[2] It is a slender, large-eyed, non-venomous, diurnal snake, which grows up to 1.2 m in length and is greenish, brown, or greyish above with a cream or yellow belly.

[3] This common snake is harmless, and readily recognised due to its cream to yellow belly and pronounced wide dark facial stripe passing across the eye.

[2][5] In Australia, Dendrelaphis calligaster are found on the eastern side of the Cape York Peninsula (Queensland) as far south as Mackay.

On the New Guinea mainland, they are widespread at elevations below 1,150 m (3,770 ft) in both Indonesian and Papua New Guinean parts of the island.

It can be found in rainforest, mangroves, dense secondary regrowth, and tropical woodlands.