Diamond's Lifespan

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Nash1990

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Hi

Assuming all goes well, what is the average lifespan of a captive diamond python?

Thanks
 
Here's hoping -Andrew- see this, to my knowledge he had a girl for at least 15 years.
He may be able to give you more info on his experiences.
 
There have been wild caught diamonds that have been quite large and assumed to be 60 odd years old. The ones I have seen pictures of have all looked more like intergrades than your typical diamond. I have always assumed that their patterns change as they get older and become more coastal like.
 
I would estimate 30 - 40 years for a lucky wild diamond, with regular breeding and heating issues I would say that would be hard to replicate in captivity, though would be possible.
 
I had a wild caught large Adult diamond from 1982-1998
 
Thanks

So maybe say 15 - 20 would be average for captive diamonds, but they can get much older in some cases
 
The problem is mainly that since licencing came to affect in NSW in 1996 there hasn't been
enough years actually recorded for longevity in these animals.
You will always hear stories of a friend of a friend or an uncle etc. that has had one for
40 plus years but it is actually hard to have any of these stories actually substantiated
as nobody was really into captive breeding of reptiles back then to prove the age of the snake
they are saying is the ripe old age they claim it to be.
So generally speaking any diamond claiming to be over 20 plus years would have been
a wild animal (pre amnesty) & usually collected as an adult without knowing the actual age at all.
 
One of the classrooms I teach in has two diamond x coastal pythons that turned 20 this January and are still going strong. Another teacher got them from a student who accidentally bred the hybrids. They look more like diamonds than coastals and have very big heads, but are not terribly long. He keeps them lean, which would help increase lifespan.
 
My oldest specimen (which I bred), is 12 years old, and is ready to be put down (DPS). This is the longest I have had one live. Most of mine die off around 8-10 years of age.
 
Here's a pic the day i got this Diamond in 1982.
Any guess at its age?


So generally speaking any diamond claiming to be over 20 plus years would have been
a wild animal (pre amnesty) & usually collected as an adult without knowing the actual age at all.
 

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Nice pic Craig... love the attire from the era, that snake looks to be a few years old already, it's head size hints to me that it would easily be over 10 years of age.
 
yea that diamonds an adult,at least a few years old, and love the shorts :lol:
 
Its about the snake, leave my stubbies out of it!!!!!
 
Around the Gosford area and even further north in NSW they seem to thrive and 20 to 30 + years is the norm. Although, I've also been told by experienced diamond keepers up this end (Gold Coast/Brisbane and further north), that your lucky to get 7-8 years out of them, as their biggest health risk is exposure to humidity.

I've had mine for 7-8 years now and still look fantastic, but than again I go to particular effort to provide them with an environment that keeps most of the humidity at bay.

It's a shame really, as I think every herp keeper around Australia should have at least one diamond in their collection, they truly are a magnificant looking animal and have a personality that is like no other!

Cheers.
 
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