How long is cooling down necessary?

I know it's best to cool down your females leading up to breeding season, but what is an optimal time? Is there a set timeline? I started cooling my female down from a 92 hot spot to 82 5 days ago. I know a lot of people wait until November first,could I start breeding her sooner? She's 1650g is that matters.

Thanks!

Dropping the hotspot is not at all required for BPs. So, really, you didn't have to cool at all -- indeed, a lot of folks don't. I don't. I would say, go ahead and return her to what's normal for her.

The weight sounds good. It's also totally fine to begin introducing the male, regardless of the calendar. Sometimes they figure it out right away, sometimes they don't.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Alicia

Dropping the hotspot is not at all required for BPs. So, really, you didn't have to cool at all -- indeed, a lot of folks don't. I don't. I would say, go ahead and return her to what's normal for her.

The weight sounds good. It's also totally fine to begin introducing the male, regardless of the calendar. Sometimes they figure it out right away, sometimes they don't.

---

Okay thank you!

Another vote for not cooling. It can be helpful for "resetting" your ball pythons internal clocks for those who want all their girls to go about the same time, but besides that there isnt really a use for it.

It has been proven time and time again that cooling isn't necessary. Also, when done wrong you can really do a lot of damage to the snakes, often leading to a RI.

Oh wow I did not know this many people didn't cool. I will raise her temps back to their normal nighttime 92. My male is in a shed cycle now but once he sheds, he's getting put to work :gj:

Another vote for no need to cool. I've never done it and have had no issues.