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My male BRB is 2 and a half years old now (and is of proper size and weight)and I was going to introduce him to his future mate...a female that is 7 years old...but a Runt! She is not much longer than 4 feet long. (don't know her weight...but she is very healthy and plump) I've had her for 5 years and she was small when I got her. The previous owner let her get too dry as a baby for a couple sheds and she has some scarring from the old skin. Question is: Are their reasons to Not breed her because she is rather small? And also...what are the specs. for cooling? How long, what temps, etc. This will be my first attempt at breeding Rainbows. Thanks! TJ.

Hello,
All I can say is that I cooled mine to upper 60's until they were observed breeding half a dozen or so times then cranked the temp up to the mid 70's and left them that way until breeding was not observed for several weeks and then back to the high 70's/low 80's. I don't think others are dropping their temps that low. I think you can run into respiratory infections with what I did. Mine were okay with this and produced offspring in the summer, but I'd let others advice you as well. The entire cooling was from mid Oct to about the middle of January for mine.

Linda

i really like this post so i saved in my pc, here is some good info about breeding BRB

Do you cool your BRB's?(I spoke with Brian MacDonald and he said he never cools his and has had litters 3 years in a row.)

I've done it both ways with equal success. Cycling is easier and it gives me more control, and thus a greater degree of predictability with my animals, so I chose the cycling method a long time ago. But it CAN be done without cooling. Especially with seasoned breeders. They just KNOW its time to go.

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What day do you begin cooling your BRB's?

Friday, how about you?

Ha ha, JK. Usually Nov. 15th. That seems to work for my climate. May not work someone in Arizona, or someone in England, or even someone in Toronto. But the 15th of November is perfect for me.

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Do you eliminate the hot spot gradually or all at once?

Ke-bang, buh-bye hotspot all at once. But not really, as you don't COOL Rainbows like a colubrid. Warm days (normal) and cool nights. That's how its done. So one day, the heat pads just go off for 14 hours a day. Its different for every room, for every collection, for every city, for every climate, etc etc etc. So don't copy me and say that I'm full of beans, ha ha!!!

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Is it a gradual cooling for the ambient temp? If yes please give details on how you accomplish this including timeframes/dates/and temps.

Ambients go down by default, yes. By turning the heat pads/tape off, the whole cage ambient goes down. 72-76F at night, back up to normal during the day. Doesn't matter how its done, I just make sure to do it.

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When do you stop feeding your males and females?

Males Nov. 1st, females when they become gravid (around March/April).

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What day do you introduce them?

December - April, and every day inbetween.

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What are the signs of breeding/courting activity in BRB's?

Sperm plugs EVERYWHERE (water dish, substrate, glass, walls, each other, etc etc. Its gross). Also, copulation is rarely less than 5-10 hours, so I ALWAYS see it (or so I assume). And they copulate off and on for 3 months, so you'd really have to neglect your snakes to not witness it.

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How long do you cool them?

Same question as:

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When do you bring the heat back?

I bring them back..... well.... it varies. Sometimes on January 15th, somtimes later. This year was 2 days ago (Jan. 22), because we had a cold spell here until Jan 19th. I didn't feel like wasting electricity, so I waited. I usually cycle at least 6 weeks though. Its doesn't reall matter though, I don't think.

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Do you gradually bring the temps up/how do you accomplish it?

It all happens quite easily as the reptile room ambients are thermostatically controlled, so I just warm the nights back up. Nothing really gradual, as my temps weren't lowered that severe anyways. I also bump the humidity back up (yes it was lowered) in a speedy fashion. This really gets them going.

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How hot of a hot spot do you give a gravid female?

88-90F localized.

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BCI lay about 100 days after POS. Has anyone compiled this data for BRB?

I forget to count every year. LOL! And I just started recording that kind of data on a Palm Pilot this year, so I should be able to tell you. I know its over 100 days after POS.

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After you introduce the pairs I assume you leave them together the entire breeding season? Is this correct or do you seperate and reintroduce?

Nope. The male is in the same cage with the female for around 2-5 days. If there is 2 consecutive days without any copulation, I move him on to another female, or combat him, or give him a rest. Plus I feed the females right through, and I don't want to feed in a cage with two 7-foot Rainbows. LOL! The males will eat, trust me!

So it works out just perfect (usually) and when they stop, I move the male on and then just feed the female. But they get paired up again in a few days, etc etc. Plus I have more females than males. If I left the male in the whole time, there would be females that would't get bred. And that would suck.

_ I'm not sure how to quantify good results from male combat, as it is not known what would have happened had I not done it. Impossible to guess. I will say that 9 times out of 10, if a male wasn't breeding and was then combatted for 2-5 minutes, we will be all over the next female. For sure.

TJ,
...I think your female is a foot too short for safe breeding. I wait until my females are over 5 feet three inches and 3 pounds before I breed them. A couple of inches and half a pound more than that is even better. A good size litter of BRBs weighs about 1.5 pounds which is probably about what a 4 footer will weigh.
Jeff

>>My male BRB is 2 and a half years old now (and is of proper size and weight)and I was going to introduce him to his future mate...a female that is 7 years old...but a Runt! She is not much longer than 4 feet long. (don't know her weight...but she is very healthy and plump) I've had her for 5 years and she was small when I got her. The previous owner let her get too dry as a baby for a couple sheds and she has some scarring from the old skin. Question is: Are their reasons to Not breed her because she is rather small? And also...what are the specs. for cooling? How long, what temps, etc. This will be my first attempt at breeding Rainbows. Thanks! TJ.