Pics of our Golden Tree Snake

[HonestPirate]

Thought we would post a couple of pics while we are uploading. This is our new Golden Tree Snake; Nessie.

She loves poking her head up from the depths of her enclosure; Loch Ness Monster style.... really friendly little girl.

 

[Pinoy]

That's an absolute cracker of a snake!!! Very Jealous!
Would love to have something like that one day.

What do you feed her?

 

[HonestPirate]

Thanks Pinoy she is my favourite girl right now... Ive got some Live feeder fish coming from Bundy this week- should arrive Wednesday.

The previous owner was dropping a couple of glodfish in her water bowl every few days.

I am going to ween her onto pinkies as well and treat her with fish ; with any luck I won't have to scent them for too long with seafood

 

[Smithers]

Stunning critter that n great shots too.

 

[SteveNT]

Beautiful

I worked in an eco tourism resort in Arnhem Land for three years and snake relocation was part of the gig. I loved these guys, worst attack was a head butt! As opposed to the night tigers that bit like crazy.

On an island near here you get the pure blue form. I dont know anyone in the Top End breeding them unfortunately.

 

[HonestPirate]

Wow sounds like a great gig Steve. I am chasing a Blue but so is everyone who owns a GTS ! This girl is placid as; reached straight in the bag and pulled her out after the flight; not a murmur or a threat from her. Even shifting her around to try and get a good shot she was super cruisy. Not flighty as you might expect. She certainly has more personality than our carpets- pops her head up from funny places, or hangs down and just watches us; can see how people fall in love with the species.

 

[dihsmaj]

Wow sounds like a great gig Steve. I am chasing a Blue but so is everyone who owns a GTS ! This girl is placid as; reached straight in the bag and pulled her out after the flight; not a murmur or a threat from her. Even shifting her around to try and get a good shot she was super cruisy. Not flighty as you might expect. She certainly has more personality than our carpets- pops her head up from funny places, or hangs down and just watches us; can see how people fall in love with the species.

How big is your tank?

 

[Tassie97]

so this is a colour morph/local of the GTS im pretty sure but just wanted to check?

 

[SteveNT]

They seem to be green or gold on the east coast, always yellow in the Top End and there is blue skin between the scales on the neck, exposed when they inflate it in threat gesture. (visible in pics 3 & 4).

There is one place I know of up here where they are royal blue in colour with sky blue skin between the scales. The blues must occur elsewhere because no-one is likely to have access to the blue population here.

 

[PythonLegs]

Can I ask where you got her, mate? Looks...familiar.

 

[HonestPirate]

Tank is 3.5 ft by 2 ft I believe. Will set up a much bigger enclosure once we do some shuffling.

Bought her from an APS member through Herp Trader, so the familiarity is no doubt founded

 

[longqi]

They seem to be green or gold on the east coast, always yellow in the Top End and there is blue skin between the scales on the neck, exposed when they inflate it in threat gesture. (visible in pics 3 & 4).

There is one place I know of up here where they are royal blue in colour with sky blue skin between the scales. The blues must occur elsewhere because no-one is likely to have access to the blue population here.

Just West of Normanton there are a lot of nearly pure gold with even the head/neck having little darker colour
3 locations close to Cairns have the blues as you describe

 

[spyder6052]

lovely looking tree snake. do the captive bred ones let off the strong smell like the wild ones (had to relocate one that was climbing through my fence before the dogs got to it) and it emitted a god aweful smell

 

[HonestPirate]

Thanks Spyder - I'm still yet to have copped the Pepe Le Pew ! No doubt it's going to come eventually but for now I am in denial

 

[TylerPriest]

Wow beautiful snake aye

 

[HonestPirate]

Thanks Tyler.

Without sounding rude to anyone; I have received HEAPS of PM's asking me for the breeder's details. To save you wasting your time please don't ask as it's not my place to share contact info that is not mine; and the gentleman who sold me the GTS recently thanked me for not doing so as he had seen people asking and noted that I had not taken the liberty of sharing his personal details.

So- please don't ask; besdes he does not have any stock available and is used to being hammered regularly with requests.

Really sorry, I don't intend to be a tard; I just don't want to be disloyal to the guy who did me a huge favour by selling me one of his prized snakes.

I suggest getting onto Amazing Amazon in VIC as they have the ability to source wild caught GTS and also keep an eye on herptrader as they do come up occasionally.

Clearly the demand is high for these guys though so keep your eyes peeled. Also- throw up a "Wanted to buy" listing on APS, Herptrader and AHC and you may get some nibbles.

Cheers.

 

[longqi]

If you contact Animal ark in Palmerston they often have wild caught GTS
Dont buy a wild caught adult unless you have a HUGE viv

Wild caught adults are very hard to acclimatise to a small area

 

[mad_at_arms]

Nice looking snake there HP.
Made my girlfriend look twice when I said that they eat fish. (She absolutely hates anything rodent)
Maybe one day I can have both.

 

[HonestPirate]

Thanks mate. Yeah we have been enjoying the show the last few days- if you think Pythons hit a rat hard and fast wait until you see a GTS ! Ridiculously fast !

She has a hundred different ways of catching them- we have seen her hang from a branch and just pick one out with lightning speed and swallow it whole still kicking-

....then today she flicked one out of the bowl and then casually went up and bit it a couple of times on the floor of the enclosure ...and then waited til the fish stopped kicking; then ate him whole-

.....and then only 10 minutes ago she got half of her 6 ft+ body coiled in the water bowl and then swum around in circles underwater for like 15 seconds snapping at a fish- then grabbed it; pushed it to the back fangs and just held it sideways until it stopped kicking...

AMAZING to watch. I still enjoy rat feeding time with our carpets- but this is a whole new game to enjoy.

When she is hungry she just rests her head on the side of the bowl and stares at me- then I pull a couple of fish from the tank; throw them in her water bowl and enjoy the show ! Epic.

 

[NicG]

HonestPirate, a couple of things need to be cleared up here. Firstly, Common (Green) Tree Snakes do NOT have fangs - rear or otherwise - and should be considered NON-venomous.

[If anyone wants to weigh into the age-old debate on whether CTS are TECHNICALLY venomous, please do so here ... Are Common Tree Snakes Venomous? (with tag photos)]

Secondly, a 6ft+ Common Tree Snake is the exception rather the rule. And I seem to remember you telling me that your girl was only 2yo. Can you please confirm the length and also what her (largest) diameter is?