Diamond Pics -Dialup waring

[reptililian]

I dig your diamond house. It's fantastic! And what a beautiful crew you've got! Don't you love it when they sit looking out of the doorway, just keeping an eye on the world!

[zen]

Thanks for the vital statistics Playwell.

I suspected Wollongong/Sydney geographic origin.

So your female may be gravid, though overdue.
Good luck, Santa's still delivering. :wink: ( I hope!)


I adore your enclosure, it's a brilliant set-up!. :mrgreen:
Truly inspiring!
As good as Lord Serpents :wink:

By the way, what are you guys talking about here?:-

...dont you just love that foam-a-fill stuff? I used to use that for filling gaps in my old diamond avairy. Did you get any on your hands?

I did with the first avairy I built, it took about a week to get it all off
This time I used latex gloves.

Did you construct it yourself or was it prefabricated :

Also, where do you buy the components or kit from : .


:idea: I'm wanting to set up something like that up, as it seems to be definitely the way to go with Diamonds!



Cheers, zen

[serpenttongue]

Zen, if you look at Playwells pic of his enclosure you'll see he has white stuff oozing out from the edges around his roof. It's a foam that expands to fill gaps.
It has many names but i've always called it Foam-a-fill. Very sticky and hard to get off skin.

[zen]

Thanks Serpenttongue,

I can see it now in the pic of Playwells enclosure.
So I assume it's used to thoroughly fill gaps to effectively prevent escape.

I'll probably need some of that stuff, as I've got some colourbond sheeting that I plan to use for my enclosure.

You guys are an inspiration.


Cheers, zen

[serpenttongue]

It's good stuff Zen. Expands quickly and sets quickly. Can be cut, sanded and painted. Over a few years it turns yellow and brittle but still keeps gaps filled and sealed. I think it's about $20 a can from hardware shops. But do as Playwell did, wear gloves!!! :wink:

[deathinfire]

Nice looking diamonds there playwell

Post some pics of the female after her shed

That enclosure is big enough to keep lions in

[zen]

Thanks for the info on the Foam-a-fill Serpenttongue.

I'll be off to the hardware store to get some for my New Years project of building a set-up like yours & Playwells.

I've got to get my Diamonds out in an aviary.


How do you construct such a beaut aviary :
Are they prefab or do you put it together yourself?

I've got no idea where to start.


Thanks, zen

[serpenttongue]

You can buy them in kit form. Mine was made specifically to my dimensions and delivered to my house. I got mine through "Col Western sheds and avairies" in Albion Park(Wollongong) but they are also located in Gosford, Charmhaven, Newcastle, Beresfield and Heatherbrae. Mine is 6.24m long 1.8m high and 1.7m wide, but is split into 3 smaller enclosures and cost about $900. If you pay a little more they will erect it for you, but i did it myself(which was hell!!).

Anyway maybe you can try to get one of their brochures, they have a wide range of different avairies to choose from and some are really good. I'll be buying more over time, that's for sure

[zulu]

It would be a good idea to have an underground hide in these aviaries,certainly would not do any harm in the very hot weather.I know that where i live in sydneys west the air temp gets too warm i the shade or house etc most reptiles cool by going underground in summer.Ive got 14 inch pvc pipes lined up for the underground heat relief

[zen]

Thanks heaps for the enclosure info Serpenttongue.

I'll be giving Col Western a call to be sure.

If they deliver to Sydney, it sounds like it's best to have it constructed on site.


Zulu, thanks for the suggestion. I'll be sure to incorporate an underground retreat.
It's a good idea.


Cheers, john

[Joe_G]

I congratulate you on a beaut diamond setup there Playwell. I am contemplating setting something up of similar proportion to yours though i do have a couple of questions.
From my understanding, Diamonds require UV. Is there a part of the roof which has wire instead of colourbond sheeting, or perhaps it is not a requirement to provide diamonds with UV?
Yesterday was incredibly hot, and i am sure that many peple have lost rats and mice ( i certainly did), though how would the pythons fair in such heat, and in winter do you have to provide heating?

Thankyou in andvance to anyone who helps me out..... cheers

[serpenttongue]

Joe, there's no real need to have wire on the roof as the sun can easily shine into the cage from the sides.

On hot days you would need to provide them with hides on the ground where its coolest. Thick hollows tend to stay cool inside and even a pond is a good idea for pythons to soak in during hot weather, especially yesterday( i had BHP's laying completely submerged!!) Of course shade is always very important for any reptile.

As long as they are being kept where they occur locally then in most cases no heating would be needed during winter. Hides can be insulated with polystyrene sheets and the cage should be positioned where it will receive sunlight for several hours to allow basking.

I believe very strongly in providing diamonds with natural, unfiltered sunlight.

[playwell]

As Serpenttongue mentioned no wire in the top, as plenty of sun enters through the sides of the aviary.

My avairy is positioned under two trees that shade it very well. The pythons get good dose of morning sun and then have shade from the midday & afternoon sun.

I was very concerned about the heat wave. I try to give the pythons opions. I have froam boxes on shelves for them to hide in & I provide some on the bottom of the aviary as well. The outside air temps where very similar to the inside of there boxes, so still far to hot.

On this 45deg day I had to hose the aviary down to try to cool evreything, the Diamonds all went to ground and hid under the timber shelves that the hides are sitting on. The ground was much cooler from the water & evaperation process.

I am going to go and get a couple of heavy hollow logs to sit in the middle of the aviary, on a hot day I will wet it down and it will cool them much better than what I have already provided.

They also have a very large deep water bowl, that I kept flushing with cold water but they didnt bother with getting in it.

I dont have Serpenttongue's experience so I do play alot of this by ear and try to use common sence.

I had them outside in a smaller aviary for the better part of the past winter with no heating at all. They did very well and came out & sat in the sun every day that the sun was out.

It is interesting to watch their behaviour when kept outside. They react & behave very different to when kept inside in pooky interanl enclosures.


Hey!.. Serpenttongue do you notice that on very hot days when it is to hot for them to come out & sit in the sun. That they become very active at night. :
Where if they are out during the day, they are not active at night.

From watching my Diamonds for the past six months that they have been in the aviary, they dont seem nearly as nocternal as Carpet Pythons.

:idea: To test this, I had a female Coastal share the aviary with them for a few months. I very rarely saw the coastal during the day, but she was out most nights being very active, much more active than the Diamonds.

(This has got to be the longest post I have ever written.)

[serpenttongue]

Originally Posted by playwell

Hey!.. Serpenttongue do you notice that on very hot days when it is to hot for them to come out & sit in the sun. That they become very active at night. :
Where if they are out during the day, they are not active at night.

Yes, completely true!! If the day was very hot they wont be seen at all (not even for basking) until nightfall, and then they will emerge. Often it has to be a very warm, humid night for one of my diamonds to be nocturnal.

In cooler weather they will bask during the sunny mornings but never become nocturnal during those evenings

[hugsta]

I also find my diamonds love to come out on a stormy Summers night, seems they likle the change of weather.