Introduction
The green tree python (Morelia viridis), a stunning arboreal snake native to New Guinea, surrounding islands, and the Cape York Peninsula in Australia, is a popular choice for reptile enthusiasts. Known for its vibrant green color and unique arboreal lifestyle, understanding the specific dietary needs and feeding habits of this species is crucial for ensuring its health and well-being in captivity. This article provides a detailed overview of the green tree python's diet and feeding habits, drawing on scientific research, natural history data, and the experiences of expert keepers.
Natural Diet and Hunting Behavior
Green tree pythons are carnivores, primarily consuming small mammals and reptiles in their natural habitat. They are primarily nocturnal hunters, employing an ambush strategy to capture their prey. They hold onto a branch using their prehensile tail, striking out from an S-shaped position and constricting the prey. Wild specimens have also been observed wrapped around the base of small tree trunks, facing down in an ambush position, waiting for ground mammals to prey upon them as they pass by. Juveniles tend to inhabit forest edges and canopy gaps, while adults prefer closed canopy forests, influencing their hunting strategies and prey selection. These pythons locate prey by sight and use labial pits to identify an animal's heat signature. They may also wiggle their tail like a lure to entice prey within striking range.
Captive Diet: Mimicking the Wild
In captivity, it's essential to provide a diet that closely resembles the natural diet of green tree pythons. While rats and mice are the most common feeder animals, variety is key to a healthy and balanced diet.
Prey Options:
- Mice
- African soft-furred rats
- Domestic rats
- Hamsters
- Gerbils
- Quail
- Chicks
- Reptilinks (especially iguana and frog meat)
These can be purchased from high-quality breeders.
Frozen-Thawed vs. Live Prey
It is best to offer frozen-thawed prey rather than live to your pet snake. This is safer for the snake and generally considered to be more humane as well. Prey should be thawed in a plastic bag in warm water to around 100°F/38°C before offering. Use soft-tipped feeding tweezers to reduce the risk of getting accidentally bitten when the snake strikes.
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Feeding Schedule and Frequency
A well-structured feeding schedule is essential for maintaining a healthy weight and body condition in captive green tree pythons. Here's a potential feeding schedule to keep your pet in lean body condition:
- Hatchlings: Every 5-7 days
- Juveniles: Every 1-2 weeks
- Adults: Every 2-4 weeks
Food should be offered after the snake starts to ‘tell’ you that it’s hungry by demonstrating more restless behavior/increased activity and hanging out on the lowest “hunting perch”.
A good rule of thumb is to provide a prey item(s) which totals around 15% of your snake’s weight for individuals younger than 2 years old, 5-10% for individuals between 2-5 years old, and around 5% for those older. You can weigh your snake by placing them in a plastic tub or bowl on a kitchen gram scale.
These are just rough guidelines for feeding frequency and feeding less in my opinion is better than feeding more. When thinking about the above schedules I would say that they are the most one should be feeding. In the wild snakes are opportunistic feeders and food does not come along on a regular schedule.
Feeding Techniques and Considerations
- Offer Food at Night: Feed green tree pythons at night just after lights out using dim room lighting, and be very careful.
- Warm and Wet Prey: Green tree pythons are very sensitive to warm prey, and I offer mine rodents that have been thawed by soaking in hot tap water. I present rodents wet and warm straight from the water using long forceps for young animals and even longer hemostats for adults.
- Be Cautious: These placid snakes become voracious feeders at dusk, and they strike at any movement or source of warmth.
- Fasting: Expect mature males to fast for several weeks or months each year.
Supplements
Green tree pythons can survive without vitamin or mineral supplements, but using them can be a good way to help prevent nutritional deficiencies. Occasionally lightly dust the prey item with an all-in-one reptile supplement before thawing. Arcadia RevitaliseD3 and Repashy CalciumPlus LoD are both good options.
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Water
Your snake should have free access to a large bowl of fresh water every day. Plastic, glass or metal containers can be used and the water should be replaced a couple of times a week or when soiled. Bowls should be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected every couple of weeks or again when the water has been soiled.
Special Considerations
Juvenile Green Tree Pythons
Very young green tree pythons will eat small defrosted pinky mice and can be fed every five days or so provided they are passing waste regularly. As the snakes grow, the size of the mice should be increased and it is a good idea to get them on to fuzzy mice as soon as they can take a meal this size. Once they are big enough to take fuzzy mice I feed around once a week.
Adult Male Fasting
Male green tree pythons often stop feeding for long periods once they are around two years of age and older. This is a natural behaviour and one that as a keeper you will have no control over. Once the males become sexually active they will have periods when they roam their enclosures at night but will show absolutely no interest in food.
Record Keeping
It's a good habit to record dates when your snake is fed, when it sheds and to keep track of it's weight.
Creating an Ideal Habitat for Optimal Feeding
Enclosure Size and Design
A snake’s enclosure should be at least large enough to allow the animal to stretch out to its full length as desired. Since green tree pythons are arboreal, you must also allow enough height for climbing/perching. This leads to a fitter and overall healthier snake both physically and psychologically. An enclosure measuring at least 3’L x 2’W x 2’H, or 0.9m x 0.6m x 0.6m is a good starting point.
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Using an enclosure larger than the minimum is strongly recommended. Bigger is always better as long as the space is useable to your pet! Green tree pythons have a reputation for being sedentary and sitting curled up on a branch all day, but the truth is that they are active snakes which will travel an average of 164’/50m per day in the wild (Julander).
Once established, young green tree pythons can be housed in an adult-sized enclosure with no problems as long as they have enough places to hide and feel secure.
Temperature Gradient
Green Tree pythons require a temperature gradient within the enclosure. This allows the snake to choose the temperature that it needs at various times. In general the enclosure should have a warm side and a cooler side. Heat can be provided by heat mats, heat panels, heat cable or ceramic heaters. Again there are advantages and disadvantages to each but whichever heating method you choose, it should be controlled by a reliable thermostat. I provide my adult animals with a daytime air temperature gradient of 28 deg C to 24 deg C using heat panels controlled by pulse proportional thermostats. Perches dirrectly under the heat panel reach a temp of 30 deg. At night the air temp gradient drops to 25 deg to 23 deg.
Humidity
Green tree pythons require quite high humidity, especially very young animals or during shed cycles. This should be provided but care must also be taken not to allow the terrarium to become and remain too wet. Spraying water over the substrate on a daily basis can help keep humidity levels up. The surface of the substrate should be allowed to dry out over the following 24 hrs after spraying. I do not recomend spraying the snake when spraying an enclosure.
Lighting
Although nocturnal, green tree pythons will still benefit from some sort of light reaching their enclosure. It can be as simple as making sure the area in the house where they are kept receives some natural light from a window each day or by using artificial lights inside the enclosure. I light my green tree enclosures with LED lights and with full spectrum fluorescent and provide a 12 hour light cycle as this replicates their natural environment.
Substrate
Substrate in the enclosure can be as simple as newspaper / paper towels or more pleasing to look at, bark chipping's. The substrate needs to absorb waste matter and hold some moisture to help keep humidity up in the enclosure. I keep my adult and sub-adult snakes on a soil substrate that lets me control the humidity in my enclosures at consistent, relatively high levels.
Perches
Perches can be made from plastic pipe or cut branches. If branches are used they can be sealed with varnish to stop them rotting in the high humidity and to allow easier cleaning. Any branches that are going to be varnished need to be fully dried out before coating with varnish. Various diameter perches should be provided, ranging from 25% to 75% of the snakes body diameter and should be fixed firmly in place. It is a good idea when fixing perches into the terrarium to do so in such a way that they can be easily removed. This will allow you to remove a coiled Green tree python from an enclosure by removing the perch that it is resting on rather than trying to coax the snake off it's perch.
Enrichment
Decorations play an important role in your python’s enclosure as environmental enrichment. These items are not optional - they are essential to promoting positive welfare for your pet! Enrichment items encourage exercise, stimulate your snake’s natural instincts, and help stave off boredom.
- cork logs
- sturdy branches
- thick and/or braided vines
- large, sturdy live plants (ex: ficus, dracaena, pothos, schefflera)
- sturdy artificial plants
- ceiling-mounted hide boxes
At minimum, you will need a couple of sturdy branches and foliage for cover. One of these branches needs to be within 12″ of the ground to function as a “hunting perch”. However, I encourage you to go well beyond the minimum to maximize the amount of usable space in your pet’s home. All branches should be firmly secured to the walls or floor of the enclosure to prevent them from falling and potentially injuring your snake.