Chondros, as I typically refer to them, are one of my favorite herps of all time.  They're undeniably one of the most beautiful and interesting snakes in the world and also the most arboreal of all the Python species. The species was added to the genus Morelia in the mid 1990's.  Before that, Morelia viridis was known as Chondropython viridis, hence the nickname.  These Pythons inhabit several Indonesian islands as well as the Cape York peninsula of northern Australia.

In Captivity
Along with the Emerald Tree Boa, these small pythons are arguably the best display snakes in the world and are very manageable in size (adults reach 4-6 feet on average).  Although they aren't ideal for a beginner, they really aren't difficult to keep or high maintenance, provided you provide them with the proper conditions and understand how they differ from other pythons.  I think the most common mistake is the tendency to keep chondros too warm.  Basking temps kept under 85 degrees have worked out quite well for my animals.  We use a 15 or 25 watt light over our adults' cages and they do great. Everyone says they need high humidity, but that's only because they tend to dry out easily when kept to warm.  If kept in the low to mid 80's, they only need to be misted every few days.  Another mistake is to feed them too often.  We feed the adults about once a month and they do well. As far as temperament goes, Chondros get an undeserved bad reputation...probably stemming from all the Biak types that were imported in the 80's and 90's.  Biak type chondros are typically defensive, bitey snakes...which is in stark contrast to the typically docile Aru, Sorong and Jayapura types.  That being said, if you want a docile chondro, just do your homework and it will be pretty easy to find one.

Availability
I keep a small group as display animals, but I don't necessarily have any breeding projects that I'm working on. That being the case, I don't typically have chondros for sale. I do have some animals that pair up quite nicely, so I will try to produce a clutch whenever I can.  If I ever happen to have some chondros available, they will be noted in the availability section.

Recommended Reading
For all kinds of information about Chondros, be sure to check out the Morelia Viridis Forums .  For all kinds of great information on housing, breeding and just about everything you can imagine take a look at Greg Maxwell's website, FineGTPs.com.

2008 Pairing
Trace (Trooper Walsh Mixed Lineage Male) x Jayapura Female (Farmed/WC 2000?)

Considering the light season we had with the carpet pythons, this clutch was a nice surprise.  The sire, Trace (named by previous owner), was produced in Trooper Walsh's famous 2001 Ole Yeller x Blue Dragon Lady clutch.  Ole Yeller was a 1991 high yellow animal of mixed lineage and Blue Dragon Lady was a nearly solid blue female...as if the names weren't descriptive enough. Although Trace is predominantly green, it is a bluish green and I'm sure he's packing some great genetics.  Judging by the pedigree of the sire and the appearance of the dam, I imagine a few of these could become pretty special adults. It was a small clutch of seven babies and the chondros are just a hobby project, so I'll be keeping all of them, at least until they complete their color change.

We ended up with four wicked looking dark red babies and 3 nicely striped yellow ones. The photos above were taken the day they left their eggs. Note how the yellow baby has the 'melting stripe' pattern just like mom, whereas the reds have the so-called "diamonds" in the pattern like dad (who was a red baby).  I'm not sure why the two color phases have such distinctly different patterns, but this is generally how to tell what color an adult was when it was a baby.

The following photo gives you some perspective on how small baby chondros are.
That's a small kritter keeper. Note the roll of tape in the background.