Green Tree Python
Regenstein Small Mammal-Reptile House
Did You Know?
- Green tree pythons hunt by dangling their tail to lure prey in before striking.
- Young green tree pythons are yellow or maroon when born. They get their green coloration after six to eight months.
- These snakes have around 100 teeth.
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Overview
Scientific Name: Morelia viridis
Class: Reptiles
Diet: Lizards, birds, and other arboreal vertebrates
Range: New Guinea and northeastern Australia
Endangered Status: Least Concern
More Information
Green tree pythons are non-venomous snakes that can get to 5–6 feet in length. They appear in a variety of green shades with broken white or yellow stripes down their backs. This provides good camouflage in their native rainforests. These snakes have diamond-shaped heads and hooks at the ends of their tails.
They spend most of their time on tree branches with their head in the center of a coil. They use heat-sensing pits to help them catch prey. Females lay up to 30 eggs per clutch, often between August and December, on the ground. They hatch after about 50 days. Newborns move to trees for protection right after they come out of the egg.
