What are Skin Folds?
Skin folds appear on some green tree pythons but no one is certain why they happen. Although some people believe they are genetic we disagree. Skin folds have appeared in many lines including offspring from imported (F1) and long term designer lines. It is our belief that they are caused by a combination of environmental and nutritional issues. Many of the animals that have developed skin folds were difficult to establish. Once established they go on to become strong feeding and thriving animals. To date no one has bred two animals with skin folds to see if it may in fact be genetic but it is something we intend to try in the future. If our theory is correct there is a very good chance none of the offspring will develop skin folds. Below are a few answers to questions we get on the subject.
Q - Do skin folds affect the health of the animal?
A - No, the animals are quite healthy.
Q - Will a skin fold interfere with feeding or defecation?
A - No, the animals have no problem feeding or passing stool/urates.
Q - Do skin folds interfere with breeding?
A - At this point we don't know but it is highly unlikely. As an example many animals with severely kinked spines can and do breed. Spinal kinks are a much worse condition than a skin fold and would be far more likely to interfere with reproduction.
Q - Will an animal outgrow a skin fold?
A - This is a good question, while some people believe they will we think it's unlikely. We've seen animals that, due to how they are perching, may look as though they could have a skin fold, while in reality they do not. It's simply a matter of body position. Animals that develop the condition will most likely have it their entire life. Below are a few images of animals with skin folds.
We believe the condition to be purely cosmetic. When the animal is perched normally it is not noticeable.
Below is a link to a discussion of the topic on the Morelia Viridis Forum.
We hope you find this information useful.