Quote Originally Posted by nevohraalnavnoj View Post
Wow, I am really surprised by the number of people that have chimed in and said they did little to cool.

I'm so completely torn on the subject as to what's *RIGHT*

One the one hand: BP's do come from near the equator with minimal temp fluctuations. There is a rainy season from Oct-Nov, or somewhere in there, and this could likely affect the ground temperatures could it not? The fact they are near the equator leads me to believe a cooling period is not necessary.

On the other hand: The Barker's book speaks of the importance of cooling, and it speaks VOLUMES to it. They insist that heat is devastating at certain points of the reproductive cycle. Unfortunately there are no statistics on what temps lead to how many slugs, etc... And ALSO, is it not possible that the temps of 80 cool / 90 hot are actually a tad too warm (I looked up Ghana/Togo and it was something like temps of 72-90 during breeding season). And if so, then a cooling period is nothing more than us returning the BP's to the temp that nature intended (but we go higher to help growth and impede RIs).

Not to open a can of worms, but any thoughts????

JonV

There are several different theories and different people do and try different things. The temps you are quoting are air temps, snakes can and will go underground where temps will be more evenly tempered. The Barkers have their own way of doing things and they use much cooler temps than most and feed alot less. I am in no way knocking them but if you read what other breeders do you will find many variations. I cooled one year and then didnt the next year and got similar results. I have some girls lay in Feb and other that just laid in Oct and expecting another to lay in November. The later girls obviously cycled and became gravid during the summer so cool temps didnt trigger them?Who knows

One thing Tracy Barker said that I follow is watch your females for breeding/cycling signs and if happens to be in July or Jan. pair them up. I have found that was the best advice I have ever got and now I breed according to my females behavior and history more than a specific time of the year. I know other breeders here in southern cali that cooled this year and some that didnt and I am hearing about alot of people experiencing late clutches. So who the hell knows? I think low pressure systems play into it alot as well.

I reccomend following what other successful breeders do and making adjustments as your experience increases and see what works best for you. I followed alot of the Sutherlands practices because they were(not any more) in my general area and figured their climate/temp changes were similar to mine. After a few breeding seasons under your belt you will get a feel for your girls and make adjustments that work for you.

There isnt necessarily one way to do it.