breeding help

Guys i need help. Today i walked in to my male and fem JCP in the act. Tails wrapped...privates showing and all. They are just chilling together right now. wrapped up together.

So let me begin how it all started. Ive been trying to change them over to rats from mice. So i decided not to feed them since Nov 16th. Also i have been in between moves so i pulled them out from their normal enclosure and kept them in Big tubs alone. They have always been together in a 4 ft long, 3 ft deep, 3 ft high. They have been apart for like 2 months.

So last time they were fed was Nov 16th. They were apart for 2 months. Put together last night. The heating i have for them is a heat bulb bringing up the temp to like 85-90. Night time drops to 75-80. Today at 7am i came home private parts were inserted and all. so....guys...WHAT DO I DO NOW!!!!!!

Can i feed them? When? Do i seperate them? Do i change the substrate? I have paper towels in there right now. Heating? Feeding? requirements? Or am i over reacting? What should i start doing guys? This is my FIRST breeding activity. I got 4 babies which im slowly waiting on. Seriously...what should i look out for first...what should i be doing and looking for. Yeah im kinda nervous....so...any help would be appreciated.

when you separate them, you can feed the male for sure. some people will offer the the female a small meal (usually they will refuse if they have been mating and it took).
personally, i only feed males and not the females and wait to see if they ovulate. if not ovualation, i offer a small meal. if they take it, its small and will pass easily and quickly in case they are ovulating, if they refuse, usually indicates the stuff is rolling inside

assuming they are of proper age and size and they are locking up, let nature do its thing. they know what to do

Cool. Thank you.

wait....so i SHOULD separate them. Or should i let it got for a little while longer. What kinda substrate do i use? I usually use paper towels and the tank is stripped to bare minimum.

papertowels, newspaper, any substrate is fine. again, ive never dealt with carpets, but with retics, burms, even balls that i have dabbled in throughout the years, i separate and feed the male when they seem to lose interest in mating. i will feed the male, maybe offer a small meal to the female, and then put them back in once they pass that meal and see what they do. if they dont show interest, usually means the female was receptive the prior time and she has been fertilized (so to speak)

wow...its been a few days now and they are still wrapped up together. Cant see if the DEED is being done but they are ontop of each other all day.....

I haven't been keeping up with current practices with carpets; but, the last I knew, temp cycling was still considered essential for successful breeding. (This was well after it was found to be unnecessary for many other species.) If that is still the case, you may get nothing more than a pile of slugs. FWIW, over the past few years I have experimented with no, and reduced, temp cycling with carpets...and haven't gotten a viable egg. This year, I'm going back to what I know works.

When I was breeding them regularly, I eliminated the supplemental heat for 6-8 weeks before pairing...and left them together - still without supplemental heat - for another 6 weeks.

hmmmm.......i will take your advice and give them no heat for a while.

ambient is 70-75..

They're fine in that range...but, it is generally recommended to give them a couple weeks after the last meal before dropping temps.