In the Wild
Patient arboreal hunters
Green tree pythons inhabit the rainforests of New Guinea, eastern Indonesia, and the Cape York Peninsula of Australia. They are almost exclusively arboreal — living, hunting, and resting in the forest canopy, where their distinctive coiled posture across a horizontal branch is one of the most iconic poses in the snake world.
GTPs hunt by ambush, dangling the tip of their tail as a lure to attract small prey. The tail of juveniles is often a contrasting yellow or white — a behavior known as "caudal luring" that takes advantage of the species' tendency to feed on lizards before transitioning to warm-blooded prey.
Wild Diet
Common prey items
An arboreal rat — primary prey of an adult green tree python
In Captivity
Captive feeding
Feeding GTPs in captivity requires a more careful approach than carpet pythons. They are leaner, more compact snakes — and they have a higher tolerance for fasting, but a lower tolerance for being overfed.
We exclusively feed frozen-thawed rodents, sized appropriately to the snake's body. For GTPs, "appropriate" tends to be smaller than what carpet keepers might be used to — the prey item should leave only a slight bulge, never a dramatic distension.
Feeding Schedule
By age and size
| Age / Size | Prey | Frequency |
|---|---|---|
| Neonate (0–6 mo) | Pinky mouse | Every 7–10 days |
| Juvenile (6–18 mo) | Fuzzy to hopper mouse | Every 10–14 days |
| Subadult (1.5–3 yr) | Adult mouse to weanling rat | Every 14–21 days |
| Adult (3+ yr) | Adult mouse to small rat | Every 21–28 days |
| Breeding pair | Adjusted seasonally | Varies with cycle |