Purchasing first snake.

[Viper_x49]

Hello fellow forum-ers, i am a new member to this forum and just wanted to ask some questions,
i am currently on my way to purchasing my first snake, a diamond python off mark, luke and tracey from shiresnakes.com,
i will be housing my snake in a click clack for the first month untill i have a full enclosure set-up for (her),
i just wanted to know what some essentials will be to house her in the click clack,
i already know i will need a heating mat of some kind, but how long should i leave it on for? all the time?
and will i need some sort of thermometer to monitor the heat inside the container?, and what would be the superior temperature for the snake to live in?
cheers, daniel.

[caliherp]

as far as husbindry of this species i cant heplp you. But you will need a thermostat to regulate temps. you also need to be verry careful of heating the plastic to much if your useing a heat mat. burn holes in it for venalation and use papertowels for substrate. easy to change and cheap. good luck.

[bigjoediver]

DIY section- how to build a click clack.
All you need to know. Diamonds have pretty stringent husbandry requirements so do your research. They don't require a lot of heat as they are cool climate pythons, excessive heat is thought to be the major cause of DPS. If you don't know what that is you haven't researched you intended purchase enough. Good luck and welcome to the forum.

[Viper_x49]

i have done my research, i just wanted some advice from some other people with a bit more experience, i prefer to speak to people on forums than reading random research on the net anyways, and its alot better considering most of you guys are from aus.

[caliherp]

i have done my research, i just wanted some advice from some other people with a bit more experience, i prefer to speak to people on forums than reading random research on the net anyways, and its alot better considering most of you guys are from aus.

Everyone has there own way of doingthings, as im shure you have read. The best advice i can give you is dont go by one care sheet. read multable ones. you will get diffrent advice. Meet somewhere in the middle and adjust your husbindry techniques to best suit you.

[Hamalicious]

The most important thing with diamonds is not letting them over heat. They come from a cold climate so you only want to give them a small hot spot of around 28 degrees C and have the rest of the enclosure cold. Keeping them at high temperatures like other Morelia will result in DPS which as far as i know is 100% fatal. I cant stress this enough! do as much research on DPS (diamond python syndrome) as you can. Good luck!

[Viper_x49]

yeh i have read atleast 15-20 articles so far, and plan to do a bit more, i am aware of the cold climates they come from and dps, i think i should be fine, i will probably be following something like the DIY click clack, and keep him in there for the first couple months untill i get my setup 100% right. thanks for the advice guys,
cheers, daniel.

[CheekySod]

Keep it simple heat-mat on the hot side, no more then 45% of the click clack tub with a thermostat so you can keep the heatmat on 24/7. diamonds dont need high temps, mid twentys (25-28 on the hot side cold side should be fine as room temp in winter 15-20. (Inside) Keep 1 temp probe on the hot side and one the cool side. Remember to Take the little guy outside for some sunlight once hes settled in and feeding when you can they need vitamin D from the sun. Shiresnakes have some awsome Diamonds you will be vary happy