Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hey guys... i was wondering how and why is this done. i've just recently heard about this and would like to explore it a bit more. any feedback would be great.

Raymond

Quiet simply put, pythons are triggered into breeding by environmental changes. In the wild they would have several other triggers and as a whole would make them realise that it is time to breed. In captivity breeders try to recreate these changes in heat, light, humidity, to encurage there animals to do there thing. As far as temperature drops go there are several methods, nightdrops being popular and total cooling cycles as well. In the night drop thought temps are reduced at night time for several weeks, or the animals are cooled at a specific temp 24 hrs a day again for several weeks. This creates a chemical change in the system of some animals and they respond by forgetting aboutfood and thinking about love. In males it enhances there level of testorone and they begin to produce sperm, and females may begin to produce folicles. In the reticulated python I dont think that temp cycling has much if anything to do with there reproduction. Other factors involved are daylight hours and hummidity changes, At least in captivity. Of course everyone uses there own methods, but unfortunetly many breeders are reluctant to speak about what works best for them.