Breeding question

Ok, so now that I have 4 females that are ready for breeding I have a question.

I'm thinking instead of having one season of four possible clutches and lots of hatchlings to care for...I'd rather split up the seasons.

Two females would start breeding in the fall and two would be in the spring.
My question is, with the cooldown...
Would it mess up females that just laid for the cooldown to start again, and not including the rest of my snakes on the rack too? Would I have to have all the females on seperate racks? Any input on the matter would be helpful.

It will be fine to have them in the same rack and only be breeding 2 girls a year. It shouldn't effect the girls who laid the previous season. Just remember they usually don't go by our plans so don't be surprised if the girls you want to breed one year aren't going to go for you but the girls you aren't planning to breed that same year do. :rolleye2:

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Originally Posted by jsmorphs2

It will be fine to have them in the same rack and only be breeding 2 girls a year. It shouldn't effect the girls who laid the previous season. Just remember they usually don't go by our plans so don't be surprised if the girls you want to breed one year aren't going to go for you but the girls you aren't planning to breed that same year do. :rolleye2:

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Well I was just worried because then all of my snakes would go through a cool down twice a year...
I wasnt sure if thats good.

I get what you're saying now. You'd have to separate them into two groups then so they were on different yearly schedules with different light cycles too. However, with my experience it might be tough to do it that way. They usually don't play along. LOL. And will you have males for each specific group cause you'll run in to health issues trying to breed your boys all year. They need time to rest and re-gain wight after their breeding fasts.

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Originally Posted by jsmorphs2

I get what you're saying now. You'd have to separate them into two groups then so they were on different yearly schedules with different light cycles too. However, with my experience it might be tough to do it that way. They usually don't play along. LOL. And will you have males for each specific group cause you'll run in to health issues trying to breed your boys all year. They need time to rest and re-gain wight after their breeding fasts.

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ok! this answers my concerns...it may be alot more work to do it that way.
Guess I'll just have to expand my hatchling rack! :P

Go for it and breed them all, they most likely wont go and give you eggs at the same time anyway.:gj:

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Originally Posted by Domepiece

Go for it and breed them all, they most likely wont go and give you eggs at the same time anyway.:gj:

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:D sounds like good advice to me!

If you had a male that was smooth with the lady's there would really be no need for a cool down period. I never cooled just thought I'd throw my $0.02

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Originally Posted by KingPythons

If you had a male that was smooth with the lady's there would really be no need for a cool down period. I never cooled just thought I'd throw my $0.02

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Well I DO have a couple of those.

FYI

Not all breeders cool their racks for breeding. We don't and so far out of the 17 girls we are breeding this year 9 have laid with a total of 57 to 58 good eggs. Average clutch so far is a little over 6 eggs.

You can't "plan" for it that way. I mean you can breed 2 in Oct. and then breed 2 in March. They can still all become gravid at the same time or months apart.

And there's no need for a cooling period. You can breed all year round if you want.

Exactly. I paired from oct to April for the most part. I had a couple lay early April, 4 more in may, 2 this month,
And it looks like the other 8 or so will go between July and sept. I just had a couple girls ovy so they pick when things happen for them. It's usually not all at once. Although my may girls were very close together.


Check out what's new on my website... www.Homegrownscales.com

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Originally Posted by Gloryhound

FYI

Not all breeders cool their racks for breeding. We don't and so far out of the 17 girls we are breeding this year 9 have laid with a total of 57 to 58 good eggs. Average clutch so far is a little over 6 eggs.

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I didn't say everyone does a cooldown.

My question was pertaining to me doing a cooldown possibily twice a year and if it would effect the rest of my rack.

This is just my first year breeding so doing the cooldown worked out just fine for me. Can't really say much different from personal experience yet you know :P
Maybe next year I will try with no cooldown, and if it works out just fine then I personally won't use a cooldown. Just one less step.