Follow my link to Bob Dunsire's Bagpipe Web Directory and browse the links to vendors. Do the usual comparison shopping. You will find a bewildering array of chanters to choose from.
Wooden or plastic? I use a plastic practice chanter. A few things to consider. The chanter goes everywhere with me (I wish!) and, since I drive like a maniac, rolls all over the front seat, left in the car, etc. As a beginner, you have enough on your plate without also worrying about breaking your chanter. Wood also swells and shrinks (thus develop cracks) depending on temperature and humidity. Even though cracks can be fixed with wood glue and clamps, the care a wooden instrument requires is more than should be expected of a beginner. Plastic chanters are practically indestructible (I say this even though I know someone who, somehow, broke the blowpipe to his).
Long or short? While it may be difficult for children or those with small hands to manage a long chanter, I recommend it. It makes transitioning to the pipes that much easier. Not seamless, easier. The hands are oriented slightly differently in each case.
The practice chanter is played while sitting, the bottom resting either on a table or some other surface. As a result, it's played at an inclined angle, typically with you leaning over it. The pipes are played with the chanter pointing downward.
There's a slight adjustment in hand position, but enough to throw you off. After all, you not only have to concern yourself with playing the melody, you have to strike the drones in sharply, blow steady, have the drones all sounding and in tune, be in step, stay in tempo and shut off cleaning to avoid "trailing drones" syndrome. You also have to keep an ear on the band and one eye on the pipe major and the other on the drum major (the guy with the mace).
At this stage, DO NOT concern yourself with playing the pipes. If you own some, put them away for the next six months or so. You should not feel (nor allow yourself to be) pressured to march in the band. It may take up to two years before you are ready. How quickly this happens depends on your talent, ability to learn, how much time you have to practice, whether
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