Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I know I'm prob a few months behind, but I was going to start cooling my girls to get them ready to breed. I've never done this, and I was curious as to how long I should do this for before I introduce a male. I've heard from some that you only have to cool for a month, some say more. Anyone else have an opinion??

Thanks so much!!

June

>>I know I'm prob a few months behind, but I was going to start cooling my girls to get them ready to breed. I've never done this, and I was curious as to how long I should do this for before I introduce a male. I've heard from some that you only have to cool for a month, some say more. Anyone else have an opinion??
>>
>> Thanks so much!!
>>
>> June

You are a couple months late. By now they are breeding and warming up.
I am only on my second year with BPs but I read 2 months and if you want fertile eggs cooling is the way to go. In some snakes cooling is more important for the male than the female too. Don't know about BPs.
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Sonya

Failure is not an option. It comes bundled with the software.

You will hear different opinions, but the general consensus is certainly to cool both the females AND THE MALES for breeding. I'd recommend cooling in late fall by allowing ambient temps to drop to low to mid 70's at night and high 70's or low 80's during the day. I also recommend that you continuously keep a hot spot available at high 80's to low 90's. You will find that the animals will prefer the cooler temps. I recommend cooling for at least 8 to 10 weeks. I also recommend thoroughly misting the enclosure frequently during much of the cooling period (make sure it dries out completely every day before misting again). In my experience, it seems that ball pythons more readily breed if the enclosures are misted in this manner immediately prior to pairing them.