Hey Spike,
1) I 've found that most reds I've raised are sexually mature around 10 - 12 months. Of coarse it's pretty variable depending on the animal.
2) They do fine in trios, but you get better egg production per female in pairs. Typically in trios you will get a dominant female that does most of the breeding.
3) Leave them together at all times. Generally the male will try to breed with the female when she is ready. He won't typically pester her to much if she isn't.
4) Young females will lay fewer eggs, generally around four to seven, where older females like one I have hear can lay up to 17 eggs per clutch and lay 6-7 clutches per year.
5) They don't need a cooling period. It won't hurt them, but it's not needed. They seem to sense things (envirnmental changes) that are happening outstide and start breeding heavily at certain times of year. They will breed all year round, but produce more clutches of eggs at certain times of year.
6) Nothing special needs to be done, just feed the crap out of them and they'll breed. It's incubating the eggs thats a little bit harder for most keepers.
Hope this helps and good luck with your reds!
Brandon
www.canadiancoldblood.com
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