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Cooling for Breeding

shedthegear Sep 19, 2006 04:59 PM

I'm looking for some advice on how, when and how long to cool my boas for.

I have a small room for my boas. I use a space heater to keep the room at a steady temperature. Each cage has undercage heat regulated with Ranco Thermostats.

When should I start to cool for this upcoming breeding season?
How should I start the process?

Should I turn off undercage heat first? or should I cool the entire room first? or both?

I can also control the lighting in each of my breeding cages.

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

This year I am breeding the following:

2.1 Green Phase Sanzinia
2.1 DH Ghost & Ghost to Anery Female
1.1 DH Snow

Thanks!

Replies (3)

Djinn Sep 20, 2006 12:17 AM

people don't typically share that kind of info around here.
People seem to be VERY secretive about their breeding techniques. Here's some decent info, if a bit condescending:http://www.riobravoreptiles.com/care_breedingboas.htm
Last year I didn't use "cooling". The only seasonality I used was going from 13 hours of light, down to 11 hours of light. The male courted imediately, and heavily for 4 months, but the female didn't take. I also fed them throughout.
This year, I quit feeding, went from 13 hours of light, down to 11 hours of light, and am dropping the ambient temps down to 75f at night. The pair have been together for 3 weeks. The male has shown absolutely no interest in doin anything but hiding. Make of that what you will.
-----
Jason Dowell

sounddjinn@yahoo.com

Things always get cloudy, just before transformation.

PastelDream Sep 20, 2006 09:48 PM

I guess if you want to cool your snakes you can, but it might not be necessary. I don't know for sure that boas require cooling to reproduce. I think when the fall and winter months arrive the cages naturally drop a few degrees and that might be enough to do the trick. If you still want to "cool" your snakes...... Well, this is just one method. You need to figure out what works best for you.

Cooling should start when the temps start to drop outside. If you live in a warmer climate it's a bit harder to cool, but not impossible. Let a bit of natural cooling take place first. Turn down the heater in your snake room. You might want to set it about 70 or 75. Then you want to turn down the ambient temps. I'd say 80 to 82 degrees should do it. To get that little extra bit of cooling,for a NTL(night time low), you should turn off the room heater at night. Just be sure to turn it back on in the morning. Be sure you still have a warmer side and cooler side inside your cages. Your boas will decide which side they prefer to be on. I've found that my boas start breeding when the temps drop to 82 degrees or less. Breeding stops if they drop below 78 degrees. If the temps get that low they sort of huddle on the warm side. I've had boas continue to breed at temps as high as 85 degrees. Of course, they didn't start breeding until it dropped below 82 degrees. HEY!! Maybe there is something to this cooling thing. I like to keep a hot spot during the cooler months, while the snakes are breeding. I normally keep it between 87 and 92 degrees. Keep an eye on their health. You don't want them too cold. Being cold won't "make them sick", but it will lower their resistance to infection. Try to keep the cage as clean as possible. Don't let it get really nasty. If the cage gets too dirty your snakes will get sick. Be sure to give them an appropriate photo period. Shorten the amount of light as the days get shorter. A little trick to get them more "active" is..... Mist them at night. I've noticed that my boas breed more at night. Misting them stimulates activity.

There's a lot more to breeding boas, but you only asked about the "cooling" part.

BTW this post will SELF DESTRUCT IN 30 SECONDS. Read it quickly and remember what you read. This is top secret info and we must keep it out of the wrong hands. LOL. J/K

Most of this info isn't a secret at all. It's mostly common sense. Well, it's common sense if you've had boas for a while.

Good luck this breeding season. I hope you get some AWESOME LITTERS!!!!

shedthegear Sep 23, 2006 10:41 AM

Thanks for the great feedback!

I'm really excited about breeding this season and can't wait to see what happens.

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