Too high of temps (or high temps for too long) and too low of temps (again, too low for a long time) can kill the male's sperm, or reduce viability.



You and I do not know what the ideal temp range is.. only the snake does. That is why it is important to offer a range of temps. The male will decide what he needs. That is why in Spring in the wild, it is the male snakes that are basking first, like 2 weeks before females do. The males are WARMING themselves to a suitable temperature to ensure better virility for mating in the following weeks. Yes, I said warming. Kind of contradicts what caresheets say, doesn't it? So giving the males a range is vital to optimum success. Cooling alone is not it.



I wish I could tell you what the range is. I only know the following from breeding kingsnakes: When I gave the males access to cool night temps, like down to 65 deg for example, they did great no matter if day temps were 80 or 85 or whatever. I had perfect clutches every time, all eggs alive and well.



It is funny that we refridgerate our snakes at 55 deg, then put them in a plastic box at 82 deg and think to ourselves, "now breed, snake, breed!" How silly does that sound? They breed in spite of it though most of the time. That is because the drive to reproduce is very powerful for any organism. Starving, war-ridden people in the most dangerous regions in Africa have kids no matter how bad conditions are. The drive is very powerful.



It would be great to have one part of the cage at 60-65 and another part at 85 plus with a gradient inbetween just like nature provides (even hot deserts have cool temps down in burrows) in many snake habitats in Spring. But that is tough to do in a house, and nearly impossible in a confined space like a sweaterbox. So do the best you can do to shoot for that range, and let the male decide what he needs.
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Mark

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