By AMY RICKER
Great Bend Zoo
Brit Spaugh Zoo has welcomed a brand-new Green Tree Python to their reptile exhibit.
The two-pound snake named Dexter is one of the zoo’s latest additions and has taken up residency in the zoo’s remodeled Reptile Center. Dexter was acquired from the Amarillo Zoo because they were looking at getting a different species of snake.
Curator Ashley Burdick says green tree pythons can be found in Indonesia and Australia.
“They live up in the trees, but they do go to the ground sometimes. They have a unique way of sitting in the trees called saddling, where they curl up and drape over a tree branch. They sit there and wait until something comes by that they want to eat, like rodents, birds, or anything they can catch,” explained Burdick.
Dexter is seven years old, with the average lifespan of green tree pythons being 15-20 years. The snake is fed a diet of frozen mice while other snakes eat frozen rats, chickens, and quail once per week.
Burdick says the process of getting new animals can take anywhere from a couple to several months.
“For this particular one and for most of them, we had planned this exhibit, and we knew this would be a species we would want in here. They are a really neat species. For him, we just waited. We have what we call list serves where AZA zoos and other zoos can put extra animals that they don’t have exhibit space for. We reach out, do some paperwork, and we go from there.”
The zoo is open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Admission and parking are free.