Nice looking setup.
Winter cooling - Diamonds
- Thread starter Striker
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Nice looking setup.
N
Norm
Guest
jahan, that looks like an impressive setup. I take it that white box has heat of some sort? Also is the front of the cage some sort of poly? Is that how you keep the wind out? Not having a go at you but isn`t that just like a normal indoor enclosure but outside? I wouldn`t really call that an avairy as such.
But a great idea, looks tops!
But a great idea, looks tops!
Sooo much information and a lot of advice ends up being contradictory. You find an article like the one on the link posted above it seems to read well, and then others say it is rubbish (and it probably is). Do any of these topics ever get run by zoologists, herpetologists and the like for a definitive answer and then made into sticky’s? This site is full of fantastic information, but I find I sometimes suffer from volume overload when searching for specific topics and sometimes end up with even more doubt from the conflicting information required. I know there are a lot of variables and people need to figure some stuff out for themselves taking all advice on board, but wouldn’t a definitive answer or expert opinion be of use to all of us for the commonly reoccurring threads (cooling, feeding – weight and frequency, heating temps, basking temps etc)? For example despite our best efforts a lot of Diamonds still seem to be dying young. Who is getting the best results with them? What are they doing differently to everyone else? Who are the experts on this site and how is their expertise achieved? Through experience or academically?
Does anyone agree or am I just displaying my overthinking again and need to relax a bit……Believe it or not I am relaxed and happy with my care of the animals I have. I’m just constantly looking for better ideas and want to know the advice I’m getting is sound in the long term.
Why did that writing come out so big?
Does anyone agree or am I just displaying my overthinking again and need to relax a bit……Believe it or not I am relaxed and happy with my care of the animals I have. I’m just constantly looking for better ideas and want to know the advice I’m getting is sound in the long term.
Why did that writing come out so big?
serpenttongue
Very Well-Known Member
Sure, no problem.
N
Norm
Guest
I tend to agree with you Striker, It`s hard to know who`s advise to take because we don`t know how qualified that person is to give it. Thats why at this time I don`t feel confident to try diamonds outside because I beleive we need to mimic their natural enviroment so closely so they can escape extreme weather rather than indoors we control the weather and they only need the resources nessasary to live those conditions.
jahan
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The white box is a freezer on its back with a heat cord under gravel.
The front of the enclosure is perspex and its fully insulated.
It is abit the same as inside,easier to clean and I couldn`t have something that big inside.
Besides that nothing beats the fresh air and the sun they get.
Striker that article you posted,as stated buy someone else that guys animals died.
The front of the enclosure is perspex and its fully insulated.
It is abit the same as inside,easier to clean and I couldn`t have something that big inside.
Besides that nothing beats the fresh air and the sun they get.
Striker that article you posted,as stated buy someone else that guys animals died.
serpenttongue
Very Well-Known Member
Strange that they got canker, since that it usually due to a mouth infection, or as a secondary infection caused by RI. Canker itself doesn't seem to be brought on by cooling alone. Anyway....
It's true, diamonds are difficult to keep, even outdoors.
In the wild they can go underground, down deep rock crevices and even the attics of houses and barns (their favourite winter retreat) that are adjacent to diamond habitat. It's hard to replicate the same range of temperatures in an aviary, that I diamond can choose from in the wild, and also the length of time that it exposes itself to those temperatures.
If I was to keep diamonds again, then I would want them inside where I can keep them in a temperature-controlled room, or a cool basement that remains constantly cool, for it's nearly impossible to provide cool areas during summers scorching heat waves when kept outside in an aviary. This really screws them up, to the point of no return!
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Yeah I thought he had some strange ideas that didn't really match up to life in the wild (being locked in boxes for the duration of winter). But strange doesn't necessarily mean wrong and as I said above - you never know who to listen to.
Having said that there is every chance I'm going to copy your outdoor enclosure.
This thread is quite helpful - thanks OP!
Just a quick question, when would you start cooling your diamonds? I have a two year old that has received 24/7 heat up until now (basking spot at 28-30 degrees as I was told excessive heat can eventually lead to DPS.. I digress.. apologies!) So yea, when would you guys start cooling?
Just a quick question, when would you start cooling your diamonds? I have a two year old that has received 24/7 heat up until now (basking spot at 28-30 degrees as I was told excessive heat can eventually lead to DPS.. I digress.. apologies!) So yea, when would you guys start cooling?
I'm thinking May, June, July , August. With gradual reduction in basking/heating hours in May and gradual increase in August.
The same method is in "keeping and breeding Australian pythons".
Which also means their last rat (a couple of days ago) is the last they'll be getting until late August or September during a warm period after winter. Correct me if I'm wrong on this anyone.
The same method is in "keeping and breeding Australian pythons".
Which also means their last rat (a couple of days ago) is the last they'll be getting until late August or September during a warm period after winter. Correct me if I'm wrong on this anyone.
N
Norm
Guest
I basically follow the guide in "Keeping & Breeding Australian Pythons" by Mike Swan. I in no way though consider myself an experienced keeper which is why I copy this method and don`t have my own. My diamonds are all still very young (oldest is 3years) and I guess time will tell how well my husbandry has been. Diamonds are by far my favourite python and I think it is because of the complexity of keeping them as well as their looks and natures that I`m drawn to them.
I find threads like this very interesting, I`m looking forward to hearing from some other experienced diamond keepers.
I find threads like this very interesting, I`m looking forward to hearing from some other experienced diamond keepers.
Me too Norm (can't wait to hear from others). I love diamonds. Placid, calm and awesome to look at it.
One thing about that article (the link), is that even if it does little to help with our husbandry at least it really hammers the fact that diamonds are very much a cold weather snake and indicates the importance of providing them with this in captivity.
One thing about that article (the link), is that even if it does little to help with our husbandry at least it really hammers the fact that diamonds are very much a cold weather snake and indicates the importance of providing them with this in captivity.
Striker, are your "diamonds" true Diamonds or locally sourced animals from the Port Macquarie area?
As already well advised, do the latter. i.e DO NOT "Just turn everything off so they have no heating at all".
Definitely turn the basking light on for a few hours during the day, preferably mid-morning to lunchtime.
I strongly recommend reading a few good articles on Diamond Python husbandry by the well-respected home-grown Diamond gurus, Russell Grant and Nick Watson. Their excellent articles were published in 'Keeping and Breeding Australian Pythons" and Reptiles Australia Magazine (Vol.5, Issues 5 & 6) respectively. Also read Gary Valle's contribution in 'The Complete Carpet Python', he's a Californian breeder, who has kept and bred Diamonds for a couple of decades.
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They're not intergrades. They're proper (for want of a better word) diamonds. And yeah I'll be going with the latter option (some basking time) which was kind of my original plan. Just thought I'd sound out some others here for their thoughts after coming across that article (which has been well and truly shot down in this thread).
You see the diamond displayed in the full page picture opposite page 221, its got the dull faded damaged look to the scales that they get in captivity. When you catch them in the wild the skin is usually glossy and the colours are bright.
Loud and clear.
Now if we can just see about getting it removed from the internet all together......
N
Norm
Guest
I see what your saying about the scales but don`t understand your point. Are you suggesting that snake looks like that because it has been kept according to the guide in that book or just that that is how they look when kept in captivity, away from their natural habitat? ( sun light etc.) How long does it take for them to look like this? As my 3 year old is lovely and glossy and I`ve seen plenty of others that look in perfect health also.
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