Green Tree Python Teeth: Interesting Facts That Kids Should Know

Pythons are one of the largest snakes in the entire world and they are known to squeeze their prey to death.

You would be surprised to know but, in some homes, pythons are kept as pets. The natural habitat of these predators is moist and hot places, mainly tropical environments.

Unlike other predators of the snake family, pythons are not known to chase down their prey. When it comes to types of pythons, there is a type with interesting characteristics known as the green tree python.

In comparison to other pythons, green tree pythons are bright green in color and like the rest of them, they do not have any kind of venom. Sometimes, green tree pythons have yellow, green, or blue stripes while some of the green tree pythons have blue, green, and yellow spots instead.

Green tree python’s habitat is the tropical rainforest of places such as New Guinea, Cape York of Australia, and Indonesia. The color of their skin allows them to hide among the leaves of these tropical forests.

The prehensile tail of green tree pythons helps them to climb trees and catch their prey and they are known to dangle their tails to lure out their prey.

They have triangular-shaped heads and spend most of their life in their habitat wrapped around a tree branch. After reading about the teeth of the arboreal snake, also check out interesting facts about duck teeth and hamster teeth.

Do green tree pythons have teeth?

You might think that if green tree pythons are non-venomous, that means that they do not have teeth but that is not the case. Bright green tree pythons like all related python species have teeth even though they do not have any kind of venom in them.

While green tree pythons and other snake species may usually swallow their food, they still need their teeth for various purposes. Wild and pet green tree pythons have hundreds of teeth and they are usually reclining backward.

Unlike the snake species with venom, wild and pet green tree pythons and related python species do not possess fangs. All fangs are teeth that are specialized to contain venom but not all snakes have teeth with venom.

Fangs are a type of specialized teeth that venomous snakes unlike green tree pythons have which are used to inject venom into their prey. Fangs have a completely different structure and function as compared to teeth of a normal non-venomous snake-like a green tree python.

Sometimes, green tree pythons and other species of python snakes can have long and sharp teeth that might look like fangs but these are not considered actual fangs since they don't contain venom.

That being said, even a non-venomous snake’s bite can be dangerous to any human or animal. Green tree pythons and other species of python snakes only attack when they feel threatened.

Snakes in general regardless if they have venom or not, generally try to avoid humans. These animals in captive or natural habitats will only bite a human as a last resort when they have been cornered and cannot get away easily.

An animal like a green tree python is called an arboreal animal. Arboreal animals spend most of their lives on a tree and its branches.

What is the function of their teeth?

While a reptile of this snake species may not have venom in their teeth, it is still useful for them to use their teeth to take down their prey.

A green tree snake’s teeth are very handy and help them a lot when it comes to finding their food. A green tree python will wait for its prey to come near and then it will proceed to ambush, springing to action with its mouth wide open, just like other python snakes.

Green tree pythons and other python snakes would quickly proceed to strike their enemy with their teeth and then they will proceed to wrap themselves around their food target.

Green tree python’s teeth will help them defend themselves from other targets as well which could be a threat to the python’s life. In the rain forests of New Guinea, Cape York of Australia, and east Indonesia, male pythons have a competition among themselves when it comes to breeding with females.

In New Guinea, a case was recorded where a fight broke out between two wild green tree pythons over a female python to determine who would get to breed with her.

In cases like these, a wild male green tree python would use its teeth and the ability to wrap around and kill the opponent python.

Green tree python is a type of python snake which requires humidity to survive. Their natural environment such as the rainforests of New Guinea and east Indonesia has enough humidity but the same is not the case when a green tree python is kept in an enclosure as a pet.

It is very important to keep humidity and temperature at an appropriate level for green tree pythons in captivity.

If green tree pythons are kept in captivity it is important that they have an enclosure with the right humidity levels to ensure that the reptile does not face any kind of respiratory issues and skin problems.

How many teeth do green tree pythons have?

Green tree pythons and other types of reptiles are non-venomous, which means their teeth are not designed to bite like other venomous snakes in the wildlife or captive environment.

Generally, a normal adult python has anywhere between 60-70 teeth which are as sharp as a razor and are usually rear-facing. In the case of green tree pythons, they have 100 long teeth which are sharp and point backward.

The main reason why they have this kind of teeth is to hold their prey if they are bitten by the snake. The bigger the body size of the python, the more threatening and dangerous bite they will have, regardless of their captive or wildlife environment.

The rear teeth of an adult green tree python are perfect for going into the skin and flesh of their enemies and these dig in deeper as the victim is pulled away.

The combination of a green tree python snake’s speed and their sharp teeth has given a lot of issues to those handling green tree pythons. If an adult green tree python snake bites the person handling him in an enclosure, it could result in tendons severed or broken skin.

Most tree python snakes do not take well to being handled.

The teeth of a green tree python are fragile and might end up making splinters when it comes in contact with your skin. This can lead to small pieces of green tree snake’s teeth being stuck under your skin.

These pieces of teeth may come out by themselves but could end up causing infections and other problems.

When it comes to handling and maintaining the health of a green tree python, like most snake species, green tree pythons do not need any kind of special light in their enclosure to survive. However, if you use light in their enclosure, you could see their vibrant blue, yellow, and green body colors.

Maintaining the temperatures of your captive green python’s enclosure is equally important as well for properly handling these reptiles. The temperature in an enclosure of these reptiles should always stay between 86-89.6 F (30-32 C) while also maintaining the humidity levels in the enclosure.

It also keeps the temperatures of the cooler side of the enclosure below 86 F (30 C).

You should always keep in mind the temperature of the enclosure should not go below 69.8 F (21 C) at any point of the day. It is also very important that you feed your captive green tree python with suitable food for its daily nutritional requirements.

Most adult green tree pythons are known to feed on animals and reptiles such as small frogs, birds, lizards, bats, and other types of animals that are found in trees and nearby areas.

These foods are suitable for green tree pythons of all ages.

Young green tree pythons will be more active as compared to adults of the species and the young green tree pythons will hunt their animal prey during the daytime as compared to adults who can go hunting and feed on their target at any point of the day.

How long are green tree python teeth?

The length of a python's teeth, body, and other parts depend on their species and their living conditions. The length of a python’s teeth can play a big role in terms of catching its prey.

For different species of pythons such as ball pythons, they have around 150 teeth which is more in comparison to the number of teeth which green tree pythons have.

Ball python’s teeth have a length of about 0.4 in (1 cm) and they have a hooked shape. Green tree python teeth size is about 0.4 in (1 cm) or less and the length can be different across all green tree pythons.

In terms of their body length, green trees have a length of about 3.9-5.9 ft (1.2–1.8 m) and weight ranges around 2.8-3.1 lb (1.3-1.4 kg).

Green tree pythons usually reach the age of reproduction when they are around two years old and both males and females can have different reproductive partners throughout their life. The tail of a green tree python allows it to climb trees and catch its prey.

Green tree pythons and a few other python species are known to coil up on branches.

The reason why they coil up on branches is so that when they rest they can do this horizontally. In captivity, these snakes can live up to 20 years old whereas in the wild, due to competition and other threats, their lifespan is drastically reduced to about 15 years.

Compared to other types of snakes that are kept in enclosures as pets, a green tree python is not very high maintenance but they do not like being handled.

Like any other snake and they can start biting if not handled properly, this is why it is very important that you take great care if handling these snakes. Green tree python is not the world’s largest python, that award goes to the reticulated python which is the longest python snake in the world.

This python can reach 20.5 ft (6.2 m) in length and the largest ever reticulated python ever reordered was 32.8 ft (10 m) in length and it was found in 1912.

Green tree python snakes or Morelia viridis are solitary snakes just like other species of snakes. The main predators of green tree python snakes or Morelia viridis are owls, black butcherbirds, and other raptors.

The main tactic these snakes use to hide against these predators is using their skin color and hiding behavior.

With young green tree python snakes, the yellow color of their body blends in with the edge of the rainforest they live in. The young green tree python snakes have a brick red body color which allows them to camouflage with the wildlife better than yellow young Morelia viridis snakes.

With adult green tree python snakes, their incredible green color allows them to live in the forest with much fewer threats from their predators as the green color does an amazing job of blending in with the environment, it certainly does a better job when compared to colors such as blue, yellow or red.

In the wild, only female snakes of Morelia viridis have a home range and it depends on the length of the snake.

The average range size is somewhere around 6 ha (14.8 acres).

Adult males and young ones do not have any kind of home range which is seen with the females. Males will go on to find partners for the breeding process and the young green tree pythons will go out of their nest to live their own lives.

Female green tree pythons are not very territorial and usually share their home range with females of the same snake species.

The activity rate of green tree pythons also depends on the gender of the snake. Female snakes will change their position more frequently in a day as compared to male snakes and are known to be more active than males.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for green tree python teeth then why not take a look at Komodo dragon teeth or green tree python facts?