Pictorial progression on the life of a green tree python.

I was reading Manda's thread on Sped, and thought it might be neat for some people here to see the progression and changes a green tree python goes through as the ontogenetic color change sets in. I don't have exact dates on all the pics offhand, but the first is from 06/2011 through the last, in 12/2012.





























The change is amazing

The change of color is indeed awesome! I prefer green over red, at least on the snakes. It would be nice if you have the actual date or at least the month as well as the age of the snake on each photo. So we can all see the color changing progress with a more detailed timeline.

Really awesome pictures, really awesome green tree python! Can you sex it yet? He or she is a real beauty.

Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the update!
Very interesting change of color. What have you been feeding your python? I was under the impression you have to have certain color enhance food sources to have bright colors. Is the last photo displaying the fully matured color?

(01-22-2013 04:47 PM)Ram Wrote:  Thanks for the update!
Very interesting change of color. What have you been feeding your python? I was under the impression you have to have certain color enhance food sources to have bright colors. Is the last photo displaying the fully matured color?

Up to small adult mice. That's just the colour, lol

The last three pics were on the same day, about a month ago. S/he's still changing, so there its sol more to go. The back half is still getting brighter yellow, and there are still the neonate spots along the back to change. Most gtp's change over their whole lives, but it slows considerably after the first few years.

Whoa! I really really like this post. A lot. GTPs are so cool.

Thanks AOD, she just keeps getting better and better!

I don't know anything about snakes but why did it start out as red anyway? I mean it could have started out as green right?. I assume it won't go back to being red since it is a green tree python. Just wondering what the purpose of changing color over this long period of time serves. It could be camouflage but still the question remains - why do they start out red? By the way, nice snake... I also like green.

Your snake is very beautiful! Is it male or female? What do you feed him / her? It is interesting to see the very dramatic change in colors!

Was the last photo taken during the final color phase?

Sorry for the many questions! I do love snakes but I think green tree pythons are such exceptionally beautiful creatures!

(08-13-2013 11:40 AM)Tribie Wrote:  I don't know anything about snakes but why did it start out as red anyway? I mean it could have started out as green right?. I assume it won't go back to being red since it is a green tree python. Just wondering what the purpose of changing color over this long period of time serves. It could be camouflage but still the question remains - why do they start out red? By the way, nice snake... I also like green.

The name green tree python is the common name of the species Morelia viridis & Morelia azureus. As adults, most are primarily green, but animals from different islands and locales can have a coloration of green, yellow, blue, black and white, with many combinations.

Neonates start off life either yellow or a red/orange. Most neonates stay lower to the ground, so the theory is that this helps them blend into leaf litter, flowers, etc, better. Some people also think it may be a mimicry of smaller venomous snakes.

Also of an interesting note, animals from the Biak islands have long been noted to take a much longer time through this change, and apparently there are no or very few raptors on these islands, leading to a theory that since there are fewer arboreal predators, there is less need to change to an adult green color as they age and start to live at higher elevations.

It's all speculation really, just theories. But that is one of things that make them so fascinating!

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(08-13-2013 07:32 PM)BWP Wrote:  Your snake is very beautiful! Is it male or female? What do you feed him / her? It is interesting to see the very dramatic change in colors!

Was the last photo taken during the final color phase?

Sorry for the many questions! I do love snakes but I think green tree pythons are such exceptionally beautiful creatures!

This is a female. She is now eating adult mice. All my snakes eat frozen/thawed prey. Most of these species actually continue to change for their entire lives, though to a lesser extent. I would say her dramatic changes are done, but she is still changing. That last pic is probably 6 months old, and she has changed a bit since. I need to get some new pics of her.

She's really beautiful! How large do your her to grow? I'm pretty clueless about keeping reptiles (I'm mostly a dog-and-fish guy) but I must say that I always had the impression that snakes preferred live prey (I could be wrong but then again, like I said, I'm pretty clueless about this!).

I never knew that you could feed them frozen and thawed prey. Do you microwave or heat the frozen mice before feeding her? Sorry for the silly questions but I'm really curious!

Most green tree pythons won't exceed 6', and stay slender at that.

As for the frozen prey, almost all captive snakes that are acclimated to captivity, will take take dead prey, either frozen/thawed or freshly killed. Sometimes you have to do the "zombie rat dance", wiggling it a bit. Some babies will only take live for a few times, etc. Most generally still constrict the prey, though some will just take it and swallow it. I gnerally warm it up to body temp in a ziplock bag in hot water.

A few new pics of this gorgeous girl!!

She is just getting prettier every time you show her off.
Is she still growing? How big is she now?

Please show us some videos of this gorgeous animal instead of just photos.