Personally, I highly recommend getting a well-established juvenile (not neonate) or young adult as your first chondro. There are several reasons for this:
First, neonates are very very delicate. A neo generally shouldn't be held until its about a year old. Their spines can break at the slightest wrong move. They are notoriously difficult to get started and even once a breeder achieves several feedings, there's no garauntee it'll continue to feed.
Second, there is no way to know for sure what a neo's temperament will be like as an adult. Sure, you can get a rough idea from the parents, but there's no garauntee. With an older animal, you'll know exactly what you're getting.
Lastly, you can start off with an adult enclosure instead of having to grow the cage to suit the animal. An adult chondro will do fine in a 3x2x2 and that is probably the best choice. Horizontal is just as important as height for these guys. Many breeders will use a 2x2x2 cube and that's ok, but I personally feel that a 3ft wide cage is better as it'll provide just that much more space for the snake to thermoregulate. I love my pvc cage from www.pvccages.com. It holds humidity really well and provides lots of room. It was also easy to adapt it to a natural vivarium environment.
Here is a pic of my cage and my GTP, Hunter. Hunter is a large male at just over 5ft. He is now 9 years old and I purchased him from Rocky Gravley last fall. Getting an adult animal was the very BEST decision I could've made - he is an incredible animal and a perfect gentleman (and an extremely aggressive feeder too).
And chondros are not always "hands off". There are many that are quite gentle. Aru's and Jayapuras are generally known as the most docile and Biaks are generally considered more flightly and/or aggressive. But that is simply a general rule. Again, getting a 1 or 2 year old animal is the best way to know temperament. Here is Hunter with Rocky's 8 year old son. Hunter is a PNG x OSHY which means simply that he's a mix of several locals.
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