Biak Green Tree Pythons
Biak Green Tree Pythons are found on Biak Island, a small island located in Cenderawasih Bay near the northern coast of Papua, an Indonesian province, and is just northwest of New Guinea. Biak is the largest island in its small archipelago, and has many atolls, reefs, and corals. Biaks tend to be one of the larger forms of Green Tree Pythons. An insular form, which is currently recognized as Morelia azurea. This locality type takes a long time complete the ontogenic color change. (Sometimes as long a 5 years before the color/pattern finally stabilizes).
Although sometimes less informed sellers may refer to a Biak Locality Type as a “HIGH YELLOW” before it has even completed the change, this is often just a sales tactic…so keep this in mind when considering purchases. Biaks are identifiable with a few key characteristics: They possess a more elongated head, the nasal scales often seem to look pronounced, giving them a “dragon-headed” appearance. The tail gradually tapers to a thin sharp point, ending with a black tip. Biaks can begin life as either red or yellow neonates. Regardless of their color as a neonate, they often retain some percentage of yellow coloration into adulthood. (Once in a while there are extreme examples of adults with loads of yellow!) Sometimes Biaks that start as red neonates will mature to show a black net pattern of half moons along the dorsal line. Biak green tree pythons can be quite variable, displaying deep forest green, olive drab, sage and vivid green along with yellow, white and even blue.
Their attitude has been described as feisty or high strung in comparison to other locality types. This is a subjective perspective. As they mature many do seem to mellow out. All are individuals (and opinions about their disposition) will vary considerably. Biaks make a wonderful addition to every keeper’s collection. They tend to have a very good feeding response. This characteristic is sometimes utilized by those doing locality crosses/hybridization to improve the ease of getting neonates started feeding. For example: Biaks start feeding readily as neonates…Kofiau can be difficult to start on pinky mice. Kofiau X Biak crosses tend to be much easier to get started. Biak locality animals are often utilized in may different projects that involve crosses or hybridization.
Credit: Harlin Wall
Biak Island
By Rico Walder
This group of chondros represents a natural color variant found on the island of Biak in Indonesia. It is characterized by a light, faded green body color, with large areas of yellow pigmentation. This yellow coloration usually occurs in large patches over the entire body compared to the randomly scattered yellow pigmentation in High Yellow chondros. This form also has a longer, narrower head and a black tail tip.
Hatchling Biak green tree pythons are typically larger than most other forms. This tends to make them easier to feed as they can take larger prey items. Contrary to popular belief, Biak green trees do not have bad attitudes and can be handled safely.
Biak Island Locality
By Christos Issaris
The biak type belongs to the largest representative of this species, often exceeds the 180cm and is known for its temperament and a high level of aggressiveness. For this reason, biaccades are not suitable for chondroangers. The head is larger, the nostrils look bloated, the back is more pointed and the tail is longer than with Aru animals. The color palette can be very large. There are, for example, simply green-colored animals, others with a very high gel content, which is also relatively normal for this species, white-blue animals, only yellow or tufted animals. However, most animals remain green with a few yellow scales in the head area and a few remain on the rest of the body. Animals with high gel content are often referred to as Lemontree. However, this name is wrong and the reason for this can be read in the book by Greg Maxwell. It is a good idea to call such an animal high-yellow. Nevertheless, caution should be exercised, because Biak-animals could, as already mentioned above, be naturally decorated with many yellow scales. When acquiring a biak form, one should also note that the animals could have completed their coloring at about 3 years. Even such animals should not be called high-yellow, because it is still the junior dress. Animals that are similar to the biak form are eg Wamena, Yapen. Nevertheless, one can distinguish the two more easily than all other forms mentioned above. Yapen animals do not have so many yellow scales but white. Wamena animals show beautiful zig-zag patterns along the back, with dandruff, which are darker pigmented and appear larger than the rest of the indigestion. In these zig-zag forms also individual white scales are not rare. Lereh animals see Wamenatiere very similar show however more white patches. Caution is also offered in animals from the following locations: Arfak, Cyclops, Nabire. These animals also look very similar to Wamenatieren and are very difficult to differentiate. Also Bokondini animals resemble Wamena or Lereh snakes. Lereh animals see Wamenatiere very similar show however more white patches. Caution is also offered in animals from the following locations: Arfak, Cyclops, Nabire. These animals also look very similar to Wamenatieren and are very difficult to differentiate. Also Bokondini animals resemble Wamena or Lereh snakes. Lereh animals see Wamenatiere very similar show however more white patches. Caution is also offered in animals from the following locations: Arfak, Cyclops, Nabire. These animals also look very similar to Wamenatieren and are very difficult to differentiate. Also Bokondini animals resemble Wamena or Lereh snakes. http://www.chondromania.eu/Lokalformen.html
Biak Island Types
By Greg Maxwell
Chondros from the Biak and Yapen Islands, being isolated geographically, often exhibit distinct and recognizable traits. Biaks have large heads with long snouts, long, sharply pointed tails, attain a larger size than mainland animals, and are stout and robust animals. The main color is a light green, often with patches of yellow present. Those from Yapen are reported to have white spots as well. Most Biaks have yellow face markings.
They are also well-known for having bad tempers, and some individuals can make working their cages difficult even during daylight hours. Biak types also are known for taking much longer to complete their color change from neonate to adult colors, and often go through a yellow or orange phase with high contrast, large markings. This causes some owners of these animals to get prematurely excited about what the animal will ultimately look like. It is believed that Biak blood, when crossed with mainland bloodlines, has the potential to produce some of the very attractive morphs sometimes seen. The Biak-like head and tail shape is frequently still seen in such crosses
