Mating Brachypelma Smithi

[Daniel_h]

a friends spider has stopped eating for months now so we took it to a pet shop and where told it may just be looking for a female now before it dies

i have a female spider (same species) and was wondering if there is anything you have to do to encourage them to mate as we are thinking of letting them mate now.

they are roughly the same size...female is about 4 1/2 inches and the male is just over 5 but with a leg missing

any tips?

 

[becca81]

Are you certain it's a mature male? Are you certain it's the same species?

If so, put the male in at one end of the female's enclosure and watch them carefully. If the male begins to drum/twitch/etc. and the female responds, then let them at it.

If the male is trying to climb out of the tank or one or both of them shows no interest in the other, remove the male.

Have you noticed the male making sperm webs? How long has he been mature? If it's been an extremely long time, he may no longer be "good" for mating - I'd say 5-6 months past maturity is the limit for B. smithi.

 

[Jason Vaughn]

well 1st off what leg is he missing?

 

[Daniel_h]

he is missing back right leg

it only recently became mature i think


we put it in...the male was drumming they moved together and from what i can tell mated

then my female (looked like) it went to bite the male after about a minute of mating

should we take the male out now or see what happens?

 

[Daniel_h]

oh and the male has recently started making web things in its tank

 

[becca81]

it only recently became mature i think

When was the last molt? If it is a mature male, it would have matured at the last molt.

then my female (looked like) it went to bite the male after about a minute of mating

Did the female injure the male? Where is the male now?

Yes, if you haven't already, take it out.

 

[Daniel_h]

the male has been taken out...no i dont think it was injured i could see the fangs and they where not touching

should we try again tomorrow?

is it possible it could have been successful the mating lasted around 1 minute

 

[becca81]

the male has been taken out...no i dont think it was injured i could see the fangs and they where not touching

should we try again tomorrow?

is it possible it could have been successful the mating lasted around 1 minute

I'd just let them be. You can try again if you want to, but it isn't necessary.

 

[Daniel_h]

ill give it a day and try again...if the female tries to bite the male again ill call it quits

would more attempts give it more chance of bieng successful

 

[Socrates]

No, don't try tomorrow, please.

Listen to Becca. How big is the females' carapace, and are you 100% certain that she's a female? Sometimes mature males try and make with immature males, and if confused enough, it make actually look as if a mating is taking place. Did the "female" display any mating behavior prior to hooking up? Did she tap her feet? Drum to him?

As Becca has stated, there is no need to mate them again. If you absolutely must, then wait until the male's had time to make another sperm web.

And IF they're placed together again, please be ready to step in in case the "female" shows aggression.

Good luck.

---
Wendy
---

 

[Daniel_h]

socrates....im sure shes a female...i posted her shed on here and several members have checked

http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/gallery/showimage.php?i=1596&c=10

the female approached the male and they went together as usual and looked like they where mating for around a minute...i think the female may have reacted badly because as they where mating she almost slid down a slight hill in the tank

ill wait until he makes another sperm web untill i try it again


p.s i was ready and waiting and seperated the second i saw an aggresive reaction

 

[Socrates]

Daniel, yes, that's as female as they come.

But - if this is her http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=82491, then why are you breeding her if you're expecting a molt is imminent? :?

Also, at 4" she may not be mature, that's why I asked for the size of her carapace. If the carapace is between 2-2.5cm, then you can safely assume you're dealing with a mature female.

Furthermore, a mature female should give you some sort of indication whether she's ready to breed or not. Place their cages next to each other and observe them for a while. (It may take a couple of days to see a response.) If your female has spun some silk, you can place some of that with the male, which should induce him to begin some sort of courtship, like drumming his legs. If he does that, see if the female responds. From my observations, all my "willing and ready" females have always either drummed back, or at least turn into the direction of their suitor.

---
Wendy
---

 

[Daniel_h]

im expecting a moult because she has stopped eating for a while and i was thinking its been about the same amount of time between her last moult...but as you probably know with spiders that is no guarantee...

looking at her now id say the carapace is around 2cm...

when i put the male in the tank i was very cautious....i first put him in a clear tub and placed that in the tank for a bit and the female was just sitting near him...

when i let him out he IMMEDIATELY began drumming and slowly moving closer to her...when he got close so his legs where almost drumming on hers she began moving closer to him until they where together and they began mating....so this led me to believe she was interested

from what i saw his palps where in the right place for him to inject sperm but im not positive if he did

then after a minute or so because she was on a slight slope as they where mating she almost flipped over then turned aggressive...you think maybe this could be why or just because they had finished mating?

 

[Daniel_h]

oh and also i was going to ask....when tarantulas are mature...do they no longer moult?

can they succesfully mate if they are still in the moulting stage of their life


sorry if its a stupid question but its my first spider and wasnt planning on mating until earlier today when we where told my friends male may well be only looking for a female and not planning on eating

 

[james41777]

tarantulas molt even after they mature.
my mature female chilean rose has been with me for four years, with two molts.

 

[syndicate]

when a male reaches maturity it wont live to molt again

 

[Johnny_27]

When a female molts after mating shes no longer fertile. That little flap of skin that shows she's a female in the molt is what she holds the males sperm in untill she's ready to lay eggs. If she molts while she's holding the sperm then its cast away with the old skin. Let her molt and harden up, then feed her well and try again if the male is still alive.

 

[Talkenlate04]

When a female molts after mating shes no longer fertile. That little flap of skin that shows she's a female in the molt is what she holds the males sperm in untill she's ready to lay eggs. If she molts while she's holding the sperm then its cast away with the old skin. Let her molt and harden up, then feed her well and try again if the male is still alive.

The only downside to that as previously mentioned is Smithi males seem to lose potency after about 5-6 months..... I have never had a female lay from a male that was older then 4 months.

 

[Johnny_27]

The only downside to that as previously mentioned is Smithi males seem to lose potency after about 5-6 months..... I have never had a female lay from a male that was older then 4 months.

Yea but i guess it cant hurt to try. Ive got a pair of Haplopelma longipes that I want to try to breed and im having this problem. The male matured about 3 months ago and the female needs one more molt to be a good breeding size. The female was suppossed to be close to a molt but I got her a month ago and I have been feeding her a cricket everyday trying to get her to pop but she just wont do it. It sux cause when she finally does stop eating, it'll probably be 2 weeks before she molts then at least 2 more afterwards till shes ready to go and by then the male would be 4months matured at least. But what can I do ya know? It cant hurt to try. If I do it, then at least there's some chance of getting a sac. If i dont then I definatly wont get one.