Cool or dont cool?

Of course unless I find a suitable breedable female I wont be breeding this year but. I read about people cooling to prep them for breeding. And som people say they dont do it.

Is it really needed or is it just a preferance?

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Originally Posted by rebel750

Of course unless I find a suitable breedable female I wont be breeding this year but. I read about people cooling to prep them for breeding. And som people say they dont do it.

Is it really needed or is it just a preferance?

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I never did cool my breeders and will not in the future.I did produce eggs also.In my opinion its a waste of time.

I do not cool. The ambient temperature drops naturally in the cooler months anyway so I just let nature provide my "cooling" though it is usually just a degree or two and because I have a lot of windows in the room, the amount of daylight is naturally shorter. I simply start pairing in early Fall. No other preparations needed. :D

yes i think it's called brumation and i figure it wont hurt and everyone else is doing it so why not . there are people who don't this is my first year breeding so we'll see it seems to work though caught my het pied locked with my big girl sam shortly after i warmed her up

Have yet to ever cool. But once in a while we mist to make them think it's the rainy season.

It makes you wonder though, if they are captive hatched and bred.....how do they know what a rainy season is? And so many people have success breeding with and without cooling, I dont understand why you would even go through the trouble.

Cooling would imitate the ball python's natural habitat's seasonal change, which many people believe would better stimulate their snakes to breed. Cooling tends to help with people who live in warmer climates that experience little to no seasonal change. People like me who live in an area that experiences seasonal change (cooler temperatures, shorter light hours, etc) might have success with breeding even if we don't intentionally cool since the temperature inside naturally falls at night due to cold temperatures outside. This can provide the cooling thought to be needed to stimulate the snakes to breed.

This is just my thoughts on it. I don't bother to cool. During the warm months, temperatures get up to 80 degrees in my animal room while in the winter months, temperatures tend to stay in the lower 70s.

Last season was my first and I had 12 clutches out of 12 attempts; no cooling, just placed males with the females and... presto.

BrandonsBalls

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rebel750

It makes you wonder though, if they are captive hatched and bred.....how do they know what a rainy season is? And so many people have success breeding with and without cooling, I dont understand why you would even go through the trouble.

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They know its rainy season because of low pressure during rain storms. Although many folks dont cool their animals it naturally gets colder in most homes during winter months. Meaning daytime highs and night time lows will naturally vary in any home enough to trigger breeding and or fasting.

Gregg Graziani said when they had the drought in Florida a couple of years ago and they had no rain he had about 100 females that should have laid and didnt because the lack of low pressure from no rain storms. He said he was able to control everything else like temps and humidity but not air pressure.

I have had sucessful breedings for two straight years now. I live in south florida and don't cool. The habit of cooling snakes for breeding started because it is necessary for most North American snakes(like kings and corns).
The temps in the BP's natural range don't vary enough to warrant cooling. The information in the previous post about barometric pressure is interesting though, as the rainfall does change drastically in thier range. Fortunately it does here in South Florida too.

Some climate info for Ghana:
http://www.climatetemp.info/ghana/

I live in New Jersey and we go through all 4 seasons......we just got slammed with 2 feet of snow.

I cool everything - including hatchlings.

With the exception of the those that live in the deep south, I would say that just about every breeder "cools" whether they intend to or not.

I deliberately switch my racks to a 12 on/12 off cycle for a few months. During the 12 off period, the racks get down to ambient room temperature (usually in the mid 70's but a few times a winter to the low 70's and once or twice below 70). During the 12 on period all snakes have a basking period in the upper 80's.
My hatchlings and yearlings are kept in the same room as my adults. I keep their basking spots on continuously through breeding season...the are not deliberately cooled. However, if I shut off all my adult racks for a period of time, the overall temp in the room drops too.....sooooo the ambient temperature for my hatchlings and yearlings is indirectly affected.

For those that don't deliberately cool, their snakes are most likely exposed to slightly lower temps (and maybe more importantly lower humidity levels, and less ambient light if snakes are remotely close to a window) when the seasons change. Maybe a degree or two.....maybe four degrees.....for bp's this is all it takes. Again, those in the deep south might be an exception to this.

Why do I bother cooling if they will breed anyway?
I like having set "ball python seasons". Just my preference. I have season where snakes are feeding heavy, a breeding season, an egg laying season, and a hatching season. It helps keep me sane.

I think it helps avoid issues with sperm retention. Just my opinion. A few weeks after I resume normal temps, I pull males.....no more intros to females.....regardless if I have witnessed copulation during the breeding season.
If it is meant to be, it is meant to be. If not, then it is not meant to be.
Even if I have not witnessed cops, the female almost always goes anyway.....I just didn't see the deed get done.
So where am I going with all this..........if I didn't stick to a schedule of cooling and warming with a window for intros, then I think I would be more inclined to keep running males until it "feels" right or I see some action.
This slope is too slippery for me.
To me there is something wrong with having males in with females for 6 or 7 months of the year.....especially if you don't have dedicated females for dedicated projects......and especially if you are looking to sell your offspring.
Do you really know who sired a clutch if you have an albino with a normal female for 6 months.......get no eggs........and then "next year" you run a pied through the same female for another 6 months? Way too much overlap of "years" or breeding seasons for me.
I know those that "don't cool" can just as easily stick to a schedule where they pull males but for me it helps to stick with my "seasons". To boot I think the long warm period helps kill off retained sperm. Couple that with a period where no males are introduced and you are on your way to peace of mind.

It saves money. Just pinchin' pennies. You'd be surprised at how much your electric bill can be reduced my turning your racks off for a few hours:0

For what it is worth, I don't have any issues with respiratory. If I did, I would have stopped the cooling thing years ago.....it doesn't make sense to kill your collection just to make life easier for yourself or to save money on electricity.
I do feed through cooling but smaller meals and less often.

We dont cool at all.
Just introduce, and let nature take its course.

No complaints yet!:D

I didn't cool mine this season (my first time breeding), since it's already hard enough keeping temperatures stable in my environment... so far one of my boys has been consistently locking with two ladies, but no eggs/ovulation yet. I'll keep you posted! :gj:

Ever since Ive gotten my herp room as opposed to a rack in a bedroom, I have been cooling. It hasn't helped my season, but I enjoy finally putting my Zilla Power Center to use.