Diamond Python?

Ripbrood · 09-04-17, 05:54 PM

On Craigslist I saw an ad about a jungle carpet python and a "diamond carpet python." I was interested in the jungle but the seller said it was gone, so I was thinking about getting the diamond. I've never owned this species of snake so I was wondering if anyone would mind giving me their thoughts on the pictures I'm including. The seller says they don't know what the parents were.
https://ibb.co/csNdYa
https://ibb.co/i4RizF

Thanks for any and all help!

MDT · 09-04-17, 07:59 PM

It looks like a cross (maybe) between a carpet (coastal/jungle/who-knows) and a diamond at point in the mix. The percentage does not look high. Honestly, for what it's worth, I would avoid this one. There are too many available diamond/JCP crosses from reputable dealers with known husbandry history out there.

Ripbrood · 09-04-17, 08:07 PM

Thanks for the reply MDT. The seller was was asking $125 which didn't seem too bad, but at the same time I'm only going to be buying one snake in the near future, and like you said I'd rather know what I'm getting. Not much of a problem, as there's a reptile show coming to my city in a couple of weeks.

dannybgoode · 09-04-17, 11:24 PM

Yeah that's not a pure diamond. I agree with MDT - why buy a cross for that money. Personally I'd look for a really nice pure jungle.

A pure diamond, assuming prices are broadly similar over the, will cost a lot more than that.

scales.jp · 09-05-17, 05:34 AM

I read that Diamonds need to hibernate completely for three months of the year. Not sure how that applies to mixed carpets, i.e. Jungle Diamonds. Here's the article I read it in:
Diamond Python Care

Captain837 · 09-05-17, 08:13 AM

One of the challenges with hybrids is when you mix two species with different requirements figuring out what the offspring need can be hit or miss.

pinefamily · 10-13-17, 03:54 AM

Definitely not a diamond. I understand the mixed snakes you guys have over there, so possibly has diamond somewhere in its heritage.
Diamonds do better at lower temps than other Morelia. And all Morelia will live longer, healthier lives if brumated during the winter months.
Hopefully this photo works. It's our high yellow diamond male as a juvenile.

**EL Ziggy** · 10-13-17, 08:21 AM

@ Pine- Thanks for chiming in. I'm considering scaling back on my carpet's feeding and maybe lowering their temps a bit during the colder months (Nov-March) but I'm not sure I'd call it a full brumation. Can you explain your brumation process for me a bit please and also what you believe the benefits or brumation are? Thanks a bunch. Very nice diamond too!

pinefamily · 10-13-17, 02:29 PM

Hey El Ziggy, good to see you again. How are all your carpets going?
Most carpets will slow down their eating and movement as the weather cools, despite the heating in their tanks. This happens here any time from around March to April. By May, most have gone into their hides for brumation. Some keepers over here like to turn the heat off early to force them into brumation; we don't, we wait until they show signs of it. There are two ways to do it: either gradually reduce the heat time, until it is off completely, or just turn off. Some keepers will turn the heat on gradually around September, but we wait until we see movement. Obviously these months are in reverse for you.
Carpets will be at least 1 or 2 before they show signs of brumation. Most keepers over here like to provide heat for juveniles all year round. It has been shown that the snakes live longer healthier lives by brumating, as they would in the wild.
Just thinking as I've been typing: you guys and gals probably still need to have some minimal heat otherwise it would get too cold for the snakes over there. Your winters are a lot colder than ours, lol.

**EL Ziggy** · 10-13-17, 03:48 PM

Thanks pine! The carpets are doing pretty good. I've got one young female albino that's a little finicky but the rest are monsters. They're growing pretty fast too so I'll be making some enclosure upgrades soon. I've also added an Olive python who's quickly becoming one of my favorite snakes. I live in the Southeast US so our winters aren't too bad here. I usually give the carpets and Olive a hot spot of 88-90 and ambient temps of 78-82. Should I knock that down a few degrees for winter? Also, I'm feeding them every 10-14 days but was considering scaling that back to every 3-4 weeks for the winter months. Any benefits in taking these steps for non-breeding critters?

pinefamily · 10-13-17, 06:16 PM

General consensus over here is people tend to over-feed their captive reptiles. When we've had hatchies we fed them every 7 days, gradually stretching it to 10 as they grew, then fortnightly. Our pythons are all adults now, and we feed them 4-6 weeks during the warmer months. We tend to slow it down as the weather cools.
If your pythons look like they are going into brumation, don't feed at all, but if they just slow down I'd recommend stretching the feeds out for sure.
Re your temps, if your winters aren't too cold (no snow lol) I would think a couple of degrees less heat or shorter heat times would be good. Mimicking nature can only be good for our kept pythons IMO.