` Welcome to the Green Tree Python
ORDER FAMILY GENUS & SPECIES
Squamata Boidae Morelia viridis
  BEHAVIOR:  
 

   Unlike mammals and birds, which have built in heating systems, snakes rely on their surroundings to maintain their ideal working body temperature. In many parts of the world this restricts their activity to warm days. But snakes living in the rainforest, like the green tree python, have no such problems. The hot, humid rainforest climate remains constant all year around, day and night, so these snakes can be active anytime. Even so, the green tree python spends most of the time seemingly frozen while waiting for prey. Remaining completely still also protects the snake from predators. An especially dangerous threat is the New Guinea harpy eagle, which hunts within as well as above the forest. Stillness is vital since the python nearly always lies in full view. They rely heavily upon their green coloring (often broken by spots and bars of yellow or white) to mask their outline.

 
  LOCATION:  
 

   Green tree pythons live on New Guinea, the nearby Bismark Archipelago and islands scattered across the Torres Strait between New Guinea and mainland Austrailia. They are also found in northern Queensland, Austrailia.
   Thick rainforests of New Guinea and northeastern Austrailia are among the richest in the world harboring a dazzling diversity of wildlife. Predators like the green tree python have adapted to life in the trees and find plenty of opportunities among the branches. Well designed for the job, the green tree python is slimmer and lighter than other pythons so they can slip through the dense foliage with ease. Their green coloring is a perfect disguise enabling them to move around unnoticed. They are so well adapted for life in the trees that they hardly ever descend to the ground except to move between trees and to lay their eggs in the breeding season.

 
  FOOD & HUNTING:  
 

   The green tree python is strictly carnivorous. They usually devour any small animal they come across, including lizards. But their main victims are birds and small, tree living animals such as possums and bats. Birds and mammals are warm blooded so their bodies radtiate heat which the python can detect using special sensory cells located in the pits of the upper lip. These cells are so sensitive that the python can detect warm blooded animals in total darkness.
   The python may actively search for prey but their favorite tactic is to drape over a branch with their head pointed downward. When an animal passes beneath the python snatches their victim with curved teeth. Small animals are swallowed whole. Larger prey is suffocated by the snake coiling around the prey and steadily tightening their grip. After a large meal the snake may not need to eat for a few weeks.

 
  BREEDING:  
 

   Female gree tree pythons advertise for a mate by releasing chemical secretions called pheromones which the male finds irresistible. Before long the female is joined on her branch by a suitor. He courts her by entwining his body around hers and scratches her with spurlike pelvic claws located near his tail. When she's ready, they mate, then part.
   After two months, the female lays a clutch of 10 - 20 eggs in a secluded spot (normally on the forest floor) and guards them by coiling her body around them. After a few weeks the young pythons break out of their egg cases and are independent at once seeking refuge in the trees.

 
VITAL STATISTICS
  WEIGHT:   Up to 20 lbs. - but usually 6.5 to 13 lbs.  
  LENGTH:   Up to 6.5 feet but usually half this length.  
  SEXUAL MATURITY:   2 years  
  BREEDING SEASON:   End of wet season  
  NUMBER OF EGGS:   10 to 20  
  HATCHING PERIOD:   About 60 days  
  BREEDING INTERVAL :   1 year  
  TYPICAL DIET:   Mainly birds; also bats and other small mammals  
  LIFESPAN:   Up to 35 years in captivity