This is my first year breeding myself, but after TONS of reading, I am am on the side of the fence that ball pythons will readily bread with or without cooling with the same amount of success. Therefore, I am not cooling. My ambient room temp is roughly 81°F with maybe a drop of 1 or 2 degrees at night with the natural cooling off of the house. And hot spot is about 90°F.

That all said. If he is up to size and producing plugs. You can just start pairing. When the male and female are both ready, they will do their thing. I myself have a few males that are being stubborn that are proven breeders and they are currently not doing anything. I am just hoping that it is just early and when they are ready they will go.