OLD diamond pics

[zulu]

Hi i borrowed some vintage photos off oldfella to show what difference there is in wollongong diamond morphs and they come more yellow and with different patterns EtcThey are scanned and reduced so they dont look good but give some idea of variation.The black one with the eggs was 1985 and they were laid in that old box in the outside shed in a fish tank,in april i brought them inside and heated them so theyd hatch.

[iceman]

tell oldfella that his pic are great an your not wrong when you say that they are vintage photos.

[serpenttongue]

Unreal Zulu, keep them coming. I love seeing really old herp pics and hearing really old herp stories. That last pic has got my adrenaline pumping!!!

[serpenttongue]

zulu, check this scanned pic. It was taken in 1987. This was my first diamond which i caught along the Illawarra escarpment when i was 12

[serpenttongue]

here's another really old one, still in 1987 and this diamond is also an Illawarra specimen. She was a nice docile female about 2m long and again caught by me.

[GetCoiled]

Very nice those vintage pics mates! load of memories I guess...
Cheers
Stefano

[zulu]

Those were the days down south serpentongue,diesel trains,coal mining generally and lack of developement dude! In the early 80s reptiles and other wildlife were still quite abundant in wollongong,nice rubbishy spots with plenty of old tin sheets and houses.In general if i go to the same places there is a lack of lyre birds,less antechinus stuarti and swamp wallabies etcpartly it can be attributed to the change of forrest edges from fire and clearance.It is the edges both man made and natural where wildlife is common buit some species such as lyrebirds are being depleted due to cats and foxs.That diamond in the first photo was a nice one serp and it had an incomplete tail i observed it for several years,the one in the middle was a nice lemon with creamy and yellowish spots it was male and out mating in my brothers yard.That one with the eggs you can see the size of the hatchlings by their heads,guite big for diamonds.

[serpenttongue]

Yeah the coal mines around Wollongong are great spots. Diamonds seem to gravitate to them. 2 coal mines in Wollongong have closed down, can you imagine how many diamonds have gone there to hunt rodents? Houses around Wollongong have now pushed their way very close to the mountains. There's more traffic in areas that were once very isolated. It's good to see that diamonds are still common though, and i think thats thanks to their secretive habits. Many are still being found in roofs of houses out in the bush and i often wonder whether the home owners know this, and if so do they leave them alone. I once worked at a house up in the mountains of Wollongong and the home owners let me look up in their attic. There were diamond skins EVERYWHERE!!! All around the rafters and all along the beams that you walk on when you're up in attics. Skins of all sizes. I should have taken a photo.They had this fine sawdust stuff over the floor of the attic and diamond tracks were all through it. You could even see tracks of diamonds coiling up. Their faeces where everywhere too. The bush houses have made great retreats for diamonds but they only seem to be there around March and April. Other times of the year they have to travel around and thats when they become more vunerable to traffic and feral predators.

Yeah those babies look big in that last pic zulu. Nice sized clutch too, i love it!!! I'd love to have been there at that moment when that pic was taken

[zen]

Interesting pics & discussion guys.

Zulu, that photo of the hatchlings emerging from the clutch with the big black mother is a classic.

How do you find maternal incubation success goes compared to artificial incubation. :
I've read that it often results in loss of eggs & health problems or even death of the brooding female :!: .

This one was apparently successful though.

[serpenttongue]

Zen it all depends on the females condition beforehand, and also where she lays. If she's got good condition and hasnt laid in a few years then she'll do well. The need to be laid away from temp extremes, dampness and winds. If these things are dealt with, then all fertile eggs should hatch, save for any unforeseen incidents.

[zen]

Thanks for the reply Serp.

After reading Kortlang & Green, I didn't think it was an option.

So if I ensure the above conditions are right and she's in good nick, as you say, then it's a valid alternative.

I might try it one day if I get the chance.
I reckon it would be fascinating to watch.


By the way, have you found that after you've taken the eggs off the mother, she continues to shiver for while :.

[serpenttongue]

Yes, after taking the eggs the female will often continue to shiver, especially if her nest or egglaying box is left in the enclosure. You have to remove her nest/box to get rid of the smell of her eggs. If she can detect the slightest scent of her eggs she'll continue to shiver in that spot. One of my females this year continued shivering for quite a while after laying. I removed her egg box and she started feeding again. Then i took the newspaper from out of the box and replaced it with new paper, then the box was placed back in her enclosure. She immediately went into her box and began shivering again. I had to scrub her box with hot water mixed with bleach to get rid of the scent of her eggs. That worked.

Maternal incubation is tricky. I believe its more tricky when doing it indoors. Even when attempting maternal incubation you should still have your incubator ready incase you have to take the eggs from her.

[zulu]

Originally Posted by zen

Interesting pics & discussion guys.

Zulu, that photo of the hatchlings emerging from the clutch with the big black mother is a classic.

How do you find maternal incubation success goes compared to artificial incubation. :
I've read that it often results in loss of eggs & health problems or even death of the brooding female :!: .

This one was apparently successful though.

Serp has done the maternal incubation and indicus with various pythons,firstly zen make your the type of python will self incubate (myself and indicus have had bhps that didnt self incubate).Then work out whether your going to have it inside or outside,the diamonds ive had self incubate,one was outside in a shed and it got the morning sun (the one pictured)and one was inside with the room heated with an oil heater.I didnt have incubators in those days zen but the results were better than most anyway at the time.The ones outside had most of their moisture provided by misting the tank they were in,since they drop right down in temp at night they dont lose too much moisture zen,initially they were laid on a few very slightly damp tissues that dryed up anyway,they was inside that box.If they was left outside they would not hatch as it was april 23rd and they was laid on the 10th of jan,they just go into suspended animation.The ones inside hatched in early feb,one was a slug and one hatched then retreated and drowned and 27 successful,they all hatched at the one time and left the eggs quickly,The ones inside was laid in an elevated finch nesting box,on the bottom was layers of extremely slightly damp tissues and on top of these was placed folded up dry newspaper,the moisture gets into the newspaper over time.Basically zen its like they say in literature about the onley way you can stuff them is overheating or too much moisture,you need just the hint of moisture in direct contact with the eggs.Hope this may be of assistance,yeh make sure your species is going to maternally incubate,Rick Shine reports that some waterpythons stay with their eggs and some dont,i got incubator these days LOL. Cheers colin.

[zen]

Thanks guys.
Interesting read.

I'm tempted to give it a crack next season if given the opportunity.

I'm more in this for the experience than anything else, so the greater the range the better.
I'll definitely give it a try, but will be very careful to meet all the criteria necessary.

Thanks for the tips.

You guys sure know your Diamonds.


Cheers