Importing gravid females has been around at least since I got into the hobby in 2003/2004, it is nothing new. This is only the beginning -- more will be coming in and ending up on the market around March/April, that's usually when you see it. I purchased a couple of these in early 2007, they laid their eggs, and they hatched. Got some neat babies out of them, but nothing majorly crazy. Never had the chance to line-breed back to prove out the traits that the mothers showed (reduced pattern and axanthic-type). Unless the female is really obviously some new morph (like a banana or toffee), I don't think they should be taken from the wild. Many gravid girls have a pretty, light-colored look that disappears once they lay, which is what tricks people into buying them thinking they are special. However, I don't think the wild populations are being hit that hard. They aren't listed as threatened or endangered anywhere that I can find.
I did an unopened bag of 25 babies in 2006 I believe it was, and ended up with about 50/50 in terms of gender. I got some really cool dinkers out of it, some granites and reduced patterns that had all the markers of being genetic (the common ones) and a couple really pretty striped and super blushed out females that I was planning on raising up as breeders. The rest I sold as pets locally and made my money back to cover the cost of the bag plus shipping.
As far as CH babies, you can get some really neat ones. I got a few from David myself (who was actually affliated with Outback Reptiles back then and got his stock from Ian) and one was my AWESOME yellowbelly male. He was ranched, but every single person that saw him knew right off the bat that that's what he was. He had the most intense orange and yellow coloration, crazy high orange flames up the sides, and an almost orange belly. Was a really amazing looking snake. Wish I could have proved him out. So CH can be a really cool thing to dink with if you want to just have fun with it and aren't looking to win the ball python lottery.
