# Mastigoproctus giganteus mating attempts



## Goliath (Jul 31, 2004)

Just paired up both pairs of my Mastigoproctus giganteus, all seems to be going well, here are some pictures.  
MIke


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## phoenixxavierre (Jul 31, 2004)

Great pics, Mike! This is one invertebrate I haven't kept but always wanted to!

Keep us updated, please!

paul


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## Goliath (Jul 31, 2004)

Paul,
Thanks!. They are great inverts.  Easy to keep too.  I always recommend them, once you get one it will quickly become one of your favorites.  Mine definitely are some of my favorites.  I will keep everyone informed.  
Mike


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## phoenixxavierre (Jul 31, 2004)

Goliath said:
			
		

> Paul,
> Thanks!. They are great inverts.  Easy to keep too.  I always recommend them, once you get one it will quickly become one of your favorites.  Mine definitely are some of my favorites.  I will keep everyone informed.
> Mike


Awesome!    What is their appetite like, in your experience, Mike?

paul


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## Goliath (Jul 31, 2004)

Paul,
They are pigs.  I give mine about 3 crickets a week, otherwise they get real fat.  They tend to keep weight a long time, even if not fed for a while.

Update on the mating.
As soon as the males were put in with the females, the males grabbed the females "whips" and held them in their chelicerae.  They then proceeded to pull the females around the tank.  This lasted for about an hour.  Then the male turned around and the female grabbed onto the males abdomen with her palps.  The males then proceeded to deposit a spermathea, which he led the female over while still latched onto his abdomen.  He then turned back around and grabbed onto the females abdomen with his palps, holding it until the spermathea was taken into her body.  They then detached and went their seperate ways.  No aggresion was observed during the whole mating sequence, which lasted about 8 hours.  I have attached some pics, second is where the male is depositing the spermathea, third is the spermathea, and first and last are where the male is holding the female while it is taken into her body.  Hope you like.   
Mike


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## Navaros (Aug 1, 2004)

Great pics! Congratulations, and good luck.


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## Goliath (Aug 1, 2004)

Thanks.  
Mike


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## Goliath (Aug 15, 2004)

Update:
Females are putting on weight and appetite has doubled.  They have also excavated larger burrows with a larger chamber at the end.  Hoping for the best.  
Mike


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## Steven (Aug 16, 2004)

Excellent !!!!  :}


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## Goliath (Aug 16, 2004)

Thanks Steven.    Do you have both sexes, I know you have a couple.  If so, have you tried pairing any of yours up?
Mike


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## alex (Aug 17, 2004)

Good luck with your breeding.


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## Steven (Aug 17, 2004)

Goliath said:
			
		

> Thanks Steven.    Do you have both sexes, I know you have a couple.  If so, have you tried pairing any of yours up?
> Mike


nope,... i've got 2 females,... hoping to find a male soon


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## Goliath (Aug 17, 2004)

Thanks Alex!

That is too bad Steven, hope you find a male.  If you were closer you could borrow one of mine.  
Mike


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## Malhavoc's (Aug 17, 2004)

Whats the longitivity on these guys?


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## Goliath (Aug 17, 2004)

They can live as much as 10 years if raised from a baby.  3 to 5 years if you acquire an adult.
Mike


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## Malhavoc's (Aug 17, 2004)

thnx goliath. are they easy to breed?


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## Steven (Aug 18, 2004)

Goliath said:
			
		

> That is too bad Steven, hope you find a male.  If you were closer you could borrow one of mine.
> Mike


hehehe,... i'm allready happy i did find these 2 females (American inverts aren't that easy to find over here  )

i still have 2 little ones CB that are about 2",... hopefully 1 of them grows out to become a male   (if by then the females don't die by old age)


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## Goliath (Aug 18, 2004)

Malhavoc's,
This is the first time I have tried to breed them.  It went very smoothly, I will just have to wait an see if anything comes of it.  Things are looking good so far.

Steven,
I hope one of them does turn out to be a male.    I know about getting certain inverts, it is hard to get some types over here too.  
Mike


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## cacoseraph (Jun 9, 2005)

Goliath said:
			
		

> Malhavoc's,
> This is the first time I have tried to breed them.  It went very smoothly, I will just have to wait an see if anything comes of it.  Things are looking good so far.
> 
> Steven,
> ...


how is this breeding project going?  i am thinking about trying my hand at breeding these guys, but don't have any experience (at all) and don't want to bite off more than i can chew.


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## swatc1h (Jun 9, 2005)

i see no link or attachments what so ever of the pics blank zip nada?


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## phth (Oct 8, 2005)

Mike, you still have those Mastigoproctus pictures? did the eggs hatch? thanx!


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## darkeye (Oct 8, 2005)

You know... I tried putting my male and female together last week, and it started to look like an "agression session".  The male and female locked pedipalps and were wrangling each other around.  I didn't want to lose either one, and decided after just a few minutes to seperate them again.  :wall: 

Any input or more info would be fantastic on this front.  I have seen pics on Petbugs.com of a female's egg sack suspended under her opisthosoma, and it looks so damn cool!

Martin


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## Galapoheros (Oct 9, 2005)

I've had several of these that have breed.  The only time I've seen aggressive behavior that could result in serious injury was when I've put two females together.  Whenever I've put two males together, they have realized the other is a male, "Oh, you're a dude".  Then they just walk away from each other.  But the females,... they will try to kill/eat each other if put together.  That's what I've seen with the ones I've had.  I haven't seen a male hurt a female.  It does look a little rough at first "grab", every time.  It is pretty strange behavior for hours.  The females with eggs that I've had usually stay below the surface for eight+ months.  Then the babies start digging their way out.  They make a chamber about the size of a softball, usually under a rock.  They hang upside-down, hanging from the rock when the eggs come out.  She will just hang there for months clinging to the bottom of the rock.  I've been lucky enough to see what was going on through the glass.  There was enough moisture for water to condensate on the glass on the inside of the Vinie baby room.


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## Vinnie (Nov 9, 2005)

Eight months! What to you use as soil? I have pretty weak sand and it keeps falling apart when my female trys to dig.


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## Nikos (Nov 10, 2005)

try a mix of sand and peat, that's what I do and it doesn't collapse


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## Scorpiove (Feb 24, 2006)

Galapoheros said:
			
		

> I've had several of these that have breed.  The only time I've seen aggressive behavior that could result in serious injury was when I've put two females together.  Whenever I've put two males together, they have realized the other is a male, "Oh, you're a dude".  Then they just walk away from each other.  But the females,... they will try to kill/eat each other if put together.  That's what I've seen with the ones I've had.  I haven't seen a male hurt a female.  It does look a little rough at first "grab", every time.  It is pretty strange behavior for hours.  The females with eggs that I've had usually stay below the surface for eight+ months.  Then the babies start digging their way out.  They make a chamber about the size of a softball, usually under a rock.  They hang upside-down, hanging from the rock when the eggs come out.  She will just hang there for months clinging to the bottom of the rock.  I've been lucky enough to see what was going on through the glass.  There was enough moisture for water to condensate on the glass on the inside of the Vinie baby room.


Sorry to resurrect an old post, but is it true that the females die after the eggs are born and hatch?


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## Goliath (Feb 25, 2006)

The females do not die after the babies are born, they can continue to live just fine once they emerge.
Mike


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## Scorpiove (Feb 25, 2006)

Goliath said:
			
		

> The females do not die after the babies are born, they can continue to live just fine once they emerge.
> Mike


Thanks for the information.  There is some incorrect information on the internet (like that is a surpirse).  I'm glad to find they keep living after the babies hatch.


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## Alakdan (Mar 3, 2006)

*Where are the pics?*

For some unknown reason I cannot view the pics, nor find any links.  Can you please post them again. 

I recently acquired one, but I'm not too sure if it is the same specie.  How do you determine if they are male or female?:?

What is the ideal size for enclosure?


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## Galapoheros (Mar 3, 2006)

The three females that I had that had babies did die after the babies dug their way out.  They died several months later but they didn't seem to be very lively after the babies left. Not much of an appetite.  I had at least three that had babies, maybe 4.  I just know that they all died.  I don't know the truth about  it being a rule that they die after the babies leave.  Looks like 'Goliath' might have had different experiences.  But this is also a time when I didn't know how to control mites.  I do now, I think.  They were on everything.  It's been preventative measures instead of extermination since I started again.  The mite problem is why I gave up for a while.  I haven't had to get rid of any mites since I started the hobby again.  I let the babies go.  I have one big male right now that I caught last year.  I expect to find an adult female in the spring.  At the time, I used potting soil.  But I would use damp, packed peat if/when I try it again.  An idea I have is to get one of those peat "bricks" they sell at Petco.  Then I might put it on it's edge and lengthwise in respect to the terrarium.  Add water and let it expand but don't break it up so it would maintain some structure to keep it from caving in when the vinnie hopefully digs into it.  Then I would put a rock on top of that.  Add some peat and sand to the rest of the bottom of the terrarium.  That's just something I've been thinking about.  Sounds like it would work.


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## Goliath (Mar 3, 2006)

It does take alot out of the females to have the babies.  Mine always came out very hungry and thirsty.  The trick is to get them to eat within a couple days of emerging, otherwise I have had them die.  Not usually the norm though.
Mike


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## Galapoheros (Mar 3, 2006)

OK, I'll try it again (I hope).  I'm looking forward to buggin this spring.  I hope I find two or three females so I can really experiment with mortality after reproduction.  It's got me curious.  Why not.., something to do.


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## Scorpiove (Mar 3, 2006)

Galapoheros said:
			
		

> OK, I'll try it again (I hope).  I'm looking forward to buggin this spring.  I hope I find two or three females so I can really experiment with mortality after reproduction.  It's got me curious.  Why not.., something to do.


I just ordered four vinegaroons from hatari inverts.  three of which made it to me in good condition.  The fourth sprayed itself in transit and died the day after I got it.  Mine are deffinately not fully grown.  I hope to sex the remaining three that I have and hope to have at least one female and one male.  So I can attempt to breed also


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## Galapoheros (Mar 3, 2006)

Spraying itself wouldn't kill it.  I think something else was wrong.  I know that's just my opinion.  If it smelled like vinegar in the container, it probably just lost control because it was dying of something else, ....got desperate to survive.  My speculation.  Maybe it got too hot in it's container?  Can you post pics?  I've never heard of Hatari Inverts.  I'll have to check them out for some weird new stuff.


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## Scorpiove (Mar 10, 2006)

Galapoheros said:
			
		

> Spraying itself wouldn't kill it.  I think something else was wrong.  I know that's just my opinion.  If it smelled like vinegar in the container, it probably just lost control because it was dying of something else, ....got desperate to survive.  My speculation.  Maybe it got too hot in it's container?  Can you post pics?  I've never heard of Hatari Inverts.  I'll have to check them out for some weird new stuff.


No unfortunetely I threw out the carcass without getting a picture. I did get a look at the side of the abdomen though and there was a creamy dry liquid.  would that be the liquid it sprayed that dried or perhaps maybe it busted open its abdomen?  I'll get some pics of the other 3.  Also got two tailess whip scorpions from them.  I'll find their link and give it to you tommorow.


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## Galapoheros (Mar 12, 2006)

Scorpiove said:
			
		

> No unfortunetely I threw out the carcass without getting a picture. I did get a look at the side of the abdomen though and there was a creamy dry liquid.  would that be the liquid it sprayed that dried or perhaps maybe it busted open its abdomen?  I'll get some pics of the other 3.  Also got two tailess whip scorpions from them.  I'll find their link and give it to you tommorow.


Makes me think something bad happened to that one.  I've seen road kills and their internals are partly creamy, whitish, with some chocolate milk colored stuff.  That sounds pretty gross but, well, that's not their defensive spray you saw.  Their spray is very clear and evaporates real fast.  It's colorless and very thin.  I wonder if the seller dropped it while he was trying to package it up.  Sure sounds like it.  Yea, you were looking at vinegaroon guts .  And it was probably in the container when it was dropped.  Hehe, I'm guessing too hard now but that's what makes sense to me.


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## Goliath (May 10, 2008)

Sorry to drag up an old thread but the babies are molting again, right on schedule, one year later.

mike

1st year





2nd year





3rd year


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## Galapoheros (May 10, 2008)

I'm scratching my head wondering why M giganteus isn't a VERY popular invert in the hobby.  To me they are the best roach, mantid, scorp mix out there.  What's the deal?!  These animals are one of the best!  I respect you hanging in there man!  Pretty weird!  ..that's good!


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