Chondro as first snake?

[Charis]

Probably going to repeat a lot here. But typically, no I would not recommend a GTP as a beginner or even as a second or third snake. That said, if you read up on them a ton, talk to breeders, get your enclosure together and set it up, have everything dialed in and wait 3-6 months to be sure it's maintaining and tweak anything that needs it during that period, before buying the actual snake, you can probably make it work. I would recommend an at least 2+ year old captive bred, well started male GTP from a trusted breeder if it's your first. Doing all that right will not be cheap. Babies are awesome how they change color but are incredibly delicate. Female GTPs are somewhat more prone to prolapses than males, so an adult male is probably going to have less health risks in most cases.

Sometimes trying another species to get experience is a good idea and yet if the passion is totally lacking for the "stepping stone" snake(s) that can be a disservice to the throwaway snake and become a problem for the keeper, so I'm not against someone going for what they are passionate about first if they are willing to be smart about it.

While my Amazons are much hardier than the GTPs I've dealt with, for the most part they have also been a lot meaner. None of them are good have out all the time, lap snakes like a BP or even most the colubrids but the GTP is easier to handle and actually seems to like the opportunity to explore. The ATBs jut want to kill you.