Baby GTP

[Shurenuff]

Hello All!

I just picked up this neo, my first GTP, about a month ago. He/she is about 4 months old now. Such cool little creatures!

He's about as shy as can be. Usually when I pop the top of his rubbermaid container and almost always when I take him out by removing the plastic hanger "branches", he tucks his head into his coils. It's pretty cute but it makes taking pictures rather difficult, especially since I try not to mess with him too often.

He's also eats for me every time, but it sure can be a challenge. I practically have to assault him with the pinkie mouse to get a strike, lol. If I try to let him "hunt" the pinkie or gently nudge him with it, it usually results in him tucking his head into his coils. Makes feeding time really interesting and a challenge, but fun nevertheless.

He's a Manokwari type, produced by Rico Walder. He should develop plenty of blue markings and will hopefully look as nice as Trendkill's and Brittani's chondros, which are absolutely fantastic specimens BTW.

Here's a quick shot I took of him recently. Not the best shot (no flash and the lighting was less than ideal), but it's all I have for now. I'll post more later when I get a chance.

Thanks for looking!

[AGActaeonia]

Positively breath-taking.

Cheers to that gorgeous little fellow.

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters

[jake_brownell2004]

dont let me find out were you live lol. i want.

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters

[fuglyfarmhand]

Sorry that's my first response. Holy crap look at that Yellow

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters

[BlackLava]

wow hes amazing

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters

[Amazon]

"Not the best shot..."

I think that's a pretty awesome shot of the little guy/gal!!
What a gorgeous little baby - just makes me want one even more

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters

[Sakara]

he's gorgeous!! with feeding... Try to "tickle" his tail with the mouse

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters

[Ice]

love the color, beautiful!

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters

[Moe]

BBBBBBBeautiful!!!!!!!

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters

[Hypoboa1234]

nice

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters

[Stargazer]

What a beautiful and adorable snake. The upside to him not striking at prey is that you can probably reach in and scratch his little head without getting your finger ripped to shreds. I'd have a hard time restraining myself from head scratching with a snake like that.

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters

[IT'S TIM SON!!!!]

nice! see i cant have a gtp cuz i would want to hold it all the time hahaha

	Green Tree Python Green Tree Python (Morelia viridis)

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters

[Keri]

MMMm....yellow! Lovely.

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters

[Shurenuff]

Thanks for all the nice comments everyone, I really appreciate it!

Originally Posted by Sakara

he's gorgeous!! with feeding... Try to "tickle" his tail with the mouse

I've tried everything I've learned from everything I've read about these guys, including tickling the tail. It's just that no matter what I do, he just seems to be a very shy animal and his first reaction to any type of interaction is the old head in coils trick. It seems that I just have to give him some time as after a little bit he "loosens up" and becomes less shy and scared.

I only feed at night in a dimly lit room and usually attempt to feed for no longer than 3-5 minutes at a time, depending on how he reacts as to not stress him out. If things don't look promising, I give him a 20 minute break and try it again. It usually takes about two attempts to coax a strike (and I usually get more aggressive with the tease feeding on the second attempt). The last time I fed him, 3 times was a charm, lol. I'll get better at reading the animal, I'm sure. The important thing is that he's eating for me.

Originally Posted by Stargazer

What a beautiful and adorable snake. The upside to him not striking at prey is that you can probably reach in and scratch his little head without getting your finger ripped to shreds. I'd have a hard time restraining myself from head scratching with a snake like that.

Thanks, and you're right, he's about as docile as any snake I've ever interacted with. I haven't tried scratching his head yet, but I guarantee it would take a lot more than that to provoke a strike. Like I said before, I have to practically assault him with his food to anger him into striking.

I never thought of feeding my snakes as cute, but feeding this little guy is adorable. The little hisses he makes (like tiny little exhales of breath) and his general reaction of "get that thing away from me" is priceless, lol.

Originally Posted by IT'S TIM SON!!!!

nice! see i cant have a gtp cuz i would want to hold it all the time hahaha

Actually, just a few hours ago, I was able to handle him for the first time. What an experience, I'm still experiencing a high from the whole thing. I removed his plastic branches from his tub to do some cleaning and add fresh water. Of course, his first reaction was to tuck his head into his coils. After about five minutes, he chilled out and was acting as comfortable as I've ever seen him, flicking his tongue and all with a very curious attitude.

I gently put my finger against the bottom of his coils and after a few minutes, he started exploring my fingers. Using a q-tip to gently touch his tail area, he released from his "branch" and was in full cruise mode on my hand. So cool!

He handled very well and was an absolute sweetheart, constantly extending his body out and tongue flicking the tip of my nose. Not a hint of nervousness or being flighty, I was really impressed. I had no intention of attempting to handle him for a while, but things went so well that I'm considering doing it every couple weeks or so that he maintains his extreme docile nature. It was beyond cool to have the little yellow inquisitive tree worm cruising in my hands, awesome!

Here's a picture that the breeder, Rico Walder, originally provided that I'd like to share. It's from a couple months ago and I can't imagine how tiny he must have been, but it shows his patterning and color better than the picture I provided.

	Green Tree Python Green Tree Python (Morelia viridis)

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters

[Stargazer]

Did you see the video posted yesterday with the guy kissing his GTP's on the lips? They were extremely docile. Almost made me want to get one. They are so slender and graceful.

	Green Tree Python Green Tree Python (Morelia viridis)

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters

[Shurenuff]

Originally Posted by Stargazer

Did you see the video posted yesterday with the guy kissing his GTP's on the lips? They were extremely docile. Almost made me want to get one. They are so slender and graceful.

Yeah, I saw it. In fact, one of his other baby GTP videos is where I learned the q-tip technique to help coax the babies off a branch to handle it without causing harm or injury to the animal. This kid is only 4 months old, so I know I have to be very careful, but that advise worked like a charm.

This guy handled pretty much exactly like those animals on that video, except he's about 20 times as small, extending out to give me "kisses" and all. It was an awesome experience

	Green Tree Python Green Tree Python (Morelia viridis)

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters

[Sakara]

"little yellow inquisitive tree worm" nice!

I plan on getting one soon-ish... I love these little guys!

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters

[Stargazer]

I saw a guy at a reptile show doing the same thing with his Emerald Tree Boa. In fact, he even let strangers come up and hold the snake. The snake just coiled up on the person's arm every time. I think if you handle the little face biters from an early age, they can be just as docile as any snake.

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters

[snakelady]

That is a BEAUTIFUL snake! WOW

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters

[BlackLava]

these guys have always been a snake that is on my want list, but i havent gotten around to getting one. i think the whole arboreal cage setup has put us off for now that, and most people say they are aggressive

	Geek Auto Linker or Gallon Geek Auto Linker Gallon - United States liquid unit equal to 4 quarts or 3.785 liters

	Arboreal Arboreal is a word meaning "related to or resembling trees". Its meaning comes from the Latin arbor, meaning tree.<br> In biology, an arboreal animal is one which inhabits or spends large amounts of time in trees or bushes.