Breeding question?

[mikey]

Hello all! I have another question pertaining to breeding... I have what is supposed to be a female G. rosea and (if any of you remember) I have a mature male G. rosea...

Now, if I put them together and it turned out that the supposed female is actually male, will they try to eat each other?? I assume they would... but I have seen pics of multiple G. roseas together with no confrontations... I know the male has a LIMITED amount of time to reproduce and I would hate to pass up the chance to mate them (even if it is very unlikely to produce and eggsac and/or slings), but at the same time, I would hate to loose the "supposed" female...

Thanks,
Mikey

 

[Botar]

The response could run anywhere from nothing at all to full frontal attack. IME with this species, mating attempts can take a while. It may be similar with other species, but I've really noticed it with this one.

Botar

 

[Tangled WWWeb]

Originally posted by Botar
The response could run anywhere from nothing at all to full frontal attack. IME with this species, mating attempts can take a while. It may be similar with other species, but I've really noticed it with this one.

Botar

Botar is right. I had started answering the part of your question that pertains to 2 males by recounting my experience with putting 2 males of this species together with one female. This was at a reptile show and it involved one of my males and a pair belonging to Joy Reed. The males were both uncooperative when tried singly, so Joy suggested that some competiton might stir them on. If I remember correctly, one of the two did become more willing to mate, and there was no violence at all. We even posted a pic of this in a previous thread. Today however, was a different story! I decided that before I hit "submit reply" that I would test this out again. Let's just say that I had to stop 2 male roses from giving each other their thorns.

As far as a normal breeding attempt ( 1 male, 1 female) it can still go either way. I currently have a dozen or more female G. rosea and 4 mature males. None of this year's numerous attempts have been violent, but I did lose a male of this species to a female last year.

Good luck,

John