Green tree pythons are found in New Guinea, eastern Indonesia and far north Australia in tropical rainforests habitats with high humidity. Although non-venomous, these snakes have up to 100 teeth!
The life of a green tree python
Green tree pythons grow five to seven feet, weigh six to 13 pounds and live 15 to 20 years. Males and females mate with several different partners throughout their lives. Females lay 10 to 30 eggs at a time, which hatch after about 50 days. Newborns are yellow or red and develop their bright green color after about a year.
Green tree pythons hunt by ambush, mostly at night. They often dangle their tails from tree branches to lure prey and then strike. Like boas, they are constrictors that coil around prey to suffocate them and then swallow them headfirst. Green tree pythons’ jaws open wide enough to consume prey up to three times larger than their own heads. Their prey includes birds, lizards, mice, rats and other small mammals.
Their predators include large birds of prey, dingoes and mangrove monitor lizards. Green tree pythons are also popular pets and are sometimes illegally caught in the wild.
Green tree pythons at the zoo
Located in the predators section of the Africa area.
