Green Tree Python Natural History Information

Note: Taxonomy, Biology, Physical Description, and other items sometimes associated with Natural History are not discussed here. While fascinating information it isn't especially relevant for the pet owner and this is a care sheet.

Green Tree Pythons live in tropical rainforests and humid mountains in New Guinea and northern Australia.

It's hot and wet and tropical like you see in the movies but there are slight seasonal variations The northwest monsoon season runs December to March while the southwest monsoon season runs May to October. The great range of altitude (highest peak 16,400 feet) combined with different exposures means there are great variations in the amount of rainfall in terms of what time of year it falls heavily.

Most places have about 100 inches of rain per year - it can go as high as 200 in the mountains and as low as 60, The rain generally comes in downpours during afternoon and early evening storms. Lots of thunder, typical tropical hot rain relief style storms.

Temperatures generally range from a record low of 66 and a record high of 99 (Jakarta) - more typically between 70 and 90 most of the time. Average temps don't vary much from summer to winter. Humidity is high , averaging around 80%.

Little is known of the behavior of Green Tree Pythons in the wild and lots of misconceptions exist. They don't seem to eat birds (Switak), they do indeed hunt from the ground sometimes, it isn't clear what exactly neonates eat but bugs seems to be the best guess - the consistent thing really is a serious lack of information. In many cases areas inhabited by GTP's are very remote and occasionally inaccessible.