I have done so much research over the last couple of years about breeding ball pythons but it seems not every article covers every piece of information and maybe some of it I will need to learn from experience. Also throughout my research it is also very clear that many breeders do things differently. This is my first year breeding and I am super excited about it but I also really want to do this right the first time. I have decided to make my breeding season start in October, turning down night time temperatures and in November, start introducing males. But do I really need to worry about a cool down period? Some people do not do it and breed just fine. I do not mind giving a cool down period and that has always been the plan but I am curious on your opinions about it?

After reading a few things up, the feeding is what confuses me the most. Some people start feeding females every 5 days a month or two before introducing males to beef them up but others say to only feed them once a week. What are your opinions on this? Should I feed more often? I have heard that it helps give females more energy, make them bigger, and produce better clutches, but I have also heard it can cause such sudden obesity that many clutches are infertile and many slugs are produced. So I am not really sure if it is healthy or not to feed them five days the month before I start introducing males up until they start refusing meals.

4 days on, 3 days off or 3 days on 4 days off and so on? Like I said, people really seem to do things differently. How long should I keep the male with the female and how many days do I let my male rest? Most people seem to do 3 or 4 days. But I also seen people leave the male in with the female for 5 days. How long do you leave in your males with the female?

And last is male size. I have read that 500g is the minimum, but then others say 800g? I have a 550g male I would like to breed this year, but he seems so small compared to my 850g male I am going to be breeding. I believe this 550g male will grow at least one more 100g before I start introducing him to a female but is that too small?

Thank you in advance for answering my questions.