A small, completely harmless snake species is distributed throughout Vietnam, yet it often suffers from “misunderstandings” due to its reputation as a venomous snake that can be fatal.
Green Tree Snake – A Small Climbing Snake Frequently Encountered by Humans
The Green Tree Snake, also known as the Green Pit Viper, is a small snake species belonging to the family of water snakes, with a maximum adult length of about 1.3 meters.
This species has a distinctive body shape that is easy to identify, featuring light green scales with black crossbands, and a head that is clearly distinguishable from its neck. However, sometimes the Green Tree Snake can display other colors such as red, yellow, or orange, though these variations are not very common.
Green Tree Snake is an excellent climber.
The Green Tree Snake is widely distributed throughout Vietnam, across all three regions. Its primary diet consists of lizards and small rodents. Females lay between 6 to 12 eggs. Hatchlings, upon emerging, measure between 15 to 20 cm in length, resembling adult snakes but with lighter colors and patterns.
The Green Tree Snake exhibits exceptional climbing abilities, even able to ascend vertical walls without any footholds, which is why they are often spotted on rooftops. Sometimes, these snakes even find their way inside household air conditioning units through drainage pipes.
In addition to their climbing prowess, Green Tree Snakes belong to the flying snake genus. They can perform controlled jumps from high trees to lower locations. In fact, this is a “controlled fall,” as Green Tree Snakes can anticipate their landing spots. This behavior helps them escape predators or catch prey.
Due to their abundance and wide distribution, they often appear in areas inhabited by humans to hunt for food. Notably, these snakes frequently enter homes in search of geckos, one of their favorite meals, which leads to regular encounters between Green Tree Snakes and people.
Are Green Tree Snakes Venomous?
The Green Tree Snake is a non-venomous species of the water snake family. Its bite poses no danger to humans, though it may cause itching in some sensitive individuals.
Green Tree Snakes are beneficial in the ecosystem, helping to control populations of small rodents, lizards, and geckos. Therefore, when encountering this snake, people do not need to panic and can simply coax it away instead of attempting to kill it.
With their attractive, colorful scales and harmless nature, many people who love reptiles choose to keep Green Tree Snakes as pets.
Misunderstandings Leading to the Unfortunate Deaths of Green Tree Snakes
Green Tree Snakes are non-venomous; however, because of their green scales, many people mistakenly refer to them as green pit vipers. In reality, the green pit viper is a venomous species belonging to the pit viper family that can be deadly.
Green Tree Snake is harmless to humans and is commonly kept as a pet. (Photo: Facebook).
Even when searching for information about Green Tree Snakes on internet search engines like Google, many results conflate Green Tree Snakes with green pit vipers, leading to the misconception that Green Tree Snakes are venomous, while other sources incorrectly assert that green pit vipers are water snakes and non-venomous.
These are serious misconceptions that can lead to unfortunate accidents.
In reality, the Green Tree Snake (scientific name: Chrysopelea ornata) and the green pit viper (scientific name: Protobothrops mucrosquamatus) are two unrelated species, differing significantly in appearance, habitat, and toxicity.
A completely false information about green pit vipers found on Google. (Screenshot).
In Vietnam, green pit vipers are found in provinces such as Lao Cai, Ha Giang, Cao Bang, Thai Nguyen, Vinh Phuc, Bac Kan, Lang Son, Hanoi, Quang Ninh, Hai Phong, Hai Duong, Ha Tinh, Quang Tri, Thua Thien-Hue, Ninh Binh, Nghe An, Kon Tum, Gia Lai…
Green pit vipers primarily inhabit areas above 1,000 meters elevation, in secondary forests and along rivers, which is why they rarely encounter humans. Their diet consists of small animals such as frogs, fish, shrimp, bird eggs, or various small snakes…
Green Tree Snake (top) is completely different from green pit viper (bottom), yet many people often confuse these two species.
The green pit viper possesses deadly venom that can be fatal without timely medical attention. Therefore, confusing the Green Tree Snake (non-venomous) with the green pit viper (venomous) is an extremely dangerous mistake that can lead to serious accidents, even death.
Conclusion
Compared to green pit vipers, Green Tree Snakes are more widely distributed and easier to encounter. This snake species is easily recognizable, harmless, and poses no threat to humans; thus, when encountering Green Tree Snakes, people can use a broom or a long stick to gently coax them away instead of harming them.
