How territorial are wild diamonds?

[Cougar2007]

A friend of mine showed me a really crappy photo today of a diamond python he found near a creek line when he had a potty break just down the road from my place.
He snapped the pic cause he knew that without it I wouldn't believe him.
It was of a beautiful wild diamond basking near the side of a very quiet country road near a culvert. It was 11am yesterday.

My question is what would you think my chances of seeing it again in the same spot? Do they stick to an area or do they cruise around, you see he swears it was over 14ft long, he couldn't believe it was so big. If it is 14ft long that is a massive snake, I reckon it would be a lot smaller, however a lot,of locals say there is a huge one living down in the creek, so i guess maybe.

I would love to catch this beast on camera, so I'm planning on going down there tomorrow at about 10am as it is going to be a scortcher.
Any tips to find him would be appreciated


Cheers

 

[RedFox]

If there is water and food, why would it move on? I would probably guess it will be somewhere in that area. That being said they can fit into really small spaces and if it is really hot it will be hiding somewhere cool not basking. Good luck herping. Even if you don't see the diamond you may see some other exciting wildlife.

 

[reb01]

The good old 14ft....never seen nor heard of a Diamond that big,however there was a huge Intergrade caught up the Mid North Coast a while ago..You may have a good chance in seeing it again,especially if food-water is available..LOVE to see photos

 

[sharky]

photos!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!....please

In Pythons of Australia:A Natural History by Gordie Torr it has a lot of information on Diamond python behaviour and how they move around their territories. I can't remember exactly but it says females will go near water banks to lay their eggs, they will shelter in forests during summer and also inhabit grassland at this time. In winter months they shelter in the rooves of houses and sheds for hibernation. I think that's it.....I'll get the diagram scanned later for you if you want?

Likely you'll see her around though

 

[serpenttongue]

It will still be in the vicinity. Depending on habitat, it may stay there until March/April, or leave and then come back around March.

Either way, that doesn't mean it will be easy to find. Time of day and temperatures play a part, too. It may be active at night and into the early morning, and then disappear before you are out of bed. It may also spend the next week under thick leaf litter, or high up in the trees where you wont see it. I think timing is everything if you want to find it basking on a branch.

 

[Cougar2007]

No luck today, to hot I reckon, I'll try again tomorrow. Supposed to be about 15 deg cooler. If I get pics I will post them for sure. Thanks for the tips

- - - Updated - - -

photos!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!....please

In Pythons of Australia:A Natural History by Gordie Torr it has a lot of information on Diamond python behaviour and how they move around their territories. I can't remember exactly but it says females will go near water banks to lay their eggs, they will shelter in forests during summer and also inhabit grassland at this time. In winter months they shelter in the rooves of houses and sheds for hibernation. I think that's it.....I'll get the diagram scanned later for you if you want?

Likely you'll see her around though

That would be awesome if you could. I have pm'd you my email address

 

[longqi]

You may spot pythons during the day sometimes

But if you really want to find it look at night
Dark of the moon is better than full moon imo
If it is that even close to that big it must be female
Eggs will have hatched recently
She will be hunting hard to get her conditioning back on

 

[Cougar2007]

No luck yet, but I haven't given up. I know she is there somewhere cause he did show me the blurry pic on his phone.

thanks Longqi I haven't tried night time yet. Only dusk. Ill go down and have another look tomorrow night.

 

[JasonL]

Time to peg out a goat