breeding aggression

Arborealis

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 5, 2007
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221
So, generally it's the female that we have to worry about when it comes to breeding with tarantulas. Has anyone ever run into the male being the aggressive one?

I've been trying to breed my B. albopilosum pair. The female has been receptive every time, drumming and beckoning the male and he wants nothing to do with her. A couple of times he has even lunged at her in an aggressive manner (though he has never bared fangs) then turned around and walked back over to his container. :embarrassed:

Any insight?
 

CAK

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
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Nov 17, 2009
Messages
298
I have heard of males being the killer and taking out the female before. Not very common though!

Do you know when the male molted? Sometimes people jump the gun on trying to pair. Most of my males I wait 4 to 5 weeks to make sure they have had time to make a sperm web.

I don't mean to insult anyones intelligence, but I don't know your skill level, so I am going to ask... Are you sure it's a male and are you sure its mature.



If its indeed a male, it's loaded and ready... the next thing to do it give them some privacy. Dim the lights a bit and walk away! I try to supervise all my pairings, but sometimes you just have to cohab the male in the female tank and just walk away. If that isn't working either then... It might not be a good fit for the two. I'm convinced that even though you have an identical species male and female, that there are some circumstances (I don't know specifics) that just don't make them a good pair and they won't mate.


Joe - cak
 

xhexdx

ArachnoGod
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Jul 20, 2007
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Brachypelma males in general tend to be pretty timid and difficult to pair with females successfully.

From my own personal experience though, I've not had issues with albopilosum or vagans males - it's smithi, emilia, and boehmei that have been troublesome for me.
 

CAK

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 17, 2009
Messages
298
Brachypelma males in general tend to be pretty timid and difficult to pair with females successfully.

From my own personal experience though, I've not had issues with albopilosum or vagans males - it's smithi, emilia, and boehmei that have been troublesome for me.
Agree! I finally dumped my smithi male in with the female, dimmed the lights and walked away. I walked by about an hour or two later and the cat was sitting in front of the cage (as it's on the bottom shelf) watching intently I knew something was going on. Yep, he was right in the middle of mating... bunk rear leg and all! I couldn't get a supervised pairing to save my soul!
 

Falk

Arachnodemon
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May 28, 2009
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679
Sharkcage perhaps will help. You should also do the breeding at night, that is more normal for them.
 

Arborealis

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
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Nov 5, 2007
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221
Yes, I am positive it's a mature male. I've raised him from about 2". He had his ultimate molt about 3 1/2 weeks ago and has hooks and bulbs.

I have been doing the pairings at night but so far still nothing. I'm just hoping it's still early for them and that the problem is simply that he hasn't loaded up yet.

I wouldn't feel comfortable having them cohab being that B. albopilosum tend to have more mating aggression than other Brachypelmas for some reason. The female actually did chase him completely out of the cage once after becoming frustrated with his presence and lack of performance. haha. Since both have shown some aggression I'd rather not risk a cohabitation.

I actually posted the thread mainly because I had never witnessed aggression from the male in previous parings of tarantulas. Most the time the male has been more than willing to do his job. haha

I may have to try the light dimming trick. haha, (though I don't think I'll be walking away from the cage considering past aggressions between the two). I had thought about it but wasn't quite sure exactly how much (if any) it would help since in previous pairings with other species light hasn't been an issue. Since I sold my other male before he matured (which I'm kicking myself for now) I'm really hoping that this pairing will work. The period between her last molt and his ultimate molt were almost too perfect. I'll keep you guys updated after a while as to whether this ends up being successful or not. ^_^
 
Last edited:

Treynok

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
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May 17, 2009
Messages
202
From the sound of it he hasn't built a sperm web yet give him time and keep an eye out for it or the remains of it. It's pointless to try and pair before this and would explain his unwillingness to participate. Only other possibility since it is definitely mature would be species variation which I highly doubt but don't know you well enough to say it couldn't be that. I've seen too much to rule simple solutions out. The mood might not be set right or maybe the male senses you there and is worried about predation over mating. I would wait like a week or 2 and let the male be to see if he sperm webs.
 
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