Every year snake catchers in Darwin attend to more than 1,000 callouts from residents concerned about serpents settling in their suburbs.

The sheer number of snakes and the variety of species that can be found in Darwin has earned it the tongue-in-cheek title of Australia's snake capital.

Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife officer and self-confessed snake lover Ray Chatto said the city's tropical climate and "lack of wholesale clearance of habitat" made it a haven for snakes.

"A lot of the snakes have become urbanised in Darwin, that is they've learned to live in urban areas and live hand-in-hand with people," he said.

Thankfully for Mr Chatto, his snake-catching colleagues and the residents of Darwin, only about 2 per cent of snakes caught in the region are considered dangerous.

Around 80 per cent of the callouts are in response to just five species of snake — all relatively harmless.

Golden tree snake

Mr Chatto says golden tree snakes are as bold in their nature as they are in colour. ( Supplied: Darwin Snake Catchers/Alana de Laive )

"The most common snake we get on callouts is the golden tree snake," Mr Chatto said.

"They're totally a frog eater and not a threat to anyone in anyway, not even in terms of eating their pet budgie or pet mice or whatever.

"This is a snake that's learned to live in town areas because there's lots of green tree frogs, plenty of places for them to shelter in trees and hollows."

Mr Chatto said the snake's bold colouration was matched by its nature.

"They go out in open areas and along fences and poke around flyscreens looking to get into your toilets," he said.

"But they're a completely harmless snake that won't do people any harm at all."

Olive and water pythons

Olive pythons are nocturnal hunters and can grow up to four metres in length. ( Supplied: Wildman Photography )

Often mistaken for one another, and sometimes mistaken for more dangerous species of brown snakes, olive and water pythons are regular sights around suburban Darwin.

Mr Chatto said the colouration of both species and their tendency to be more active at night was part of the reason they were mistaken for more dangerous snakes.

"The water python has quite a bright yellow belly or underside, sometimes more of an orange colour in the juveniles," he said.

"And olive pythons are usually quite a dull greenish-brown, with a creamier-coloured underside than the water python has."

Carpet python

Mr Chatto says Northern Territory carpet pythons can look fearsome but will not attack humans unless provoked. ( Supplied: Wildman Photography )

As a nocturnal hunter, carpet pythons are a common sight in suburban Darwin.

Again, though, unless provoked — usually by untrained people trying to catch them — Mr Chatto said carpet pythons were not interested in attacking humans.

"They feed predominantly on the introduced rat species, rattus rattus, and they do a wonderful job of keeping those numbers down, so they're actually doing you more good than harm.

"It's one of the species that is active on quite cool dry season nights when some of the other snakes aren't quite so."

Children's python

The small size of children's pythons make them popular pets among snake lovers. ( ABC News: James Purtill )

Mr Chatto said children's pythons were another harmless snake often mistaken as being dangerous.

"Because they're the same sort of colour and they're a smallish sort of snake, they get mixed up with death adders," he said.

"But for anyone who knows anything about snakes, they're chalk and cheese.

"They might have the same sort of colouration but they look nothing like each other in structure, so people really shouldn't be getting them confused."

Mr Chatto said there were a number of ways to distinguish harmless snakes from more dangerous species, but said the best advice was to play it safe and avoid getting too close to any snake.