Good question. The answer is no, you do not have to cool them. You can if you wish, it will not hurt them.



If you do, keep them at 55 deg as a lowest temp, and 65 as a higher temp. Yes, it can go higher now and then, as we do get warm days in Winter, but keep 55 the lowest.



Alternatively, use a sizeable cage for both snakes (not much for 7 month old rosies), and heat one end, and let the other end get cool. Then the snakes can choose what they want all Winter. Chances are you'll see them use the heat a little. They may even feed a few times. In general they may slow down. Depends on certain factors.



You may certainly over-winter them together. I have always done that, and they do this in nature to some extent. The best over-winter spots in any small area are used by more than one rosy. They select mates this way sometimes too.



I have bred rosies without cooling, but in those cases the ambient temps in Winter were cool, so the snakes could cool off as they desired. I have bred rosies that never did not see heat in their cages. Meaning, there was a basking spot all the time. I think the males do need to adjust their internal body temps. Too much heat means dead sperm; too little heat means dead sperm. They know better than you and I do what the temps they need are. So letting them choose seems to work. So does constant 55 deg, but I have seen better results with males that have some choice.



Your choice. I think you should break the care-sheet mold. Keep them cool but have a heat strip along the very end, and Winter them together. Works better if you will be breeding them. IMO anyway.
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Mark

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