Green tree snake
Philothamnus irregularis (Leach, 1819)
Status not recordedsnakes
The green tree snake (Philothamnus irregularis) is a species in the family Colubridae, order Squamata. Recorded adults weigh about 53 g and reach 91.4 cm in length.
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Quick facts about the green tree snake
- Weight
- 53 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- 91.4 cmsrc for Length
- Lifespan
- Not recorded
- Diet
- Carnivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- grassland, shrublandsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 65 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 11src for Young per litter or clutch
- Reproduction
- Eggssrc for Reproduction
- Active
- By day (diurnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Arborealsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Not recorded
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the green tree snake?
Which animals does the green tree snake eat?
Species recorded in published studies and collections.
Each pair is recorded by at least two independent datasets. A record shows the animal was seen or found to have eaten the other, including scavenged carcasses and young animals; it does not say how often. Compiled by Global Biotic Interactions (CC0 1.0).
References for these records
- Broadley, D.G. 1966. Herpeology of south-east Africa. Unpublished Dissertation, Department of Zoology, University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
- https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/301274953
- Revision of five African snake genera. 1958. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 119: 1-198
Where does the green tree snake live?
Not recorded
Is the green tree snake endangered?
No conservation assessment is recorded for this species in our sources. That is not the same as being safe: it has not been matched to an assessment.
How is the green tree snake classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classReptilia
- orderSquamata
- familyColubridae
- genusPhilothamnus
- SpeciesPhilothamnus irregularis (Leach, 1819)
Synonyms Coluber azureus, Coluber caeruleus, Coluber caesius, Coluber irregularis, Coluber vernayi, Dendrophis chenoni, Philothamnus irregularis var. longifrenatus
Other names and names in other languages (6)
- Common bush snakeEnglish
- Irregular green snakeEnglish
- Northern green bush snakeEnglish
- Vestlig BusksnogDanish
- Grüne SumpfschlangeGerman
- Западный зелёный ужRussian
Relatives of the green tree snake
Other species in the same genus Philothamnus.
Spotted bush snake
Philothamnus semivariegatus
Battersby's green snake
Philothamnus battersbyi
Natal green snake
Philothamnus natalensis
Sao Tome wood snake
Philothamnus thomensis
Angola green snake
Philothamnus angolensis
Spotted green snake
Philothamnus punctatus
CompareGreen tree snake vs Spotted bush snakeGreen tree snake vs Battersby's green snakeGreen tree snake vs Natal green snakeGreen tree snake vs Sao Tome wood snake
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the green tree snake?
An adult green tree snake weighs 53 g and measures 91.4 cm long, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
What kind of animal is the green tree snake?
The green tree snake (Philothamnus irregularis) belongs to the family Colubridae in the order Squamata.
Which animals does the green tree snake eat?
Animals recorded as prey of the green tree snake include egyptian toad. The records are compiled by Global Biotic Interactions from published studies; each pair is reported by at least two datasets.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-14. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Global Biotic Interactions (GloBI): interpreted data products · CC0 1.0 · 0.11
Poelen, J.H., Simons, J.D. & Mungall, C.J. (2014) Global Biotic Interactions: an open infrastructure to share and analyze species-interaction datasets. Ecological Informatics 24: 148–159. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoinf.2014.08.005. Data: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22691479, with each record's original reference. - ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles · CC BY 4.0 · v1-2
Oskyrko, O., Mi, C., Meiri, S. et al. (2024) ReptTraits: a comprehensive dataset of ecological traits in reptiles. Scientific Data 11: 243. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03079-5. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.24572683.v4 - SquamBase 1.0 - a dataset of squamate species traits · CC0 1.0 · 1.0-dryad-v5
Meiri, S. (2024) SquamBase - a database of squamate (Reptilia: Squamata) traits. Global Ecology and Biogeography 33(4): e13812. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13812. Data: https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.76hdr7t3b
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Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Green tree snake (Philothamnus irregularis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/philothamnus-irregularis
“Green tree snake (Philothamnus irregularis).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/philothamnus-irregularis.
@misc{philothamnus_irregularis_2026,
title = {Green tree snake (Philothamnus irregularis)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/philothamnus-irregularis},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-14}
}