The Complete Chondro

I'm not sure when the actual release date was but... I just obtained a copy of the book (By Greg Maxwell no less) from a friend who attended IHS and...

Wow.

There are a whole lotta books about animals floating around, most of them seem to fall into three catagories... Coffee table books with loads of nifty pictures and very little in the way of information (useful or otherwise; see the TFH "Atlas" books for examples), the pet store books that read very easily and flow well but are usually loaded with inaccurate rubbish intended to placate the new animal owner... and the books with real, solid, tangible information which generally means there's not a single photograph inside (but a few hand drawn pie charts and maybe a diagram of scale structure or dentation).

There are a few... very very few... that can manage to combine the positive traits of the above groups and weed out the negative aspects that make them unappealing. I was trying to come up with some titles when discussing the situation with a friend and could only think of Porras' Biology of Vipers offhand.

Regardless of any of the personal stuff that some people may have had out with Greg over internet forums, nobody picking up a copy of his book would be able to find true critisism. The writing style is casual and flows very easily, the information is top notch and the photographs are credited to some of the best Chondro keepers and field herpers on the planet.

Well worth whatever you might have to pay to obtain it retail, no question about it.

I received my copy of Greg's book from him a couple of weeks ago.
I agree, it's a very good book. Such a complete volume on this species has been long overdue.
Information on chondros, while existant, is patchy, and you have to piece it together from many sources. Greg has brought it all together in an easy to follow format covering all the aspects of keeping chondros.
While it doesn't play only to the novice to the point of boring the more experienced, it doesn't exclude them either.
I'd recommend this book to be a part of anyone's library who holds any interest in these amazing snakes.

While it doesn't play only to the novice to the point of boring the more experienced, it doesn't exclude them either.

I think that's the part that I found the most unusual...

He managed to provide basic care information for the novice AND moderate to slightly advanced information for people who've been kicking around a bit longer...

It's the way he did it that makes it valuable though. The basic information is written in a free flowing, antecdotal style that kept me reading even though I already knew what was being explained (rather than just thumbing forward to the next chapter) and then the slightly more advanced information was built up to gradually, progressively and the explainations were such that I firmly believe that someone who had never kept a GTP before in their life could read and understand. Practical application is a bit different of course but understanding what needs to be done is the first step towards doing it.

What I'm getting to in the end I suppose is... This is a book I personally would feel happy reccomending to just about anyone who was looking for an informational source and a book that I wouldn't have to add disclaimers to... Most of the readily avaliable titles I end up giving them a list of the things they should ignore; "This is one of the best books you can get on the subject but it's a bit outdated and you should ignore the section in chapter three that discusses lighting." or "It's a pretty good book but I disagree slightly with the diet." or "Holy crap, that's by Kaplan... you stay here while I get my matches."

About the only part that *anyone* could find something to disagree with in would be the Locality debate chapter but it's written in a very even handed manner and presents a well rounded overview of the entire situation rather than functioning as an editorial for one camp or the other.

Can someone tell me how to get the book by Greg Maxwll on condros [ GTP ] .....

http://www.finegtps.com/

In the top right corner of the page click on the cover of the book. Ordering details are at the bottom of the page.

I also havea copy of the book and have enjoyed it. There really isn't anything else in writing with as much solid and tried and true methods of chondro husbandry out there.

My big complaint with the book, though, is that there are not very many photos of the more "average" looking chondro. I think the different morphs and color types represented are incredible, but it would also be nice to see some amazing photos of the more "typical" chondros available.

But aside from that, GREAT book! Well worth the $45!