Green Tree Pythons (Morelia viridis or Morelia azurea) are native to the Northern tip of Australia, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. Previously they were all classified as a single species, originally Chondropython viridis later reclassified as Morelia viridis and then in 2019 further scientific study revealed that this was 2 genetically distinct species of snake, one of which also having 3 subspecies. In general habitat terms green tree pythons inhabit dense lowland tropical rainforest where they stay elevated in trees and shrubs and hunt from an elevated perch for any prey that passes below them. They are the masters of patience and can go days on end barely moving while they wait for prey.

Morelia viridis, is found in the northern part of Queensland in Australia and then up onto the lower half of the Island of New Guinea (the eastern side of the island of New Guinea being the country of Papua New Guinea and the western side being West Papua, part of Indonesia). It is also present on the Aru Islands off the southern coast of West Papua, this species has no other subspecies. Sometimes referred to as the “Australian Green Tree Python” very few individuals of this species in the pet keeping hobby actually originated from Australian origins, most are from New Guinea. Aru locality is probably the best known type of Green Tree Python (GTP) for this species, characterised by a relatively large size and uniform colouration, often with a relatively calm temperament.

Morelia azurea, the second species of Green Tree Python was split off from Morelia viridis in 2019 and has 3 subspecies. Morelia azurea azurea is found only in the Biak Islands off the North West coast of West Papau in Cendrawasih bay. Biak GTP are one of the most popular and commonly kept localities of all Green Tree Pythons. As adults they often retain a considerable amount of yellow colouration and flecking meaning they can have an almost “lemon and lime” appearance. This locality are known for being good feeders but can often be somewhat “spirited” in temperament.

Morelia azurea utarensis occurs in the North Eastern region of New Guinea, they are separated from Morelia viridis in the south by the high altitude mountain ridge that stretches across the central area of New Guinea. Jayapura is one of the best known localities for this subspecies, often characterised by a continuous blue or white lateral line along the length of the back. Another locality for this subspecies species that used to be more common but no longer often seen are individuals from Japen island, this island sits very close to Biak island and although this locality can superficially resemble a Biak they are different subspecies.

Morelia azurea pulcher is the final subspecies, it is present in the Northwestern tip of West Papua. Many of the most popular localities of Green Tree Python are of this subspecies including Sorong, Manokwari and Kofiau. Sorong locality are the favourite locality of all Green Tree Pythons here at Global Geckos and the main locality we breed in store. We find their calm temperament, compact size and lovely colouration mixing the green background with white and blue patches down their dorsal ridge to be particularly eye catching.

Green Tree Pythons are one of the most popular “display species” of snake in the world. Their tendency to sit out on display coiled up over a branch makes them equally popular with zoos and private keepers alike. Many large scale breeders may choose to keep them in a somewhat sterile style enclosure with sparse furnishings, but they will do equally well if not better when housed in a naturalistic live planted environment with a variety of branches and perches present.

Green Tree Pythons exhibit something called ontogenetic colour change meaning they change colour as they grow up. Babies hatch out either yellow or red and they change to the adult green colour normally around 1 year of age. This colour change can be quite rapid and happen over just a few weeks or it may be more gradual and take many months. Whether they hatch out yellow or red is entirely down to the genetics of the parents and at least one of the parents had to be a red baby itself to be able to produce red offspring. Most babies are yellow and although the red babies sometimes demand a premium form collectors they will all change to the same colour as adults anyway so we don’t price them differently depending upon baby colouration.

Green tree pythons are often regarded as being quite an advanced species to keep, unfortunately this is because many of the individuals that people used to keep were wild collected and were imported with all manner of health complaints from parasites to the incurable and fatal nidovirus. Many of these wild collected individuals would never adapt to life in captivity and refuse to feed meaning they gained the reputation for being picky feeders with a habit of perishing unexpectedly. Thankfully the practice of wild collected individuals is almost entirely stopped, many individuals are now captive bred on specialist farms in Indonesia increasing both sustainability, health and welfare immeasurably. The gold star for provenance goes to individuals bred here in the UK but the difficulty in breeding and rearing Green Tree Pythons means demand always outweighs supply for UK captive bred.

Established feeding individuals in good health should pose no problems for most keepers, they prefer a humid environment often with an elevated water bowl and plenty of perches and a consistent temperature ranging between 28-30C during the day with a slight drop in temperature to mid 20’s at night when they become more active.

These 2 Biak Green Tree Pythons are Indonesian Captive Bred but have been in our collection for over 6 months while we grew them on hoping for another male to add to our breeding program. We can say with 99% certainty that both are female hence why we are now parting with them, one was a red baby (now undergoing the ontogenetic colour change so looking more orange). The second was a yellow baby and is now just beginning to turn green. Both are in perfect health and smashing food on a weekly basis.