Lowering Heat for Breeding

Hi everyone!

So this will be my first year trying to breed. I decided a while ago that I wasn't going to change the temps at all to get things started as I've read that a lot of people haven't changed anything and have had successful seasons. But I was talking to a breeder yesterday and mentioned to him that this was my plan, and he was saying that although he's heard this too, he has always lowered the heat at night and continues to do so because this is what works for him. Has anyone tried both ways and found one way to work better than the other? Or maybe you found that both work equally as well. I was told that if I do decide to lower the heat, that I can hook up a timer to the thermostat so I don't have to be the one to be constantly adjusting the temps every night/morning. How would I go about doing that?

I'm only going to be pairing one set of bps this year, and I know it's not a sure thing that the female will actually lay, but I'd like to help her out as much as possible to at least try and increase my chances. I'm really hoping for a BEL :D

How are u planning on dropping your temps.

From what I understand, those that drop temps, drop them in a way that is slow and throughout the breeding season, then ramping them up again. Correct me i im wrong plz.

You could night drop, but i see no benefit, if you have a herpstat that functionality is built in.

My temps stay constant all year long and never had a problem.

I have a herpstat with a dimmer as a back up and I was just going to drop the temps during the night. Since I decided a while ago that I wasn't going to adjust the temps, I didn't look into it any further so as of right now, I don't really know how I'd go about doing it. If it's supposed to be a slow progress, rather than just the one drop, I think I'll just leave the temps as is and see how it goes. If nothing happens this year, I can always try something different next year.

People do both ways successfully. I prefer not doing a night drop. Seems like an unnecessary extra step for me.

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im in the exact same boat as ally first year, only breeding 1.1, not know if i should drop temps or if i should leave them and like she said if its better to drop them just all at once or make each night a little cooler then the last until a certain temp or what? there should be a poll on this :P

I did it both ways for the past 4 seasons and got the same results from each way. I have an ARS rack that I do a night drop on and a bunch of reptile basics racks that I keep with a constant temp. Both ways gave me about 75% of the girls giving me clutches. I also drop the ambient in the room to 80 from the usual 85.

I start pairing late October and do the drop then. March 1 I bang the temps back to normal and put the ambient temps back also.

I believe it the light cycle that has most effect on them anyway..

I just turn the rooms thermostat to 70 and leave it like that for 8 to 10 weeks then bring it back up to 75
I never mess with hot spots, they stay the same year around.

well the apartments going to do that on its own with the season change haha so i guess im cooling weather i want to or not XD

I don't adjust temps either. My cages naturally drop a few degrees at night year-round (since their lights go off). The only thing I adjust is light cycle (from 12 hours of light to 10 hours of light). Though I think baromic pressure (the periodic high-pressure, low-pressure) changes of the season are what triggers most breeding and subsequent egg-laying come spring for the most part. I know several breeders who use racks and have no light cycles at all, so obviously they can't change them, but everything goes according to schedule, and their girls lay anyway.

You're definitely going to get differing responses to this question, as every breeder has their own preferred methods that work for them.

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Originally Posted by SnakeGirl3

Though I think baromic pressure (the periodic high-pressure, low-pressure) changes of the season are what triggers most breeding and subsequent egg-laying come spring for the most part.

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This definitely helps! The rain makes the balls frisky. ;)

Awesome, thanks everyone! I never even though of just lowering the actual room temp. I'll try that and see how things go. Thanks for being so helpful, as always :)

I lowered temps the first couple of years, and then stopped lowering them. I had 0 difference in breeding success, but I stopped getting RIs in them over the winter. So, balls don't like low temperatures. It doesn't help, and it could just make them sick.