Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Class: Reptilia
Order: Squamata
Suborder: Serpentes
Family: Pythonidae
Genus: Morelia
Species: Morelia viridis
Common name: Green Tree Python (chondro python)
General Information: In my opinion the most beautiful species in the animal
kingdom. As neonate's they are born bright yellow, red, or a dark maroon,
almost brown color. The biological reason's for these color phases are
unknown. Neonate's start their ontogenetic color change between 6 months to
a year old. There have been specimen's that have started the process much
earlier, but this is uncommon. The animal's can complete the process in as
little as a few days, to a few months. The biak local type is known to take
the longest to complete the ontogenetic color change, some specimens taking up to 5 years. The finished product
results in a beautiful green animal, of course results are never the same. Morelia Viridis is considered an
advanced species by most, however, when the basic requirements of the
species are met in captivity, they are fairly simple to maintain. Imported
animal's quite often are infested with parasite's and care should be taken
to provide your vet with a fecal sample as soon as possible, to get the
animal medicated and parasite free. QT procedure's should be in place with
every new addition to your collection. To avoid these type's of problem's I
suggest purchasing your first chondro from a reputable breeder. With a
chondro from a US captive breeder you will usually be provided with a
lineage chart of your animal (w/pictures most of the time), feed and shed
charts, also the relief knowing that you can call the breeder and s/he will
be more than willing to answer any question you might have. Import
dealer's/broker's most often wont know much more than the basic's of the
species in question.
Distribution: Found in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Cape York
Peninsula~Queensland Australia
Habitat: Rainforest's, bushes, shrubs
Size: Chondro's average between 4 to 4 1/2 ft, females can grow up to 6ft, and in some cases even larger.
Temperament: Aggressive, alert. Neonates are generally aggressive until
about 1 ~ 1 1/2 yrs, some calm down, some don't. Typically Biak local type
chondro's stay aggressive throughout their lifetime.
Longevity: On average 15-16 yrs, however there have been reports of 20+ yr
old specimens at zoo's and personal collections.
CAPTIVE CARE
Diet: Started normally on pinky mice, and some adults taking prey item's as
large as med rats (I personally prefer adult mice, or ASF's). Establishing
babies as solid feeder's has proven tough for breeder's from the first US
successfully hatched animals to this day, there are ton's of techniques that
have worked well for breeder's to get neo's started and established as solid
feeder's (for more info pm me). In the rainforest's of Indonesia/PNG they
are most likely feeding on frogs, lizards, and small arboreal and
terrestrial rodents. There has been some debate over Chondro's and Avian
prey items, according to Karl Heinz Switak ~ who has conducted studies on
the subject, out of 1,000 animals collected, none showed any evidence of consuming
avian prey items. However, finches and chick's are accepted readily as prey
items when offered (again I prefer mice, or asf's)
Temperature: Temperature gradient of 86-87 to mid to high 70's. Personally
I prefer to read my adults core temperature's in the high 80's during the
day, they are offered a night drop so core temps would read in the low to
mid 70's the next morning, still offering a horizontal temp gradient, all
year long. Neonates and juveniles have a horizontal temp gradient of 87-79
in the racks 24-7, no night drop is offered. There are plenty of heat
sources available today. If you ask me, I would tell you to purchase a
pro-products heat panel from
www.pro-products.com (size of heat panel
depends on cage dimensions, and ambient room temp) for your adult cages (I
wouldn't buy any other heat panel), and neonates would be kept in hatchling
racks (6 qt tubs), 1-2yr old animals in racks as well (20 qt tubs), rack's
being back heated by flexwatt of course. All heat source's should be
controlled by thermostat's....
Humidity: Generally 80-90% humidity throughout the day. Personally I keep it
high for 12 hrs a day, and a dry out period of the cages is necessary to
avoid bacteria and mold growth. I offer high humidity all day and all night
for the younger animals, but clean cages every 3rd day or so. Some mist
their collections, I only mist from time to time when I think they might
like it. However, I have had success using a method taught to me by Greg
Schroeder~ Dew point temperature! With my night time drop the air in the
cage wont hold moisture like warm air so of course you get condensation, by
morning the cage is fogged over and wet on the inside, throughout the day
the cage will slowly dry out so the cycle can begin again at night. Works pretty
well for me, here is a link you can calculate your own "dew point
temperature" with
http://einstein.atmos.colostate.edu/~mcnoldy/Humidity.html. For my younger animals, I tip the water bowls to dampen their paper
towel(substrate), this is usually sufficient to boost humidity pretty high
for long periods of time. (any specific questions in regards to my method's
of providing humidity, pm me)
Minimum Required Space: Neonate's do best in 6 qt tubs. Juvies from 1-2 yrs
of age in 15 to 20 qt tubs. Adult's can be kept in cage's from 2ft cubes to
cage dimension's of 36-24-24, and even bigger. As long as you are equipped
to provide the required temp gradient and high humidity, you are fine. Too
small of a cage for adults can cause problems in the future for the animal,
from obesity to lethargy. There are arboreal cage's available through
plenty of companies in the reptile industry, from tall to long arboreal
cages. Personally I believe we should be providing these animal's with more
room horizontally then vertically, so a cage with the dimension's of
36-24-24 is perfect in my opinion for an adult Chondro. Younger animal's
seem to do best in smaller tighter space's, just like most boid species in my
opinion.
Perches: Just like pet bird's, your pet Chondro will require a perch or two.
Perch's can range from plastic to live wood, it just depends on what you
prefer. I start them off with plastic clothes hanger pieces as young neo's
to pieces of crape myrtle branch's as they get older. Crape Myrtle in my
opinion is the perfect branch for any arboreal species, it is naturally
resistant to mold and seems to hold up perfectly with some humidity. I have
had the same crape myrtle branches in some of my cages for 7 month's without
the appearance of the branches changing at all (too dry of a climate could cause crape myrtle to dry up).
Lots of live branches can be safe to use for your
chondro's,such as sycamore, maple etc... PVC pipe's are another perching method
that is very popular as well, torching the pvc pipe and twisting it give's
it a natural look, and help's the animal grip the perch more comfortably,
which is important so the animal isn't struggling to stay perched. I have provided
photo's of some of my tub setups and perch examples at the bottom of this paragraph.
If you have any specific question's on choosing a perch for your chondro, don't
hesitate to ask!
Neo setup - 6 quart
Juvie setup (yearling plus) - 20 quart
Adult tub setup - 105 quart
Color Morphs: There are only a handful of reproducible color morph's that I
know of. Calico, high yellow, mustard, and high blue. The first known
albino was produced in 2002 by Damon Salceies, from a pair of Meruake type
animals produced by Tracy Barker. I wont get into the "Locality" debate, so
if you have any locality specific question's, pm me!!!
End: To finish ~ Every day new ideas and advances are made within the
chondro community, so this is just a basic overview of what has worked for
me so far. We still have a long way to go as far as understanding the
natural history and behavior of this species, so if anyone wants to fund a
trip to Indo/PNG for me I don't mind taking on the task. I hope this
help's. I am always looking to chat Chondro, so if you have any question's
please don't hesitate to ask.
