My Experiences With DPS - Part 2

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serpenttongue

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Greetings all,

When I first laid eyes on a diamond python, I was completely in awe of it's beauty. They were such a mystery. I immediately had an interest in them. This interest soon turned to fascination, and from fascination came obsession. I was crazy about diamonds. As a child and teenager I spent everyday after school and every weekend searching for diamonds along the Illawarra escarpment. I'd jump on my BMX and pedal as hard as I could, just to get to the escarpment as fast as I could. I got such a buzz from walking through the rainforest, just knowing i was standing in habitat that supported a population of diamond pythons. But this buzz was nothing compared to the adrenaline rush I would get when I would find a diamond coiled on a branch during the early hours or late afternoon of a summers day.

Such majestic serpents, whose beauty demanded and commanded my attention. So big and so docile. Pitch black bodies with rosettes like golden constellations, surrounded by the peppering of bright yellow spots that sparkled like tiny flashes of light, akin to the stars of a twilight sky. Looking deep into their eyes was like staring into the unknowns of space. The network of veins surrounding their pupils comprised a galaxy of hidden secrets only they knew the answers to. Smooth glossy scales that glide over the skin like silk. I seriously couldn't get enough of diamond pythons! So it's with sadness that I continue on with more information about DPS, as the nightmare I went through has been brought back up to the surface in a more horrifing way.

DPS is contagious.

I have been dealing with DPS for some years now, and have lost around 11-12 individuals. In these instances the specimens have been either wild caught long term captives (pre-amnesty), or captive bred. Long term captives tended to drop off around 11-12 years of age, whereas captive bred specimens would start to get DPS at around 8 years(see My Experiences With DPS Part 1).

I started to see changes with how quickly some individuals were getting DPS. Under normal circumstances (that is, when a diamond isn't exposed to other infected diamonds, and may or may not be being kept too warm) a diamond (6 years and over, wild caught or captive bred) can handle temps that are too warm for quite some time (of course, baking them at 40'c will simply kill them long before DPS has a chance to kick in, so this doesn't count). They do have a certain tolerance to temperatures that are too high, but this tolerance gradually starts to decline. They can handle their first few years without any problems, and behave like a typical morelia. But when they reach 6 years and over, that's when behaviours change and problems arise. However......

There is a time when a diamond can start showing signs of DPS within the first year of captivity. By this I mean that any healthy juvenile or adult can get DPS regardless of temperatures, at a time when one wouldn't expect it. And this 'time' is when they are exposed to already infected diamonds. This means that you can place a healthy diamond (juvenile or adult, kept at optimal 'diamond' temps, bred with purity and unrelated to infected specimens) in with infected diamonds and it will get DPS within the year. One would think that a diamond with DPS got the syndrome simply due to the way it was kept (too warm too long), and that this individual has DPS alone and cannot pass it to another individual that has been kept at perfect 'diamond' temps. However, this is not true.

This occurred to me when I placed healthy young captive bred animals (from different lines, and kept at optimal 'diamond' temps) in an aviary with infected diamonds. Within the year they all started getting broken bones, flabby muscles and started losing weight. The broken bones were jaw bones and ribs, mainly along the forebody. This was not due to any of them falling and injuring themselves. This was clearly due to DPS because it was accompanied by dramatic weight lose, with the inability to gain weight regardless of an increased intake of food. Broken jaw bones seem to be the main one. This usually becomes evident after a feed. More than likely, the large meal puts pressure on the already weak jaw bones and causes them to break. From this moment on, the jaws appear to have an upward bend in them which causes the chin to drop down, giving the gaped mouth appearance. In one case, the jaw bones were being replaced with tumors.

As if this wasn't horrifying enough!

The one specimen that had tumors around it's jawbones was set up inside, but eventually was put down. Another healthy diamond was placed in it's enclosure. After a short period, it too developed broken jaw bones. This went on. Healthy animals that were yet to show signs of DPS, were set up inside this enclsoure, away from the infected specimens outside. But in time, they too succumbed to broken jaw bones. This makes feeding much more difficult, as one could imagine. They can no longer work their jaws over prey items, and end up going without (unless I intervene, and coax the food down the throat).

Now, I wouldn't blame anyone for suggesting that all these diamonds must have had DPS lingering within them anyway, and that it was only a matter of time before the syndrome came to the fore (whether exposed to infected animals or not) and that it wasn't due to being contagious. Well this is what I once thought, too. However an incident occurred that had me convinced that DPS is contagious.

This indoor enclosure seemed cursed. Every healthy diamond that went in it developed DPS (temps were optimal), as though it caught DPS from the diamond before it. After a thorough cleaning with F10, I placed one FINAL snake in there. Within a month or two I noticed this individual had a slightly swollen chin. I checked for any signs of infection within the mouth. There were none. I kept an eye on the animal over the next few weeks and noticed things getting worse. The mouth would be agape and there was significant swelling around the jaws, but again, the mouth was completely free of infections. The jaws continued to worsen and developed an upward bend until they broke. The chin is now slightly agape and hangs low. This individual has broken jaws and will no longer feed itself.

No surprises there, right? After all, this had occurred with the previous diamonds kept in this enclosure. So it is simply another diamond python catching a syndrome specific to this species, from an enclosure that housed other infected diamonds, right? Wrong! This snake in question is not a diamond python - it is a COASTAL CARPET PYTHON!!

DPS is not restricted to diamond pythons. Coastals are next in line, and I would imagine all morelia species are susceptible to DPS. Indeed coastals are more tolerant to higher temperatures, and under normal circumstances it would be a very rare thing to have a coastal come down with DPS. But if exposed to infected diamonds, or an enclosure with perhaps the remnants of the syndrome embedded in it, it will clearly get DPS. So far, this has only occurred by having animals placed inside an individual enclosure that housed other infected diamonds, but supposing DPS is a virus, it could well infect pythons in a 'bedroom collection' even without direct exposure to infected animals, or the enclosures they were housed in.


This is open for discussion.

-ST
 
Firstly, sorry to hear of your losses.
Have all of these animals been autopsied? What was the clinical result? Was it found that they all shared a lethal contagion? Do you have clinical proof (from a qualified researcher) that it is a contagious disease?
I would be very interested in reading any reports on this (being a diamond/carpet owner myself), so please point me in the right direction/link me if you've already mentioned it.
 
I am so very sorry to hear what has happened.
You must feel so frustrated and so devestated
Thank you so much for sharing...for putting yourself out there to allow us to read about what has happened to you and to learn from it.
Being new to having a snake I had not heard of DPS before so I am going to go and do some reading about it and so I dont feel I can comment.

Other than to say

Thank you for sharing.

Elizabeth
 
ST sorry for all your losses. I don't have any experience so I can't really comment but it is certainly extremely troubling.

-Will
 
Scary to think DPS could very well be contagious Nick! Cheers for all the in depth info and sharing your experiences, could only imagine just how difficult it must have been to have lost all those snakes! I really hope further research and studies are put into this disease/condition so that more is learnt about cause, prevention, and cure if at all possible! I continue to live in the hope of it being the case one day.

Thals.
 
Very interesting findings. It's scary to consider that you must destroy the entire enclosure after a DPS-affected animal has lived there. If only you could get a veterinary pathologist interested in pursuing the pathology involved... Uni students and postgrads -this would be a great topic for some research that could benefit reptile keepers throughout Australia.
 
Firstly, sorry to hear of your losses.
Have all of these animals been autopsied? What was the clinical result? Was it found that they all shared a lethal contagion? Do you have clinical proof (from a qualified researcher) that it is a contagious disease?
I would be very interested in reading any reports on this (being a diamond/carpet owner myself), so please point me in the right direction/link me if you've already mentioned it.

No, not all have been autopsied. The first 5-6 that I ever lost were autopsied, but there wasn't anything too revealing. Basically damaged organs, flaccid intestines, weak, crumbling and broken bones. Blood tests revealed nothing, and parts of their brains/tissue samples were tested for OPMV/IBD. No virus' were present. All of this was costing me a fortune, so I eased up on having autopsies done, and stuck to X-rays to indicate broken bones.

No, I have no clinical proof, just observations and gut instinct. For more information, the new issue of Reptiles Australia has an article that I wrote about DPS, and details what I went through.
 
I recently bought two hatchy Diamonds and would like any advice on how to avoid DPS I was told UV lighting would prevent it?
 
A truly horrific story! My heartfelt condolences to you. I've got no knowledge in this area so can't give any comment. Your story, whilst sad, was a very interesting read.

Cheers,
Luke
 
Cheers pinkmus, just wanna check i'm doing the right thing.

and thanks for your story ST I can't begin to imagine how frustrating the whole experience has been for you :(
 
Excellent information mate.

I have some experience that would back up your temperature theory as well.

I lost a couple of Diamonds a while back which had been kept in enclosures with a minimum heat about 24 degrees (inside the house) and it could get incredibly hot (out west) during the day, one new years day it hit 50 degrees, thats not a joke.

These diamonds I had kept for a couple of years without issue, and then all of a sudden they basically stopped growing or putting on weight, I would feed every week or two (they were adults) and they stayed the same, then they developed swollen areas on the body and mouth. Needless to say they eventually died as they went off there food.

From then, I have kept my Diamonds in my garage, with only a 40w party light. They get temps as low as 4 degrees or so at night throughout the year, and love it. It probably has a hot spot of about 26 degrees tops. They have been like that for several years now and never had any issues.

I don't believe Diamonds need a heat sorce at all if being kept inside the house. The ambiant temps are warm enough. There a species that thrives in the cool weather. As an example, I kept my Bredli next to the Diamonds and woke up one freezing morning to find I had basically frozen my male.. Whereas the Diamond next to it was moving about looking for a feed.

Just some of my experiences!
 
I don't believe Diamonds need a heat sorce at all if being kept inside the house. The ambiant temps are warm enough. There a species that thrives in the cool weather.

True, but we must also remember that wild and captive diamonds bask in the morning sun for a reason, so I suggest at least raising temps when they have had a feed, and then dropping down to ambient temps when the food is digested.
 
I feel i should ask this question as i have made reference to this thread on another and want to make sure i understand your hypothesis. i am interpreting that you believe DPS to be a hereditary disorder like mediterranian fever? Only once established in the individual specimen, it becomes contageous to those in the same family? or saying that it is similar to HIV and has just spread throughout the populous of diamonds over generations of breeding and lays dormant until certain environmental factors act as a catalyst? and that this virus can only be spread to those in the same family?
Your information/theories/feelings would be much appreciated as i have always had a bit of an interest in DPS and still reccomend UV to anyone with a diamond as well as frequent temp drops. (in my oppinion if you are not 100% sure of why it occurs then take everyones ideas seriously)
 
ST your accounts with DPS are extremely interesting although must be sad writing about it. I would have to consider yourself the most experienced keeper in dealing with DPS. From what I've seen and heard from others I'm 100% sure UV has nothing to do with DPS. Ive often wondered if it was a genetic disorder hidden away within the diamonds DNA. Some people's bloodlines have had a high incidence of DPS occurring were others have had very little. The areas were these guys live as you know is full of extremes. Summers are very hot and winters very cold. I dont believe that the species as a whole is very senistive as people suggest or they would of been wipe out a long time ago.
I found it interesting that you have found DPS occurring inside and out, UV and no UV, cage mate to cage mate, and now between species.
 
There is a time when a diamond can start showing signs of DPS within the first year of captivity. By this I mean that any healthy juvenile or adult can get DPS regardless of temperatures, at a time when one wouldn't expect it. And this 'time' is when they are exposed to already infected diamonds. This means that you can place a healthy diamond (juvenile or adult, kept at optimal 'diamond' temps, bred with purity and unrelated to infected specimens) in with infected diamonds and it will get DPS within the year.

Firstly great articles on diamonds in Reptile Australia magazine nick and excellent thread on something we seem to know little about. lets hope from your work we can start to get some answers.


from your above quote saying healthy juveniles can get DPS from being housed with infected animals it seems to be suggesting (imo) that it could be a retrovirus of some sort? whats your thoughts on this nick?

also when does the DPS seem to start affecting previously healthy animals that were infected from being in contact with infected adults? anytime of the year of does it start to show on the onset of winter with the change in temps? have the infected animals that have died been tested for any virus by the vet that did the autopsy?

so it also affected a healthy coastal that was placed in with infected diamonds?? if other morelia and not just diamonds get sick and exhibit similar symptoms it would seem to suggest some virus (imo) whats your thoughts nick?
 
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what a heartbreaking story. :(

thanks for sharing, i hope i never have to go thru that with mine. :(
 
Im not clued up on this sort of stuff, but IMO I'd be burning that enclosure.

Sorry for your losses, and thanks for giving the time to write up the 2 thread about DPS.
Now to grab myself a copy of Rep Aust mag.
 
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