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12-Dec-06, 03:38 PM
|  | HERPAHOLIC Subscriber | Join Date: Mar-06 Location: Newcastle, NSW Age/Gender: 20  | | |
Hey all,
What is the best temperature for a diamond python. Also what is Diamond python syndrome. I seen a sale lately and it said that the diamond python has not been heated to avoid diamond python syndrome.
Cameron
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12-Dec-06, 03:45 PM
|  | Sapere aude Sponsor | Join Date: Oct-06 Location: ACT | | | |
There is no best temperature, you need a thermal gradient
So you want a hot area. and a cool area.
They are a cold whether python and will handle cool to cold temps. i.e. 15 degrees over night is no issue.
Just make sure that you provide a warm area for them to heat during the day. they will use it at will
With regards to the DPS. Some people believe that not winter cooling your snakes (DPs) may lead to DPS. So it is advised to cool them every winter.
Does that make sense.
D
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12-Dec-06, 03:50 PM
| | HERPAHOLIC Subscriber | Join Date: Mar-06 Location: Newcastle, NSW Age/Gender: 20 | | | |
Yes it makes perfect sense. Well at the hot end i have it set to 32ish like my other snakes and the cool end is around about the 21 today. Even if i do not breed my diamond do i need to cool it?
Cameron
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12-Dec-06, 03:50 PM
|  | Regular Member | Join Date: Nov-06 Location: Newcastle | | | |
so cooling them as if you were breeding them
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12-Dec-06, 03:54 PM
| | Sapere aude Sponsor | Join Date: Oct-06 Location: ACT | | | |
yeah it is a good idea to cool all snakes as they would in their natural habitat.
Their genetic code has made them suitable for the environment that they live and so replicating that will help maintain their health.
Are you using a heat lamp or a heat emitter. and how big is the enclosure that you have it in?
D
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12-Dec-06, 03:57 PM
|  | Regular Member | Join Date: Jul-06 Location: Melbourne Gender: | | | |
I was told with a Diamond keep the hot end at no more than 28, use a UV light too to help prevent DPS.
DPS is when they dont develop strong bones. When adults their brittle bones cannot supprot their body and weight and end up dying.
__________________
Owner of Daisy the Diamond , Bert the Bredli python, Monty the orange phase beardie, 2x Black & Gold Jungles (Arthur and Martha)
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12-Dec-06, 04:05 PM
|  | Regular Member | Join Date: Sep-04 Location: The far and bewildered mountainside of the strange region of Carpathia Age/Gender: 34 | | | |
You can get away with not cooling them during winter for their first year or two, but after that they should be cooled during winter. Cool nights are also recommended throughout the year to keep the snake healthy.
DPS is caused by diamonds being kept too warm throughout their lives. There's a good possibility that DPS begins very early in the snakes life but doesnt show itself until the snake is around 6-7 years old, so its important that you dont keep them too warm as babies. I dont give my babies heat overnight and cool them during their first winter.
Many people give them temps that are too high, without giving thought to how important a cool end is to a diamond.
The common symptoms of DPS are respiratory infections, internal organs failing, broken bones, flabby muscles, weak skin and tremors. Many believe that moving the snake outdoors and giving it exposure to sunlight will reverse the illness. In some cases it can but i think it's not so much the sunlight, but rather the cool nights its exposed to while being kept outside that really have the biggest effect on the snakes. Diamonds really need that drop in temps during the evening.
If i was keeping diamonds indoors i would have the warm end at 28'C and turn off heating over night.
__________________
Now she moves with a predators guile
Beyond the firelit circle of life
She soothes your cold heart for a while
Then matches its beat, synching in with a knife.
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12-Dec-06, 04:08 PM
| | Sapere aude Sponsor | Join Date: Oct-06 Location: ACT | | | |
Realistically, it doesnt matter if you have the hot end at 50 degrees.
if the snake doesnt want to be in the heat they wont go there. They will find the position that they can thermoregulate at best. Snakes are an extremely evolved creature and i am pretty sure that they know how to regulate them selves.
You just have to ensure that you provide a thermal gradient, obviously if you had an area that was 50 degrees, you would need a large enclosure in order to provide the correct thermal gradient.
the main problems are when the enclosures are maintained at high temperatures.
I agree with the UV light, though there is no scientific data that confirms the need for UV, there is also nothing that denies it. So i figure its best to use it.
Below is one of the diamond enclosures that i am using at current. It is 1200 x 1200 x 600 and has a basking area of about 44 degrees, obviously they dont spend much time in that spot. The bottom is about 20-23 depending on the day temps,
Generally they will only get right in the hot area after they have eaten, and they stay there for maybe half an hour then move to the higher branch. which is around 27. Then they move back and forth from the heat. At night they have no heat. Again depending on the night, the enclosure sometimes gets down to 10 but generally is about 18-22
Anyway, something to think about.
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12-Dec-06, 04:11 PM
| | Regular Member | Join Date: Oct-06 Location: Melbourne Age: 24 | | | |
I have my diamond with a warm end on 28-29 middle about 26 and cool end 23. I have two thermometers to help with the temps. I also have the heating turn off at night so it gets down to about 15-20 degrees depending on the weather.
I also have UV on for 5 hours a day with a timer.
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12-Dec-06, 04:14 PM
| | Regular Member | Join Date: Oct-06 Location: Melbourne Age: 24 | | | |
oh and even though my snake wasn't cooled during winter he didn't eat all winter (refused food). Started up eating pretty much as soon as it was spring.
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12-Dec-06, 04:15 PM
|  | Subscriber | Join Date: Jan-06 Location: newcastle NSW Gender: | | | |
i keep my diamonds at around 28 - 29 degrees celcius
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12-Dec-06, 05:32 PM
|  | Regular Member | Join Date: Aug-06 Location: Dead and Buried Gender: | | | Quote:
Originally Posted by dellywatts  I have my diamond with a warm end on 28-29 middle about 26 and cool end 23. I have two thermometers to help with the temps. I also have the heating turn off at night so it gets down to about 15-20 degrees depending on the weather.
I also have UV on for 5 hours a day with a timer. | Totally agree with dellywatts on this except we aren't running uv.
Another possible factor of DPS is excessive weight, try not to overfeed them, even though they always seem hungry and never seem to knock back food. (Bit like me!!)  |
12-Dec-06, 05:48 PM
| | Sapere aude Sponsor | Join Date: Oct-06 Location: ACT | | | |
This may be a bit of speculation, but you often read that people say that their diamonds seem consistently hungry.
Coupled with this is the fact that people keep their animals at continually high temps.
As diamonds are a cold weather python, and the simple fact that reptile metobalism is thermal dependant, then keeping your snake at high temps will cause them to be hungrier than an animal that is conditioned to live at higher temps for longer.
As serpent tongue said, The over night drop in temp is vitally important.
As such a cold weather python such as diamonds kept in temps of a warm weather python like a darwin for example will have a faster metabolism as their genetics has built them for the colder environment, ergo, creating the perception of a ever hungry snake.
Man, i think my brain is overloading trying to follow that.
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12-Dec-06, 06:07 PM
|  | Regular Member | Join Date: Aug-06 Location: Vic | | | |
Dr Brendan Carmel (great herp vet) says their preferred body temp is 29 degrees. They should be cooler than your other pythons cause of their natural location (more southerly).
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12-Dec-06, 06:18 PM
| | HERPAHOLIC Subscriber | Join Date: Mar-06 Location: Newcastle, NSW Age/Gender: 20 | | | |
Hey all,
This is great stuff so keep it coming.
We have it all - My diamond is about 4-5ft long and is in a 4ft enclosure. For heat i am using a heat mat on a thermostat with a 4ft UV light on top of the enclosure. I feed my DP every 2 weeks. Should it be done more or less. My heat is on day and night so i should be turning the heat off during the night?
Cameron
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