diamon vs port mac

[Jessica_lee]

Hi there
Probably touching on a subject visited already, but if you dont want to answer dont have too :-).

Im from mackay in North/Central Queensland (our town remains divided, i think were trying to associate ourselves with the whitsundays more but are just south of said location)

Anyway I love the look of diamond pythons and heard they have an ok temperment. My worry is the effort i will have to put in to keep one up here. Should i find one bred up here?
Or alternatively could I angle towards the Port Macs, have heard they are more hardy, is this true?

Id love one soon.

Thanks

[Auzlizardking]

From Big guy

Intergrades. For some reason people think intergrades have occurred natually in the wild were somehow, many years ago, a Diamond bred with a Carpet where their borders mixed. If you are in this group you are also wrong.

Let the class begin. I will use the Carpet Python as it has the best known intergrades. The Eastern Carpet Python,(morelia spilota) according to DNA evidence is the same species wether it be the PNG, Top End, Cape York, Jungle, Coastal, Murray/Darling or Diamond. As the origional ancesters of this species moved into Australia and spread out around the eastern states, it has had to adapt to different climatic and geographical areas. The result of these changes have left us with the distinct subspecies that are listed above.

Nowhere in Australia is there an area where one subspecies just magically turned into the next. This was a suttle change, and in most areas it took many hundreds of kilometers for the changes to fully occur. These buffer zones between the 2 distinct sub species are known as the intergrade zones.

The best known of these is found in mid coast NSW. Starting just north of Coffs Harbour the Coastal Carpet starts it's transformation into the Diamond Python which finally fully appears at around Newcastle and extends to just over the Vic border. When looking at morelia spilota found in the area from Coffs to Newcastle you can see they share both charactoristics. The closer to Coffs, the more they resemble the Carpet that they started from. The closer to Newcastle, the more they resemble the Diamond that they are slowly turning into. The prettiest I have seen in this area occurr around Port Macquarie, and IMO can be far prettier than any Diamond i have ever seen, as well as being far more hardier in Captivity

Even though morelia spilota are deemed the same species by DNA, each subspecies can still be identified by slight variations in the DNA. This also includes the intergrades which have been found to differ from their origionals.

[travie]

id go with the diamond, the oly difference or reason why the mac would be more hardy is that the diamond needs some UV light when it gets abit older, they have a beautiful temprement, go with the diamond

[Auzlizardking]

As for keeping Diamond up north - I know it can be done but you need to set the enclosure up just right or you might only have the snake a short time - as Diamond like it a bit cooler 28 / 32c

[Auzlizardking]

Originally Posted by travie

id go with the diamond, the oly difference or reason why the mac would be more hardy is that the diamond needs some UV light when it gets abit older, they have a beautiful temprement, go with the diamond

Oh so your saying it's only hardier because Diamond need UV - what do you base that on?

[Dan19]

Read some debates on Diamond Python Syndrome. If you will provide the correct heating, you should be fine with this problem. Here is a good thread on the subject - My experiences with DPS

[bigguy]

My advice would be to go with an intergrade(Port Mac). These can be even prettier then a Diamond and are far more hardier to keep. Mackay is way to hot for Diamonds, and you would need to keep them in a A/C room to keep them really healthy.

DPS is not just from UV light. Its my believe its a combination of different factors. Kept continually too hot, lack of UV lighting, and overfeeding. If you lived in the Athertons, you could easily keep Diamonds outside. But on the coast of mid to far noth Qld you are just asking for trouble. Some might survive, most wont.

Intergrades(Port Macs) on the other hand have the constitution of a Coastal Carpet, and dont need to kept any different then a Carpet. There are always some nice ones for sale with the breeders in Newcastle and mid coast NSW. There was also some beauties for sale last week with Kel Worley of Grafton. If I wasnt so sick I would have grabbed some for myself.

Hope this helps
Bigguy

[michele]

those intergrades from the worleys are the best thing going as far as im concerned.his intergrades are better than most diamonds youll see,and theyre so much hardier.they are definately the way to go.