is simply no guarantee that the animals are even captive bred and, even if they were, there is the liklihood of parasites and other problems is expotentially greater than with domestically produced animals. Even if all else is equal, the stress that animals are subjected to being shipped halfway around the world is often enough to cause sever negative reactions in an otherwise healthy animal.
Also, as long as there is a demand for imported animals the wild populations will continue to be collected illegally. It is simply in the best interest of the species to purchase domestically bred green tree pythons.
Our mission at QCB Chondros
Here at QCB Chondros, our mission is simple: to promote conservation through education and captive breeding of green tree pythons.
Current News & Announcements
In case you have not noticed, much of this site is currently being developed and new content is being added on a regular basis. I am attempting to add something every day, although with the rigors of my last year of law schol on me at the moment that may not always be possible.
Anyway, please check back every few days or so and if there is something in particular you are looking for drop me an email and let me know. I will do my best to put requests first when posting content. Although I do not anticipate producing my first hatchling green tree pythons until 2010 or 2011, my primary goal is to educate rather than to sell animals and, to that end, this site will have a tremendous amount of information on it way before then. I am also considering adding a forum section and any feedback about that would be much appreciated.
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