Totally new to breeding - age of male?

[zirliz]

How old does the male have to be and how do I prepare him?

[Stefan-A]

Males can be sexually mature at six months or so in captivity. Not much needs to be done, just make sure he's healthy. A cool period or even brumation before trying to breed the snakes increases the chances that they will do so, but it's probably concerns the female more than the male.

[zirliz]

Ok when is this started? the cooling period
they are checkered garters btw and I'm very excited about breeding them,

[Stefan-A]

That depends on when you want to breed them. They're ready to go immediately after brumation. Not so sure about how well it works with just a cooling period.

[indigoman]

My T.marcianus were just cooled down for the winter months. i keep my males seperated from the females. I watched the temperatures of Texas and Arizona.

[zirliz]

How is the cooling down for winter months done and when does it start?

[indigoman]

As for me my set ups are in the basement of my house, a temp of around 80f normally. I let the temperature naturally drop to 60f and shortened the daylight time. They seem to naturally seek a cold constant area and burrow down. I continued to feed them sparingly if they wanted to eat. springtime raise the ambient temperature and their peromones and pinal glands do the rest.