Common Problems with Green Tree Pythons
Poor shedding:
Although shedding troubles are not really a common problem with properly kept healthy green tree pythons, not maintaining the proper level of humidity can occasionally result in some shedding problems. Green tree pythons are a tropical rain forest species and require daily misting and a proper humidity cycle for optimal health and consistently good sheds. Green tree pythons are not corn snakes and attempting to keep them in conditions suitable for a corn snake is asking for trouble.
In the wild, green tree pythons live in a climate where it rains every day. They have adapted to living in humid conditions in the wild and need similar condition to do well in captivity. I mist my snakes every evening and the humidity in their cages goes through a daily cycle between 100% humidity when misted to about 40% humidity just before misting again the next day. Since the temperature in my cages is controlled by digital proportional thermostats, I actually keep a much closer eye on the hygrometer reading than on the temperature. For more details on proper cage conditions, please see my Temperature & Humidity and Choosing GTP Cages sections.
Even with perfectly healthy animals kept in an optimal environment, problems can occur. It is a good idea to look closely at your animals on a daily basis and to make sure that all of the skin, including the eyecaps, comes off at every shed. Unshed patches of skin or eyecaps left on your green tree python can lead to more serious health problems and should be dealt with promptly. If you do have a green tree python which is having trouble shedding, probably the safest and most effective solution is to place the animal in a warm wet snake bag (a pillow case works well in a pinch) for a few hours. This will quickly resolve all but the most severe cases quite easily. After a relatively short time in a wet cloth bag the unshed skin will either come of by itself or be quite easy to remove by simply rubbing the animal gently with your hand.
Reluctant Feeders:
It has been said that patience is a virtue. When it comes to some green tree pythons, this is most definitely the case. Not all green tree pythons are problem feeders though, In fact, many of them never miss a meal and can even tend to get obese if fed too often. Despite this, there is simply no denying the fact that a substantial number of green tree pythons are (at least occasionally) reluctant to eat on a regular basis. This seems to be particularly true with hatchlings and adult males.
Prolapse:
Prolapse refers to a condition where part of an animals intenstine is exposed outside of the body. It most often occurs in green tree pythons when they are fed too large of meals, but can happen during egg laying as well. If you have never witnessed a prolapse before, it can be one of the scariest things you have ever seen. Even if you have seen it, it should be considered to be a serious thing since if left untreated it will result in a dead animal. This is another reason to visually check your animals daily; the sooner this condition is discovered the better the prognosis.
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