Breeding B. Albiceps

[JakeLeg]

I've been following the recent posts discussing egg sacks and sperm webs.

I own a male B. Albiceps. Just had his spurs show after a molt at the beginning of the month (July).

He has since made sperm webs.

I have access to purchasing a female who was bred and produced an egg sack earlier this year. The eggs didn't make it due to carrion flies.

She has just molted 2 days ago... so I'm guessing the timing is right? Although how long should I "feed her up" to get her back into breeding condition? Since the molt her abdomen shrunk and isn't as plump as it used to be?

Also... how long will the male be able to breed the female after he has made his sperm web?

Has anyone on here successfully bred B. Albiceps (Ruhnaui) in the past? Any pointers would be appreciated. This will be my first T breeding attempt.



Thanks in advance.

 

[Talkenlate04]

Well once she hardens up your going to want to stuff her face for a few weeks. Two should do it.
And to answer your question about the male, he will reload every now and then anyway that one web is not the only one he's going to make. The best time to pair is a few days after you see a sperm web. That’s how I do my pairings at least. From there pair them up and see what happens! A cool down period is something to consider, some people do some people don't. I personally do. Good luck that would be a great success if you got some offspring.

 

[JakeLeg]

Albiceps

Thanks for the info. From what I understand these tend to be finicky to get bred.

Do you leave the male in the females cage for an extended period of time or do you just put him in.... watch and take him out whether you see them breed or not?

How long do you do the cool down period?

Thanks again!

Well once she hardens up your going to want to stuff her face for a few weeks. Two should do it.
And to answer your question about the male, he will reload every now and then anyway that one web is not the only one he's going to make. The best time to pair is a few days after you see a sperm web. That’s how I do my pairings at least. From there pair them up and see what happens! A cool down period is something to consider, some people do some people don't. I personally do. Good luck that would be a great success if you got some offspring.

 

[Talkenlate04]

I never leave males in there overnight. I watch. Sometimes it takes a while but sometimes it goes quick.

My cool down is about 6 weeks. Some do 4 weeks. I seem to have better success with a 6 week cool down though. Shoot for temps around 62-66.

 

[JakeLeg]

Cooldown

Hey Ryan thanks for the reply and mentioning a temperature in regards to cool down.

Actually being such a greenhorn I thought by cooldown you just meant "time off" between putting them together. I understand now that you mean a literal cool down.

So... are you cooling down both the male and female? Is this cooldown preceding the breeding or the time in between putting them together?

What is the theory behind the cooldown and what is it doing that affects breeding?

Thanks again!

Matt

 

[Talkenlate04]

Cool down simulates the season of winter. It seems that a cold snap makes them think winter has started, and when you warm them back up they think spring has arrived and those temp changes seem to trigger egg sac production(if the breeding took). Since we keep out Ts in our houses and try our best for a constant temp, we have to simulate winter occurring even if we are breeding in July.

Oh and you only cool down the female, the male won't be around to much longer and does not benefit at all from a temp drop. Might actually speed up his death if you did.

 

[Amanda]

Do you have a thermostat-controlled cool-down room or do you use some kind of refrigerator?

 

[julesaussies]

Room Temp Control??

Do you have a thermostat-controlled cool-down room or do you use some kind of refrigerator?

Yeah, i am curious about that also. i have nothing to breed that requires this at the moment but i'm not sure what if any options i would have to provide a cooling period. Any suggestions how to do this when i don't have a whole room or closet to specifically cool down for just the T's AND i live in southern CA so it doesn't cool down much on its own?

Are some of the species that need cooling periods, kind of seasonal? i wouldn't normally keep my T's in the garage but would that be an option for the time of year that might follow their breeding schedule - if they even have one?? i don't park my car in the garage and actually used to keep some of my temperature sensitive smaller parrots out there for breeding. It's set up with UVA/UVB lighting and everything which i realize the T's won't care about. As i am in southern CA it doesn't get horribly cold. It seems like a lot of the Brachy's/Aphono's in nature would also still be subject to a wider temperature range in a day because that's simply what the weather's like down here. i do realize they have some temperature control in thier burrows. Too bad we don't know more exact details like temperature regulation and variation of T's in the wild. OR maybe we do and i haven't found it yet.

Anyway, any ideas here???

 

[Talkenlate04]

Oh man well I want to answer this but I don't want to get flogged for my method..........
Oh what the heck why not.
With my brachys there is a two part cool down,
First after mating I let them feed some more maybe two weeks, then I move them to my patio closet, in there it stays about 64 degrees.
Part two is every once in a while I move them to the bottom shelf of my miny fridge at the lowest setting and let them drop to 52. Then back out to the closet for a few days.
I only do this because no temp is constant in nature. Winter in desert scrub land is not a constant 62. There is a day and night temp difference even in winter.
I do this back and forth deal for 4-6 weeks. There seems to be noticeable weight gain in that time frame.
I am thinking about using a wine cooler and my miny fridge for the two temps, but for now with summer breedings my patio closet and the mini fridge works just fine for me.
Let the criticism begin.

 

[Stan Schultz]

... Do you leave the male in the females cage for an extended period of time or do you just put him in.... watch and take him out whether you see them breed or not? ...

I've gotten flamed several times for saying this, but we had our best luck moving the female into the male's cage. We found that moving the male often upset him so much it ruined his male libido and all he'd do was try to escape. If you have trouble with the male apparently not being interested in the female, try leaving him on his home cage and moving her.

For what it's worth, I can't remember ever having an instance where the female refused the male under those circumstances. In nature she has to exit her burrow in order to mate anyway, so she sort of expects to be on foreign soil in order to have sex.

An added bonus is that the female may be a lot less likely to attack and eat the male on foreign turf.

Best of luck in your breeding efforts.

 

[Talkenlate04]

I have never done the female into male cage before, only cause it does not make any sense. The male wanders and looks for the female and the female stays put. But much like me and my method if it works it works right? The only way to learn new things is to try new things.