diamonds..........what is a true diamond in your opinion ??

[mungus]

Seen so many for sale adds lately selling "Diamonds", from
hatchies to adults. Some IMO are coastals or intergrades [ thats being very kind !! ]
I think a lot of newbies are being misled into believing they are buying diamonds.
Just like to know what people look for when looking out for a true diamond python ??
Please keep this civil.
Aleks.

 

[Kurto]

Locale is the key for me. Anything south of Gosford.

Blacker the better. Small rosettes....

 

[Colin]

this is a diamond
he belongs to a good mate of mine (and yes I have his permission to post it)

 

[beatlloydy]

I have seen some Diamonds in the wild ...south of Sydney which are intergrade looking..i.e not as speccie as the one in the previous post.

Do you get intergrades with coastals as far South as say Batemen's cos some of the wild ones are pretty ordinary looking...whilst some around my area are really speccie.

This is one from my parents backyard...it was a lot brighter than the picture does justice for.

 

[kupper]

I have Seen alotlately that look very jungley

There is one on this site now being advertised that is a good example

 

[beatlloydy]

if you are referring to the double posted ad...that is such a bad picture...doesnt do any snake justice..either the aperture is incorrect or the colouration is way off...also doesnt help that the focus is on the crate and not the snake.

I am not the worlds best photographer...but I would keep snapping until I at least got it in focus...particularly if it is a for sale ad....like putting up a car on Ebay with bird poop all on it.

 

[unique]

Pure diamonds are just going to get harder to find....i do think that hybrids do have a place in this hobby and I'm shore most people breeding them will sell them as what they are,but some wont..i think it was mungus that was selling some intergrades before (correct me if I'm wrong) for what they were, intergrades..some of these animals ,people definitely would have sold as pure diamonds because that is what they look like to most people..it will be very tempting for some people to sell animals that they can pass off as something else that would get them more money...when dealing with crosses you will get a mixture of both parents and some that look very similar to each pure parent...there is a place for hybrids, but its just going to get worse until every thing is a suspect of being a hybrid I'm afraid.

buy your diamonds now from trustworthy people so you know you wont have to worry about it down the track...

people think that pure diamonds have to have tiny little rosettes and a dotted head pattern..but ask any one that has been herping down around the gosford area...chunky head patterns stripes and bands are pretty common...iv also seen alot of ugly specimens that just about every one would call a hybrid..pretty similar to the one you are talking about mungus..but that is no pure diamond imo.

also when breeding diamonds people get a huge surprise when they start hatching ,they think that they are going to be perfect clutch with small little rossettes like the parents..bands and other traits pop up....Throw back hybrids or natural variations??

Cheers.

 

[Mr.James]

Something like this..?

Need to take a new photo though he is coming along quite nicely!

 

[beatlloydy]

Are there any good Diamond breeders in Greater Sydney area (Newcastle to Wollongong or thererabouts) that are expecting hatchlings this year? I am on the lookout for a m/f pair and will be building a large double sized enclosure out of marine ply to go on the balcony...It is a perfect postion for them...getting morning sun and 99% weather protection (would only get some light rain on the back of the enclosure in the heavy rain with driving wind.)

A diamond was to be my first snake but realised I needed to know a lot more about keeping snakes before I went down that path...but they are still my favourite of the Morelias.

 

[JasonL]

no such thing as a pure diamond, just carpet snakes with yellow scales.

 

[aprice]

no such thing as a pure diamond, just carpet snakes with yellow scales.

If everyone thought like that the whole thing would be much less confusing! A Sydney diamond, is a sydney carpet, a gosford diamond, is a gosford carpet, a brisbane carpet, is a brisbane carpet. They are just all different localities/colour phases of carpet snakes. The high yellow one's being typical of animals found anywhere from vic/nsw border to the central coast, nsw.

 

[dtulip10]

this is a diamond
he belongs to a good mate of mine (and yes I have his permission to post it)

col thats a killer diamond does has you mate produced a clutch from that one??

 

[Khagan]

Is there really something you could 'look' for when looking at diamonds? Imo i don't think you can go by looks alone you just have to go by the credibility of the source. Because you can get some 100% pure diamonds that look like they are debatable and vice versa.

I think peoples opinions make the situation worse, when someone buys a diamond that might not have perfect rosettes or something everyone is quick to be like "Lol that's an intergrade!" and then the owner can't be sure what to think so then they breed it on with what they are told.

 

[Serpentes]

no such thing as a pure diamond, just carpet snakes with yellow scales.

And cold-adapted ecology and physiology
There is a fair difference between carpets from the northern end of NSW and diamonds from the southern end of NSW, in life history, ecology, behaviour and physiology. It's the ~1000km long intergrade zone that gets us confused.

 

[aprice]

And cold-adapted ecology and physiology
There is a fair difference between carpets from the northern end of NSW and diamonds from the southern end of NSW, in life history, ecology, behaviour and physiology. It's the ~1000km long intergrade zone that gets us confused.

that is true but they are only different in behaviour etc because they are found further south and more adapted to the colder climate. the further south the more diurnal they seem to be etc. but they are still a carpet

 

[aprice]

col thats a killer diamond does has you mate produced a clutch from that one??

yeh they are daniel gilbertsons high yellow diamonds.

 

[mungus]

Pure diamonds are just going to get harder to find....i do think that hybrids do have a place in this hobby and I'm shore most people breeding them will sell them as what they are,but some wont..i think it was mungus that was selling some intergrades before (correct me if I'm wrong) for what they were, intergrades..some of these animals ,people definitely would have sold as pure diamonds because that is what they look like to most people..it will be very tempting for some people to sell animals that they can pass off as something else that would get them more money...when dealing with crosses you will get a mixture of both parents and some that look very similar to each pure parent...there is a place for hybrids, but its just going to get worse until every thing is a suspect of being a hybrid I'm afraid.

buy your diamonds now from trustworthy people so you know you wont have to worry about it down the track...

people think that pure diamonds have to have tiny little rosettes and a dotted head pattern..but ask any one that has been herping down around the gosford area...chunky head patterns stripes and bands are pretty common...iv also seen alot of ugly specimens that just about every one would call a hybrid..pretty similar to the one you are talking about mungus..but that is no pure diamond imo.

also when breeding diamonds people get a huge surprise when they start hatching ,they think that they are going to be perfect clutch with small little rossettes like the parents..bands and other traits pop up....Throw back hybrids or natural variations??

Cheers.

Yep, I was the fellow selling the intergrades.
parents originate from the hunter area, really right on the border of diamond / intergrade territory really.
But their locale means that there really an intergrade and were sold as such [although alot of them would have easily passed for diamonds ].
They took the year off this year - 2 in a row is enough for the old girl, she deserves a break.
My diamond pair did the deed this year, so in 1 weeks time I should have 30 or so little dp's sticking their heads out.
I think the different style marking in some clutches could be from natural variations.
Aleks.

 

[Norm]

There was a thread on here a while back, one of those `show us your intergrade or port mac ` ones. There were alot of pictures that looked alot like mine which was sold to me as a diamond and to me thats what she is. But people were posting pics of snakes and saying they were port macs and when I posted a pic of mine and said she looks similar to your port macs I was told no thats just a nice diamond. I`m not debating thier opnion and I`m perfectly happy with my snake but it`s a really confusing topic especially to a newbie who loves diamonds and is also very fond of intergrades/hybrids.

I quite like the intergrades/hybrids and am considering getting one for my next snake, but how do I , with limited experience, know what I`m getting?

 

[Jay84]

Doesn't this debate start in every diamond thread?

 

[Norm]

The way people are coming up with different morphs its a matter of time before it comes up in other threads as well.