Is it necessary to cool down breeders?

Is it? I heard that It benefits the males. Is it true that it "encourages" them to breed? Anything would help out! Thanks!

Most say no. I do not know from personal experience though. I live in South Florida and a very rarely ever heat or air condition the house. The cycle happens naturally in my environment whether it is needed or not.

Thanks for the info!

Is it necessary? No. Did I have good luck doing it my first season and keep doing it again after that to keep up the good karma? Absolutely.

Never cooled, not needed. :gj:

I did last year, and didn't this year. and got an ovulation one day later then I did last year... If that tells you anything.

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Do what works for you

Cooling is not a mandatory action to be successful with your breeders however there are risks. Some of the literature says cooling does help with follicle growth and maturation. Some breeders believe cooling is a necessary part to effectively condition breeders adequately. I am on the fence with it but it does make sense. I am afraid of the risks that's why I haven't implemented it in my collection yet.

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Originally Posted by Albert Clark

Cooling is not a mandatory action to be successful with your breeders however there are risks. Some of the literature says cooling does help with follicle growth and maturation. Some breeders believe cooling is a necessary part to effectively condition breeders adequately. I am on the fence with it but it does make sense. I am afraid of the risks that's why I haven't implemented it in my collection yet.

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What are the risks you mentioned? I have yet to hear there are risks

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Originally Posted by usaf21stsf

What are the risks you mentioned? I have yet to hear there are risks

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RIs can happen. It is the most common.
Not worth the chance or the stress.

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Originally Posted by usaf21stsf

What are the risks you mentioned? I have yet to hear there are risks

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RI is the most common issue but it's a combination of things such as low temps and the stress of breeding. So it basically come down to how low do you cool and how you breed your animal.

The best answer so far is do what works for YOU, and the only way to know is by trying different things.



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necessary? no. they will breed regardless. Do I cycle? yes. but not to the extent of others. but I also breed other species besides ball pythons. I turn off my belly heat at night and lower my ambient temps by 5 degrees. does it help the bp's out? idk i've just always done it that way and it works for me.

So, if you do not cool them how do you know when it is time to pair them together, or do you just follow normal breeding season rotations and start at the right time? What if you want to breed year round?

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Originally Posted by BlueEyeExotics

So, if you do not cool them how do you know when it is time to pair them together, or do you just follow normal breeding season rotations and start at the right time? What if you want to breed year round?

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You'll get varied answers here as well, depends on the snake breeder. Some (mb most?) breed seasonal, likely fall into Spring, but others esp with those with a large # of animals breed year-round. Over time you also might get a feel for some animals that may be more productive and breed at specific times of the year. I don't cool and typically breed seasonally fall-into-Spring, although this year I've one clutch that I just began pairing in April and if successful, will breed late year. Hope this helps, cheers ...

With the lack of a cold snap in FL this past winter, I dropped belly heat to 85F and ambient temps to 72F (from 88F/75F).

196/197 eggs good so far this season (1 infertile egg). Many of my females ovulated a month earlier this year compared to last year. So, yes, I believe dropping temps helps quite a bit.

A few breeders down here didn't drop temps at all and have had a lot of slugs/infertile eggs.