Do you cool your breeders?

[jglass38]

I don't drop temps. In fact I don't EVER let my room temp get below 80 degrees. I am just not comfortable with it.

[MAballs]

I'm by no means an expert and just had my first attempt at breeding last season. I followed the instructions on 8ball's website at first but the realized that barometric pressure has more effect on breeding behavior than the temps themselves, my female laid 8 healthy eggs with a 100% hatch rate.
This year i have not lowered any temps but living in new england the ambient temps are naturally lower than in in the summer.
So the cool side is cooler than usual but the hot spots are the same as always. With that said i just placed my pastel male with my spider female and in about a day found them locked up (both were virgins) the one thing i know for a fact that helps them get going is to mist the cages and snakes with water when you place the male in with the female and then at least once a day for the time you keep them together. This and when it either rains or snows pretty much always gets them locking up or at least trying to.
Good luck to everyone this season.

[Clear]

I wont be dropping temps, and this is my first year breeding.

[FatBoy]

I do things a little different...my ambient room temp stays between 82-85. I have my tape on a timer that is set to cut it off at 2am and back on at 6am. Once I start breeding that will go from 12am to 6am. This is only for the females, males heat is not adjusted. This eliminates a hot spot for a few hours but temps still don't drop below the ambient temp.

[cinderbird]

I do things a little different...my ambient room temp stays between 82-85. I have my tape on a timer that is set to cut it off at 2am and back on at 6am. Once I start breeding that will go from 12am to 6am. This is only for the females, males heat is not adjusted. This eliminates a hot spot for a few hours but temps still don't drop below the ambient temp.

that is very interesting, would you giving us some numbers as to how successful thats been for you?

[irishanaconda]

i actually cooled last year but i also moved so my females (but 1) re absorbed. but the clutch was 6 eggs with a 100% hatch rate. temps were about 76 at night ambient and heat tape about 87

[reptidude1]

ive ben pairing for a little less then a month, with cooling and witnessed 1 lock, when the temps were lower then normal because my helix was in for repairs and i was using a dimmer so im going to try cooling and hopefuly ill see mor locks , but it is still early in the season...

[reptidude1]

well i think i found out the problem for me. I threw a hide in and i think they are trying to lock

[BChambers]

well i think i found out the problem for me. I threw a hide in and i think they are trying to lock

Remember-correlation does not equal causation....

[BChambers]

I notice that even those who are saying they do not cool, are still getting natural temperature drops due to seasonal variations (at least on the cool ends of their cages). Though this may not seem like much, it is enough, in most cases.

I drop my heat tape temps from 90 to 82 in October, and raise them back up in March. Along with the natural ambient seasonal drop in the snake rooms (winter low about 70 degrees, Summer is low 80s), this provides a powerful cue without any significant risk of respiratory infections (out of 100 adult balls, NO RI in the last two seasons).

While barometric pressure drops are a powerful trigger for copulation, in my experience they will not, by themselves, ever lead to successful reproduction.

Light cycle has been shown, time and again over many years, to have little or no effect on boid reproduction (see Ross and Marzec's classic "Reproductive Husbandry of Boas and Pythons" for an early and thorough explication).

Temperature drops are he way to go folks!