Black Widow breeding tips

[Darkchrist31]

Dear all, my male L.elegans just molted and matured.

Would appreciate if I could get some valuable tips on breeding them.
As far as I'm aware of, I will feed the female before introducing the male into her enclosure.
But my question is, will the female still kill the male despite having a full stomach?

*Also, any breeding tips on L.hasselti (Redback spider) would be appreciated, I have 2 mature males ready, waiting for my female to mature.

Thank you for reading, and have a nice day!!
Thank you in advance!

 

[Jonathan6303]

I have bread a steatoda sp but not latrodectus and what I have found that the female and male will live communally and I have also observed this in the wild with the Parasteatoda tepidariorum.

 

[Albireo Wulfbooper]

will the female still kill the male despite having a full stomach?

Maybe, maybe not. It depends on her mood. This sounds like I'm being flippant, but truly, I'm not. While I have not personally kept Latrodectus, I know from conversations with people who do that mating attempts are always risky, and even a full female may reject and kill a potential suitor.

 

[Richard McJimsey]

I would not recommend leaving the male in with the female post breeding.

 

[Jonathan6303]

I would not recommend leaving the male in with the female post breeding.

For Latrodectus I agree but the steatoda shows this behavior in the wild so I follow it.

 

[Albireo Wulfbooper]

For Latrodectus I agree but the steatoda shows this behavior in the wild so I follow it.

The thread is about Latrodectus, though, so the advice is correct.

 

[Jonathan6303]

The thread is about Latrodectus, though, so the advice is correct.

Yea. I am simply offering my experience from another genera. I mean steatoda’s common name is false black widow.

 

[darkness975]

Feed her well , introduce the male for a day or so, and pray.

 

[SilentWidowMaker]

In my experience breeding L. hesperus I've always feed my female before introducing the male. I usually wait a day after she's completed her meal. I know some Latrodectus species may vary slightly depending. I've heard that some males will offer themselves to the female in order to complete his life cycle. Although I've never seen this it's quit interesting to observe the males approach starting with the cleaning up of her webs and the tapping of the webs to show his intent of being present. Normally while this is going on it takes him some time and in my observation it has shown if she's holding still during this time it's a good sign.

 

[Richard McJimsey]

For Latrodectus I agree but the steatoda shows this behavior in the wild so I follow it.

Coming from someone who has bred a lot of Latrodectus from around the world, I recommend not leaving in the male.

 

[The Snark]

Feed her well , introduce the male for a day or so, and pray.

Roughly, what is your track record of successful matings vs snacks or dinners? Got anything near predictable going?

 

[darkness975]

Roughly, what is your track record of successful matings vs snacks or dinners? Got anything near predictable going?

Not really. I have only recently gotten into breeding but then everything got placed on hold when I moved in 2018. Hopefully next year I will have a larger living arrangement and then I can really set up a proper system.

 

[Darkchrist31]

Dear all, just introduced my male elegans to the female.
Is the copulation complete or successful? How long is the process usually?
How long should I leave the male inside with the female?
Just fed the female a day ago so she should be full stomach.
Any advice would be helpful and appreciated

*Side question, how long is the cooldown period for the male to mate for the next time? I've got a couple of females more, but only 1 male currently
Thanks for reading and have a nice day guyss!
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[SilentWidowMaker]

How long was the process up until that point from when you put him in with the female? To me it looks like he did his job and in my experience if she's not actively going after him then it was mutual. I would take him out. Those are very beautiful widows by the way.

 

[Darkchrist31]

How long was the process up until that point from when you put him in with the female? To me it looks like he did his job and in my experience if she's not actively going after him then it was mutual. I would take him out. Those are very beautiful widows by the way.

Left him in there for about 6-8 hours. He got on and off the female a couple of times, so I'll say they made out a couple of times in that period.

Removed him after I've seen no more activity from both of them while they're sitting at opposite sides of the enclosure.
*ps. Male is dead just now. Do males always die after mating?

 

[Jonathan6303]

Left him in there for about 6-8 hours. He got on and off the female a couple of times, so I'll say they made out a couple of times in that period.

Removed him after I've seen no more activity from both of them while they're sitting at opposite sides of the enclosure.
*ps. Male is dead just now. Do males always die after mating?

Could of been just at the end of its lifespan. They don’t live very long after they mature.

 

[Darkchrist31]

Could of been just at the end of its lifespan. They don’t live very long after they mature.

He just molted into adult last week, so my guess is males would usually die after mating. (I have a male redback who've never mated and he's about 1 month+ in adulthood now, still healthy)

 

[SilentWidowMaker]

Left him in there for about 6-8 hours. He got on and off the female a couple of times, so I'll say they made out a couple of times in that period.

Removed him after I've seen no more activity from both of them while they're sitting at opposite sides of the enclosure.
*ps. Male is dead just now. Do males always die after mating?

Honestly mine have died afterwards but I'm not sure exactly if he will always die. I would say with positivity that it was successful.