| Common Name: | Green Tree Snake |
| Scientific Name: | Dendrelaphis punctulatus |
| Family: | Colubridae |
| Genus: | Dendrelaphis |
| Status: | category 4 |
| Size: | TL 1400mm |
If you are purchasing reptiles in Western Australia, you must hold the required Category license for the animals you are purchasing.
The Green Tree Snake’s scales are smooth and colour varies considerably from grey and olive-green through various shades of brown to almost black, or even bright blue, the skin between their scales is pale blue and is displayed when the snake vertically flattens its neck and body. The head of the light coloured specimens is often grey or brown, contrasting strongly with the body colour. The belly is usually a lemon-yellow, more intense in colour under the throat, varies from white to olive, yellow, green or even bluish. They do not have a dark streak from the snout through to the eye. These diurnal tree snakes spend most of their active lives in trees or shrubs, but often forage on the ground. They are oviparous, averaging about eight eggs in a clutch.
The Green Tree Snake can be found in a wide range of habitats: rainforest, mangroves, wet and dry sclerophyll forests, coastal heaths and vegetation bordering inland rivers. They can be found on the coast and adjacesnt areas of northern and eastern Australia.
Terrarium: The Green Tree snake if given the correct environment with climbing enrichment they will explore their enclosure. The enclosure needs to be large enough to provide multiple hide rocks and maintain a thermal gradient, and plenty of room to climb, a terrarium that is 90x60x120cm (WxDxH) would be suitable to house a pair of Green Tree Snake. Terrarium’s must be lockable and escape proof.
Lighting & heating: UVB lighting is not essential to Green Tree Snakes, however a low 2.0 spectrum fluorescent globe can be used for viewing purposes. Heating can be provided with a heat tile, mat or cord to maintain a ground surface temperature of 32°C in the hot spot. Ambient heat can be provided with an infrared heat globe to maintain a daytime temperature of 36°C in the warm end and 25°C in the cool end, on warmer days you may not need to turn on the heat globe as the ambient temperature of the enclosure may already be high enough. A thermometer should always be used to monitor the temperature within the enclosure.
Furnishings: It is important to provide your Green Tree Snake with a hide cave in the warm end, a water bowl at the cool end, and artificial plants will give coverage and decoration. Large Logs and vines can be used within the enclosure to provide climbing enrichment. A pet bedding wood chips such as Chipsi or Critter Crumble can be used as a substrate.
Food in captivity: All snakes in captivity must be fed dead food. A Green Tree Snake will eat a variety of frozen and thawed mice and rats of appropriate sizes. On average they will have 1-2 food items every 7-10 days.
The essentials:
