Green tree python
Amazing fact
A female green tree python coils around her eggs and makes heat by shivering her muscles.
Smithsonian National Zoo
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An illustration based on the real animal.
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A female green tree python coils around her eggs and makes heat by shivering her muscles.
THE REAL WORLD
The real Green tree python
- Scientific name
- Morelia viridis
- Japanese name
- ミドリニシキヘビ（グリーンパイソン）
- Group
- Amphibians and reptiles
- Class
- Reptilia
- Order
- Squamata
- Family
- Pythonidae
- Genus
- Morelia
Where the name “Green tree python” comes from
The English name green tree python comes from its vibrant green color.
Smithsonian National ZooA snake of the rainforests of Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Australia. It spends almost all its time up in trees.
Young ones are yellow or red, but adults turn bright green. Up in the forest canopy, green is much harder to spot.
It is active at night and eats reptiles, birds and small mammals. Sometimes it wiggles just its tail to lure prey closer.
How the Green tree python lives
Young snakes are active during the day before their body color changes. It finds prey using its eyes and heat-sensing pits on its lips. While waiting for prey, it anchors its rear body around a branch and folds its front like an accordion. When resting, it hangs coiled over a horizontal branch or vine.
University of Michigan Animal Diversity WebBasic data
- Size
- Total length: about 150 cm札幌市円山動物園
- Active
- By day and by nightUniversity of Michigan Animal Diversity Web
- Diet
- Reptiles, birds, small mammals and other animals札幌市円山動物園
- Range
- Indonesia, Australia and Papua New Guinea札幌市円山動物園
Where the Green tree python has been recorded
Records: GBIF.org (CC0 and CC BY 4.0 records, retrieved 2026-11-07). Map: Natural EarthSee the records on GBIF
Watch wild animals from a distance. Do not touch or feed them, and take care of the places where they live.
Names around the world
- 简体中文
- 绿树蟒
- 繁體中文
- 綠樹蟒
- 한국어
- 초록나무비단뱀
- Español
- Pitón arborícola verde
- Français
- Python vert
- Deutsch
- Grüner Baumpython
- Português (Brasil)
- Pitão-verde-arborícola
- Italiano
- Pitone verde
- العربية
- أصلة الشجر الخضراء
- Bahasa Indonesia
- Sanca hijau
- Русский
- Зелёный питон
Names come from Wikidata and iNaturalist records. Where a language has no recorded name, we use the scientific name.
Sources and how we check
- 札幌市円山動物園 — ミドリニシキヘビChecked: 2026-11-03
- University of Michigan Animal Diversity Web — Morelia viridisChecked: 2026-11-03
- Smithsonian National Zoo — Green tree pythonChecked: 2026-11-06
We check each fact against its source. The illustrations simplify how the real animal looks.
The classification (class, order, family, genus) follows Wikidata records, checked against GBIF. Classifications can change as research goes on.
The basic data are the values given in each source. They vary with how the animal is measured, whether it is male or female, and whether it lives in the wild or in captivity.
This page was translated from the original Japanese with the help of AI.
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