Known for its bright green color and distinctive diamond-shaped head, the green tree python is one of the most attractive snake species, the reason many snake enthusiasts are eager to take them home as pets. Before deciding to adopt one, make sure you understand its behavior, lifestyle, and needs.

The green tree python is an exotic, non-venomous snake with a prehensile tail. It’s commonly found in New Guinea, Indonesia, and Australia. Though they’re non-venomous, green tree pythons are known to have plenty of teeth–typically more than 100–and inflict painful, aggressive bites when provoked. 

In this article, I’ll explain everything you need to know about green tree pythons. I’ll cover their appearance, size, lifespan, diet, and more. Let’s dive right in! 

All About Green Tree Pythons

In the wild, green tree pythons are fascinating to watch. They’re non-venomous snakes and have a unique way of hunting their prey, delivering a fatal blow on whatever they set their sights on, whether a rat or a lizard.

Because of their attractive and vibrant coloration, uniquely shaped head, and distinct dorsal spots, an increasing number of green tree pythons are being kept as pets in captivity. 

However, unless you’re an experienced handler, it’s best to avoid this species, as they can be tricky to take care of. This isn’t because caring for them is difficult but because they hate being handled and may attack.

What Is a Green Tree Python?

The green tree python, also commonly called the green python or Papuan tree python has the scientific name Morelia viridis. This non-venomous arboreal snake lives in tropical rainforests, and has long been known for being aggressive or prone to biting humans. 

Despite their bad reputation, these snakes are becoming increasingly popular as pets because they’re widely regarded as the most beautiful pythons in the world. When bred, they have irregular and unpredictable color traits, making them all the more appealing. 

If you’re looking for a green tree python to adopt as a pet, you should be careful to select a captive-bred one, as those taken from the wild are usually aggressive and snappy. Captive-bred green tree pythons are typically shy and docile and tend to be more tolerant of being handled than wild snakes.

Size and Appearance

Green tree pythons, as their name suggests, are bright green, which helps them stay camouflaged in leafy trees. Since they’re arboreal snakes, they prefer to stay hidden in the trees.

However, green tree pythons don’t get their distinctive green coloring until they reach 6 to 12 months in age. As juveniles, they’re red, reddish brown, or yellow and camouflage themselves in branches, tree trunks, and even on forested ground.

They also have vertebral stripes that are either yellow or white, and their backs have irregular spots that can be yellow, white, or blue. These spots on their dorsal side are random, and no two green tree pythons have the same spots in the same areas, which adds to this species’ appeal.

A green tree python’s head is also small and shaped like a diamond, and its tail is prehensile, enabling it to loop its body around tree branches in a shape resembling a saddle, with its head tucked snugly in the center of the loop.

Green tree pythons are large snakes weighing up to 1,6 kg (56.43 oz) and 2 meters (6.56 ft) long. Females are also typically larger than males.

Lifespan

This snake species has a long lifespan of up to 20 years. Green tree pythons in captivity tend to live longer than their counterparts in the wild, primarily because food is readily available to them in captivity, while in the wild, their next meal is never guaranteed. 

Changes in their environment can also affect their lifespan, as these snakes require a certain degree of humidity typically found in a rainforest habitat. Adverse changes in the climate, however, have caused humidity and heat levels to rise in recent years, which also negatively affects their health.

As pets, they require more attention because they’re more fragile than other snake species. 

Diet and Hunting Behavior

Green tree pythons are carnivorous, feeding on small mammals and rodents, such as rats. They also sometimes feed on small reptiles, like lizards and geckos. These snakes are considered ambush predators, hanging from branches of trees and waiting for prey to come within striking distance.

When food is scarce in the trees, green tree pythons may also come down to the ground to hunt small animals.

Once their target is close enough, they strike quickly from their hiding spot and use their sharp teeth to secure it in their mouth and then coil around it so that it’s immobilized. Once their meal is secured in their jaws, they swallow it whole.

Even though green tree pythons aren’t venomous, their teeth secure their prey very effectively. When their teeth penetrate human skin, they can cause significant injury. 

Mating Habits

Unlike other snake species, green tree pythons mate throughout the year. They reach sexual maturity at two years old, and they copulate in trees or tree hollows. Mating usually lasts several hours, with the male and female joined together the entire time.

The gestation period lasts around 70 to 90 days. During this time, the pregnant snake doesn’t eat anything and spends most of her time looking for a nesting site or hidden in one.

Their nests are typically tree hollows, but when these aren’t available in their immediate surroundings, females will nest in any hidden or protected area, such as in between tree roots, as long as they’re covered or hidden from plain sight.

Green tree pythons are oviparous, meaning their females lay eggs, and almost no offspring development happens inside the mother snake’s body. Their clutches can have anywhere from 5 to 35 eggs.

The eggs are incubated within the mother’s coils for two months before they hatch, and once the hatchlings emerge, the female snake returns to the trees.

Behavior and Lifestyle

Green tree pythons are solitary, nocturnal snakes, and sleep during the day and hunt at night. They hunt at night or when the weather is typically cooler. However, they’re not always nocturnal. Green tree pythons are diurnal during their juvenile stage and are active during the day and asleep at night.

They also spend their time resting in the trees, where they can camouflage themselves among the leaves. They prefer to be alone and only come together or look for other snakes when it’s time to mate.

Though they’re believed to be naturally aggressive, even those in the wild can be docile and shy. They will only strike when they perceive a threat or when a larger animal (or human) provokes them. Otherwise, they simply slither away from the threat, as their default response is flight instead of fight.

However, they’re instinctively threatened when humans try to touch them, so it is not advisable to approach or touch a green tree python without knowledge of proper handling.

These snakes may not be venomous, but their many sharp teeth can cause serious human injury. However, because they have no fangs, wounds from a green tree python bite can heal easily, and unless the bite becomes infected, they rarely cause any other issue than pain.

Green tree pythons also make great pets because they’re very low-maintenance and require nothing more than the basics, which include the following:

• Feeding them every seven to ten days (more frequently in the case of a juvenile).
• Placing the snake in an appropriate-sized enclosure (2 ft x 2 ft x 2 ft or 24 in x 24 in x 24 in).
• Ensuring that the humidity inside the enclosure is within safe levels (40 to 70 percent).

Because green tree pythons are solitary, it’s essential to leave them alone in their enclosures and refrain from touching them as much as possible. Though naturally docile, attempts to hold or touch this snake may provoke an attack.

Habitat

Green tree pythons are usually found in New Guinea, Indonesia, and Australia. They thrive in humid tropical rainforests with thick vegetation, relying on this for cover and safety. They can also be found in montane forests, secondary forests, gardens, agricultural landscapes, and shrublands. 

Although they’re not a threatened species, their population has recently become threatened by massive changes to their habitats, encroachment of human activities into and destruction of rainforests, and illegal wild snake poaching, where they’re often sold as pets.

To protect this species from becoming endangered, it’s important only to buy pets confirmed to be from trustworthy captive breeders. Better yet, leave exotic animals alone to thrive where they are content.

Conclusion

Green tree pythons are an eye-catching snake species. Their bright green bodies, irregular markings, and fascinating hunting behavior in the wild make them both mysterious and captivating. 

However, like any exotic animal, they thrive best in their natural habitat, which means that though they may make great pets, it’s not necessarily the best option for them.