I have an experience of exactly ONE breeding.
This is what I found out. The male fasted during breeding season. He fasted for 2 months! We continue to offer every week. The female continued to eat. We fed every week. She ate every single week even after she had her eggs (we did maternal incubation). She would have the tail half of her body coiling around the eggs and she'd go strike at the rat/coil/eat with the other half. Quite a sight to see.