Green Tree Python Common Problems Information

If you are looking for something and don't see it here you may want to check our uncommon problems page. Parasites are also discussed on a separate page. If you are having an issue or would like to ask a question please feel free to email us.

Disclaimer: What is presented here is our opinion based on lots of experience but we are not a veterinarian. None of what is presented here should be taken as a substitute for qualified medical advice, when in doubt go to a vet immediately. Do not pass go and do not collect $200. If you have trouble finding a "reptile vet" with experience we'd recommend you find someone willing to work with you and buy two books - The More Complete Chondro and Doug Mader's Reptile Medicine and Surgery - you can find both of these books on our recommended reading page. What happens then is that you use these books (Mader's is the vet textbook of choice for herps) with your vet to determine the best course of action for your animal. We have found most vets are willing to do this and like a challenge but consider that you are forming a partnership with a professional to care for your animals, your ability to communicate well with this person is critical so personality counts.

Shedding Problems

The root cause of almost all shedding problems is environmental - too dry. Our heat and humidity page covers this topic. Usually you discover that your snake has shed some pieces or there are tears in the outer skin layer. You'll need to help the animal finish shedding - the two things to be aware of are the eye caps (scales over the eye) and any complete circles of unshed skin around the animal, especially near the vent. Unshed eye caps often get infected and skin rings can literally strangle the animal.

For young ones: take a clean small plastic container with air holes along the side - rubbermaid and tupperware sort of a thing - and place four or five warm wet paper towels inside. A small amount of standing water in the container is ok but be aware they can drown so don't soak them in tubs of just water unassisted. For larger ones use a bigger tub and a wet bath towel. Let them relax in this tub of warm wet towels for a few hours and then see if you are able to assist them in shedding. You can really hurt an animal if you do something wrong while helping them shed but doing it right is so very simple. Stick out your finger - any one you like - that's your shed help tool. You'll use it - and only it - to lightly rub the snake the same way they'd rub against a tree branch or a rock. You'll never grab skin with two fingers, pull the skin in any way or otherwise screw around - be a piece of branch and that's all. You'll probably find that while some skin comes off much of it remains after the first few hours of "soaking". Go ahead and replace the paper towels with fresh ones or clean the bath towel and let the animal relax some more - depending on how bad it is some animals need to be soaked for a period of two or three days. It is often simplest to keep the soaking tub at proper temperature by placing it inside the cage, this also eliminates the worry that the animal may escape from the tupperware. If it is a really tough shed add one drop of mineral oil to the warm water you use to wet the towels with.

It is much much easier to prevent this problem than deal with it - spraying takes no time at all compared to helping your GTP shed. Many folks look for tricks on this issue and there really aren't any, helping an animal shed takes oodles of time and effort.

Grounded GTP's

This is a common question but rarely an actual problem. Some GTP's enjoy spending a bit of time on the ground and while it can be shocking to the keeper it usually is just a Green Tree Python being a Green Tree Python - which is sort of weird and unpredictable and good fun. We still have things we've never seen before happen regularly with our animals here , it is one of the things that makes GTP's such fascinating creatures.

If your GTP is grounded (especially if it hasn't been before) it is worth taking a peek at it - while usually no problem it can indicate a serious illness. If that is the case the respiratory or other serious weakness problem will be obvious to you.

We have one female Sorong - Luna - who always goes to the ground for a day or two before she sheds. As you learn more about your animals you'll come to know their individual habits.

Mouth Injuries / Tong Strikes

Green Tree Pythons can be aggressive feeders and while we all endeavor to present the prey item just right to prevent tong strikes they do sometimes occur. The majority of the time a tong strike will have no repercussions but if you get one always note it and check the animal's mouth in a day or so and again a few days later. Some folks use "softer" tongs to reduce the problem but we have found the exact opposite is true, a little piece of the soft tong stuck in the mouth will always get infected.

Ok so the first thing to do is determine how serious an issue you've got going on. Simple red injured areas are the least severe, swelling is more serious, and cheesy pus is a big deal. This isn't a heck of a lot different than judging a cut on your own hand. The problem with this type of issue is that it tends to get worse over time - aggressive treatment is warranted. All snakes are very slow healers and GTP's are no exception.

There are three things to do when a mouth injury occurs - step one is to increase the temperatures in the cage by 5-8 degrees. You are looking for a low 90's hot spot. Increased temps help your Green Tree Python better utilize it's own immune system.

Step two is topical treatment. This means removing all of that pus from the mouth and washing the wound or infected area. The first thing you need to do is open the mouth, this is discussed on our feeding page here.

Take some Q tips and break them in half. You want to use the non cotton "broken" end of the Q tip to remove as much of the pus as possible. Be very careful with the cotton ends or don't use them - leaving any sort of fibers in the mouth will provide a place for creepy crawlies to grow. So once you've got the gross stuff out of the mouth you want to wash it, there are a number of different solutions folks use - 3% hydrogen peroxide is common as is betadine/iodine. While holding the snakes head in a down position (gravity works) and paying attention to the glottis in the bottom of the mouth (the breathing tube) so that you don't pour liquid into the animals lungs and drown it - liberally apply your cleaning solution. This is done 1-2 times per day for a few days and you should see rapid improvement.

It is important to say something about mouth washing - some folks consider this to be a treatment for mouth rot. It's not. All you are doing is cleaning the infection site which can help any animal in using it's own immune system to battle the problem. Cleaning any wound is never a bad idea. Sometimes it can allow an animal to heal on it's own but it is not a "cure".

So the last thing to do is to put the animal on antibiotics to fight the infection. This is a trip to the vet for Baytril or the like. I first learned to give injections to snakes when I was 13 years old and I still always communicate with our veterinarian before any medical treatment, all of these drugs are available by prescription only.

This can get out of hand faster than you may think and there is a risk of blood poisoning - sepsis - do not fail to take rapid and aggressive action.

Respiratory Infection

This is when your snake gets a "cold" which actually looks a lot like it does when we get one. Coughing, distinct breathing noises, wheezing, slime and snots from the mouth or nose, open mouth breathing, resting in a pose with loose and open coils. All of the common symptoms of lung infections - pneumonia - apply to your Green Tree Python.

While RI is something that is just a fact of life in large collections and it can occur for no clear reason - most of the time RI is the result of a problem with environmental conditions. The cage is too cold or subject to drafts - excessive stress can also be a contributing factor. Try and figure out what is wrong with the environment.

The first thing to do is to increase the cage temps by 5-8 degrees to get a hot spot into the low 90's. When a person from Maine with a cold goes to Florida for a week in the winter sometimes they just feel better being warm, same thing here. If it gets worse or doesn't respond within 48 hours or so call the vet.

Most of the time respiratory infections require treatment with antibiotics. Unless the animal is in deep trouble it usually doesn't make sense to just start using a broad spectrum. Doing this is the reason why several strains of RI are now resistant to Baytril. Your vet will want to take a culture (swab the throat) and find out exactly what creepy crawly is causing the problem. The culture will allow the vet to select the proper pharmaceutical. Amakacin and Fortaz are a common choice. Some folks have found that administering vitamins A, B, and C can help strengthen the immune system.

Skin Problems or Blisters

The most common skin problem is abrasions - this is caused by your GTP rubbing against part of the cage. The first thing to do is to figure out what the rough object inside the cage is (a piece of screen, a sharp branch point, etc) and correct it or remove it. Topical treatment with neosporin or the like usually works well.

Burns should never occur because you have taken the time to create a safe cage environment, remember that radiant heat panels can not burn an animal. If you do end up with a burn correct the cage problem and treat it topically with neosporin.

When conditions in the cage are too wet or unsanitary assorted fungal infections can occur, when they get bad they blister. This is sometimes referred to as "belly rot". If you have an infection treat it topically but the important thing is to correct the environment. Like all reptiles Green Tree Pythons heal slowly but over the course of a few sheds things usually clear up pretty well.

An interesting thing to know - scars often end up a different color than the surrounding areas. Scar tissue can be blue, black, yellow, or white.

Obesity

The majority of Green Tree Pythons that are not in breeding programs are fat. The food we give our snakes if usually much more nutritious than what they would find in the wild and we feed too often. These animals beg for food and you do need to try and ignore them or at least let them hunt for a few days to get some exercise before feeding them. In addition to generally being unable to breed fat snakes have breathing problems and respiratory difficulties. Humans often consider a bit of fat a sign of "health" - not true for a GTP.