Two trains of thought on this one ... some guys/gals go ahead and clean it right away ... others leave it because believe it or not, all of that nasty smell and mess sometimes gets the snakes "in the mood" ... ball pythons seem to love breeding in their own stank. Also, I think that someone told me once that all that mess after you pair them up is about the males and females scenting the tub with their pheromones ... if you clean out the tub ... no more pheromones.

When I started breeding ball pythons in the mid 90's I had several breeders tell me that they barely cleaned cages during breeding season ... lots of things have changed over the last 10+ years in reptile husbandry and ball python breeding, but if you do hear someone saying to leave the cages dirty, at least you know there's a history there.

-adam