# Chondros or Morelia viridis



## Jeff Godbold (Sep 24, 2008)

In an effort to bring more people into the community of one of the most mysterious and beautiful species of python, I thought I'd throw out a quick introduction and attach a link to a Chondro forum. MVF.com is a real tight knit community but we welcome newcomers to the hobby.

This is one of my Chondros..."Maya"






Green Tree Pythons (AKA Chondros) are, IMO, the mercedes of snakes. 

Chondros (Morelia viridis) are an arboreal species of python that live on the Northern tip of Australia and throughout the islands of Papua New Guinea. They require a humid environment in which they can thermoregulate as their body reacts to the ambient temperatures within their habitat.

As hatchlings, they're born either yellow or red; and go through an ontogenic color change to different shades of green, depending on the locality or genetics behind the parents.

Other than the Amazon Tree Boa, there are no other species with more color variability than these. You never see two alike.

Here's a link to a forum dedicated to the species:

http://moreliaviridis.yuku.com/

Disclaimer: Watch out you may get addicted...you can't get just one 

Jeff Godbold
JAG Arboreals
www.jagarboreals.webs.com


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## crpy (Sep 24, 2008)

yep, we had 5 at my old zoo. We used to ID them by their white spot pattern.
Ours were snappy dudes but we didnt handle them much.


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## Jeff Godbold (Sep 24, 2008)

Alot of people get their attitudes confused with Emerald Tree Boas. CB specimens don't suffer the temperamental attitude that WC specimens do.


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## ChondroGirl (Sep 24, 2008)

I have ETBs and Chondros and they are all very gentle and handleable.   They appear to really enjoy getting out of their cage and exploring.  We got them all young and handled them frequently, so I think that makes a huge difference in their attitude.


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## crpy (Sep 24, 2008)

ChondroGirl said:


> I have ETBs and Chondros and they are all very gentle and handleable.   They appear to really enjoy getting out of their cage and exploring.  We got them all young and handled them frequently, so I think that makes a huge difference in their attitude.


Thats the point I was making, we didnt handle them, hence.


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## ahas (Sep 24, 2008)

They' re beautiful snakes.  Nice photo by the way.

Fred


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## GailC (Sep 24, 2008)

Beautiful snake, have any pictures of their teeth?


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## gecko_keeper/KBfauna (Sep 24, 2008)

I am down to one large female and she's fine.... as long as the sun is up. After that, everything is fair game. But they are an awesome species to keep and breed. 

GK


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## Philth (Sep 24, 2008)

The pics on that site are feakin awesome.  The white one with the green dots is the strangest thing I've ever seen.   I recently got my first one, by far the coolest snake I have ever kept.  Im making space for the next one now.  

thanks for the link , heres my Merauke
later, Tom


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## Jeff Godbold (Sep 24, 2008)

Meraukes are great. That's actually a Merauke I posted earlier in the thread.

They are like dogs...every one has it's own unique personality. But one thing is for sure....due to their nocturnal nature and the fact that they're an ambush preditor, that's a formula for a nightime monster. They can be kittens during the day but once the sun goes down, they go into feeding/hunting mode so watch out.

I've been tagged by several different species of snakes before but these by far hurt the worst. Their teeth are long, razor sharp, and curved...not to mention they have lots of em'. They feed a lot on birds in the wild so it's evolution ate it's peak. After getting tagged by a two-year old sub-adult (the one pictured above), I felt like some one had just hit my hand with a hammer.

I couldn't bend it for a week or so. It turned black and blue and bled like crazy (for the first few minutes). This was my fault.

I remember going into the cage at night and I actually said out loud " I'm gonna get tagged just wait!". Sure enough, she laid in to my hand something fierce.

They don't see like us, they see in infared. If you've ever seen the "Preditor movies" then you know what I'm talking about. To her, my hand was a bright red rodent and she was hungry so she went for it.

Like I said....my fault completely.

But having said that...these snakes are amazing. I kept and bred several different species in my collection but all had to go once I got my first chondro. Most "chondroheads" share a similar story, LOL.

Jeff Godbold
JAG Arboreals
www.jagarboreals.webs.com
jagreptile@yahoo.com


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## PiXeL (May 4, 2010)




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## Lucas339 (May 4, 2010)

the first animal is really nice!  is that a hormonal change?


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