Start With Origin: Captive-Bred or Imported?
The first question for any green tree python breeder is where the snake actually comes from. Ask directly whether the animal is captive-bred, captive-hatched from an imported female, or wild-caught, and press for the locality, since names like Biak, Sorong, and Manokwari describe snakes with different adult colors and reputations for defensiveness. A breeder who bred the parents should be able to show them, describe the pairing, and give a hatch date. Imported green tree pythons arrive stressed, often carry a heavier parasite burden, and can refuse food for long stretches, so the lower price of an import is rarely a saving once vet visits and failed feedings add up.
Is This Green Tree Python Feeding on Its Own?
Feeding history separates an established juvenile from a problem waiting to happen. Ask what prey the snake takes, whether it eats frozen-thawed rodents or insists on live, how often it has fed, and whether it strikes from its perch or needs food left overnight. Neonate green tree pythons start life red or yellow and change to green as they mature, and some youngsters are notoriously reluctant starters that need teasing or scenting. A trustworthy breeder will show feeding records rather than simply saying the snake eats well, and will happily hold the animal until it has taken several consecutive meals unassisted.
How Is the Snake Housed and Perched?
A green tree python spends its life coiled on a horizontal branch, so ask exactly how the breeder sets up that perch life. Useful questions cover enclosure height, perch diameter, the warm and cool temperatures offered, and how humidity is held high without the enclosure staying wet and stagnant. Ask how often the snake is misted, whether it drinks from droplets or a bowl, and how the breeder cleans an enclosure occupied by a snake that dislikes being lifted off its perch. The answers reveal whether the breeder keeps these pythons as the specialist arboreal animals they are or treats them like a ground snake in a tall box.
What Temperament Should You Honestly Expect?
Temperament questions matter because a green tree python is mostly a snake you watch, not one you handle daily. Ask whether this individual strikes at movement near the glass, tolerates a hook and gentle handling, or is strictly look-only, and whether the parents were defensive. Locality plays a part, but individual variation is large, and a breeder who warns you a particular snake is fiery is giving you useful honesty rather than a sales problem. Also ask how the snake behaves at night, when these pythons become active hunters and a hand reaching into the enclosure can be read as prey.
Questions About Health and Support After Sale
Ask whether the green tree python has ever been treated for parasites or a respiratory problem, whether it sheds cleanly in the breeder's humidity, and what the breeder wants you to do if the snake refuses food in its first month with you. Ask whether the breeder will review your setup before shipping and delay the sale if your enclosure is not ready, because that patience signals a keeper who cares where the snake lands. If this python is ever rehomed years from now, KinsLe Transferrable Profiles pass its locality, feeding record, and perch routine to the next keeper without the details getting lost along the way.