serpenttongue
Very Well-Known Member
Greetings all,
Well it appears that most reptile keepers these days know all about DPS, but it seems few have dealt with it personally. Those that have seem to keep quite about it, possibly to avoid criticism from their peers. Anyway, i have dealt with DPS with my own diamonds several times now and have decided to share my experiences.
Firstly my background with diamonds. I started keeping diamonds back in 1987 when i was 12. I live in the Illawarra area (south coast of NSW) where diamonds occur. I started off with wild diamonds, catching and releasing lots of diamonds over the years for breeding (before the 1997 amnesty), many of which became longterm captives and beloved pets. They were housed in large aviaries that faced north and received sun from sunrise until about 1-2pm, and then again in the late afternoon for an hour. All diamonds were exposed to weather conditions typical for the area from which they were collected (cool nights throughout most of the year and cold winters with temps dropping to 5'c) and all diamonds basked almost everyday of the year, even during very cold winter conditions. Aviaires are covered with shadecloth to keep them cooler and have a small 'window' cut out to allow basking in full sunlight. Hide boxes were insulated with styrofoam sheets to battle temperature extremes.
I first noticed DPS in one wildcaught female which i had had for 11 years. She suddenly became very flabby and after laying her 5th clutch for me she would never put her weight back on no matter how large the meals or the frequency of meals. After about 6 months she suffered broken bones. Her ribs were broken in several places and her spine was broken. She suffered from lack of co-ordination and had difficulty feeding. When food was seized she would immediately let go and thrash around. She would continually seize the food but then have to let go, followed by more thrashing. I put this down to brittle jawbones becoming very sensitive, and indeed shortly after her jawbones did break. It got the point that she could no longer climb or even move so she was put down. This female spent every day of her life outdoors, being exposed to full sunlight.
Within the same year i lost several more, all of which had very similar symptoms. Flabby muscles, broken ribs, jaws and spines,lack of co-ordination, inability to seize and consume prey, fits of thrashing around during feeding , falling from branches, gums turning black, swollen cloacas, flaccid stomach and intestines, unable to move except for their tongue and head. All these individuals were 7-8 years old.
Okay, from my experiences these are my beliefs about DPS as well as my recommendations. I have no scientific evidence to back any of this up, just what i believe.
* DPS usually affects females after laying eggs. If a female doesnt put weight back on after egglaying then there's a good chance DPS has set in.
* DPS progresses very slowly. A diamond can live with it for over 14 months. Because DPS progresses slowly, a diamond wont usually die from DPS, what ultimately kills the diamond is starvation from being unable to consume food.
* No amount of UV light will save diamonds from DPS, nor will it reverse the symptoms, however cold nights will slow down DPS considerably.
* DPS affects diamonds from the age of 6 years and onwards. A diamond that lives past 6 years of age without showing signs of DPS has not been saved from getting DPS.
* Provide heat until 12-1pm and then nothing until the following morning. For indoor enclosures, instead of having a warm end and a cold end, provide an enclosure that is cool overall, with one small hotspot which stays around 28-29'c. Diamonds really need to be able to escape the heat. They usually bask until 10.30am and then retreat to a cool area where they will coil tightly to conserve body heat. Anyone who has walked into a rainforest knows how cool they are under the canopy. Diamonds live under a rainforest canopy and can bury under damp leaflitter, retreat into huge hollows and rock crevices to escape the summer heat.
-ST
Well it appears that most reptile keepers these days know all about DPS, but it seems few have dealt with it personally. Those that have seem to keep quite about it, possibly to avoid criticism from their peers. Anyway, i have dealt with DPS with my own diamonds several times now and have decided to share my experiences.
Firstly my background with diamonds. I started keeping diamonds back in 1987 when i was 12. I live in the Illawarra area (south coast of NSW) where diamonds occur. I started off with wild diamonds, catching and releasing lots of diamonds over the years for breeding (before the 1997 amnesty), many of which became longterm captives and beloved pets. They were housed in large aviaries that faced north and received sun from sunrise until about 1-2pm, and then again in the late afternoon for an hour. All diamonds were exposed to weather conditions typical for the area from which they were collected (cool nights throughout most of the year and cold winters with temps dropping to 5'c) and all diamonds basked almost everyday of the year, even during very cold winter conditions. Aviaires are covered with shadecloth to keep them cooler and have a small 'window' cut out to allow basking in full sunlight. Hide boxes were insulated with styrofoam sheets to battle temperature extremes.
I first noticed DPS in one wildcaught female which i had had for 11 years. She suddenly became very flabby and after laying her 5th clutch for me she would never put her weight back on no matter how large the meals or the frequency of meals. After about 6 months she suffered broken bones. Her ribs were broken in several places and her spine was broken. She suffered from lack of co-ordination and had difficulty feeding. When food was seized she would immediately let go and thrash around. She would continually seize the food but then have to let go, followed by more thrashing. I put this down to brittle jawbones becoming very sensitive, and indeed shortly after her jawbones did break. It got the point that she could no longer climb or even move so she was put down. This female spent every day of her life outdoors, being exposed to full sunlight.
Within the same year i lost several more, all of which had very similar symptoms. Flabby muscles, broken ribs, jaws and spines,lack of co-ordination, inability to seize and consume prey, fits of thrashing around during feeding , falling from branches, gums turning black, swollen cloacas, flaccid stomach and intestines, unable to move except for their tongue and head. All these individuals were 7-8 years old.
Okay, from my experiences these are my beliefs about DPS as well as my recommendations. I have no scientific evidence to back any of this up, just what i believe.
* DPS usually affects females after laying eggs. If a female doesnt put weight back on after egglaying then there's a good chance DPS has set in.
* DPS progresses very slowly. A diamond can live with it for over 14 months. Because DPS progresses slowly, a diamond wont usually die from DPS, what ultimately kills the diamond is starvation from being unable to consume food.
* No amount of UV light will save diamonds from DPS, nor will it reverse the symptoms, however cold nights will slow down DPS considerably.
* DPS affects diamonds from the age of 6 years and onwards. A diamond that lives past 6 years of age without showing signs of DPS has not been saved from getting DPS.
* Provide heat until 12-1pm and then nothing until the following morning. For indoor enclosures, instead of having a warm end and a cold end, provide an enclosure that is cool overall, with one small hotspot which stays around 28-29'c. Diamonds really need to be able to escape the heat. They usually bask until 10.30am and then retreat to a cool area where they will coil tightly to conserve body heat. Anyone who has walked into a rainforest knows how cool they are under the canopy. Diamonds live under a rainforest canopy and can bury under damp leaflitter, retreat into huge hollows and rock crevices to escape the summer heat.
-ST
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