Cooling agressive female before mating?

dianedfisher

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 14, 2007
Messages
330
Diane - do you happen to have pictures of how you set up your breeder box? I'd be very interested to see them. :)
Anything that will hold the 2 habitats and still allow some visibility will work. I have 3 different sizes of sterilite containers with a few airholes drilled in them.
I'll attached a few lousy photos to show them but anything works. This allows me to move on to other things in life while the pair gets to know one another. Diane

Occupied

Unoccupied
 

joshuai

Arachnoangel
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 10, 2008
Messages
821
I know I'm a little strange...but the "mate on demand" mentality that most of you expect appears unreasonable to me. Dump the male in with the female and expect immediate performance is a little harsh, don't ya think? Sometimes it takes as long as 48 hrs. for some of my pairs to even display any interest in one another once in the breeder box. As the sun sets early evening I notice that they begin to emerge. Some of them I've never even seen formally "mate" but fertile sacs mysteriously appear afterward with freshly molted females so I know successful insertions were achieved. Perhaps some of these more skittish species require a little bit of privacy and introducing them under glaring lighting, cameras clicking, etc. just doesn't suit them. Diane
I have actually been very patient, dont know where you got the whole mate on demand thing from me any way? I also have a big tote that i put the tanks in. The male does not come out of his tank till late at night and wanders into the females, (i should have explained better i just said they were undisturbed my bad) the female attacks and the male runs from her tank and circles the exterior tote! i dont want to leave him in all night because he is a loaner but i may have to, and hope for the best! thanks for the tips, tho and never once have i just dumped the male in with the female it is a little harsh i do agree thats why i dont do it! thats like throwing myself in to a pit full of beautiful women that want to eat me!
 

xhexdx

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 20, 2007
Messages
5,357
Thanks for the pictures, Di.

Ive tried them a couple times! and its starting to get a little late for both male and female!
But ill leave them another week try let them both feed! then give it another bash!? what do you think? thereafter ill try sorce a strait male!lol

Thanx
I certainly hope you're joking, since anyone with even a small amount of breeding experience would know that tarantulas can't be 'gay'.
 

robc

Arachnoemperor
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 10, 2007
Messages
3,824
I have a pair of GBB and the female is not cooperating. Has anyone experimented with cooling the female prior to pairing just to chill her out a bit so she is not so quick on the attack?
I would make sure you have duplicated spring by flooding the burrow for a week, if not she will more than likely eat the MM. In spring is when they mate, the rains signal this....the insects come out....they feed....then mate.


Here is my breeding report:

Breeding Report Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens


Here is what I have observed in breeding this species - other opinions may differ.

In my opinion you must duplicate spring. And it's actually very easy to do. In the wild, spring will come and it'll rain very heavily - this is when all the insects come and the females will start to feed and when the males will be out looking for mates. In the wild, the flooding of their burrows indicates it's spring and time to feed and mate. The added moisture from the rains add the necessary humidity for them to lay a sac and keep that humidity for the duration of the incubation. I believe this is why GBB eggs hatch out so quickly (reaching eggs w/legs stage in 20 days!) - because the humidity is only there for a very short period of time (This is my opinion, not a fact).

So to breed them in captivity you have to do the following:

Start flooding a portion of her burrow - about half - but keep the other side dry, in case she prefers that. I actually sprayed her webbing and flooded the substrate close to her burrow but not in the actual burrow (otherwise she'll lay a sac on sopping wet sub and that's not good). Flooding may be a strong word here - just keep the substrate pretty wet in that area right near her burrow and the other side of her burrow should be dry. She's going to hate it when it's wet!!

After flooding it for about a week, start feeding her everything she will eat! I'd strongly suggest feeding only gut-loaded B.dubias - that's the key IMO to large egg production.

Introduce the male in the second week. You will see a lot of tapping back and forth and you probably won't see any insertions. They do this for hours - that's why I never got any footage of her mating, it took too long! She ate the first male instantly because I didn't flood her burrow so she wasn't ready to mate. Good lesson learned there!!

I suggest, if you don't see her going after the male, leaving him in there with her for a few days. I also suggest a 20 gal long so the male has more room to run if necessary.

After mating (or during mating), keep flooding for about 3 weeks - you'll want it moist still while mating and feeding but once you see her start to gain size, stop flooding and let it dry out a little bit.
Keep feeding her until she stops eating. She should then retreat into her burrow and prepare for the sac.

(Keep in mind, the flooding is only for mating/egg production - do not leave the enclosure wet/damp at any other time. High humidity has been linked to fatalities in some GBBs over a prolonged period).

Time line

Temps: 78-80 degrees during the night and slowly climbs to 82-83 degrees morning to afternoon.

Humidity: 68%-75% (My T room is humidified thru the air not by misting)

06/02/09:

Ate MM on first tap!! (Cage was not soaked)

06/11/09:

1 week prior to this mating I soaked the cage and fed her heavy...I continue to mist her burrow to signal spring. this mating was
non-violent a lot of tapping back & forth but no insertion.

06/12/09:

MM was tapping to female and female would drum back...he attemted to go underneath for a insertion but I never saw him do it...this went on for about 1 Hr. I left the room for a few minutes and found MM on rim of tank, he may have paired up with her.

7/04/09:

Left MM in with female over night...all was well!

7/11/09:

Female was very agressive towards MM, tried to eat him!! Female hadn't been soaked for a week.

8/2/09 - 8/5/09:

Left MM in with female from 8/2/09 - 8/5/09. I did notice tapping/pairing. Female ate MM the morning of 8/5/09

9/20/09-9/25/09:

I noticed Female was digging up old webbing and rearranging her den, I flooded one side of enclosure and feed heavy to ensure she was full before laying.

9/27/09:

Female dug a bowl shape in substrate and is webbing, this suggests a eggsac!

9/28/09:

Made a bowl shaped web in back of enclosure, instead in front where she started, I believe she wanted a drier place.

9/29/09:

Laid sac!!

10/19/09

Pulled sac - with 238 eggs with legs!

10/28/09

molted into 1st instars
 

robc

Arachnoemperor
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 10, 2007
Messages
3,824
Thanks for the pictures, Di.



I certainly hope you're joking, since anyone with even a small amount of breeding experience would know that tarantulas can't be 'gay'.
LOL!!!!!{D{D{D{D BTW like the new avatar!
 

joshuai

Arachnoangel
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 10, 2008
Messages
821
I would make sure you have duplicated spring by flooding the burrow for a week, if not she will more than likely eat the MM. In spring is when they mate, the rains signal this....the insects come out....they feed....then mate.


Here is my breeding report:

Breeding Report Chromatopelma cyaneopubescens


Here is what I have observed in breeding this species - other opinions may differ.

In my opinion you must duplicate spring. And it's actually very easy to do. In the wild, spring will come and it'll rain very heavily - this is when all the insects come and the females will start to feed and when the males will be out looking for mates. In the wild, the flooding of their burrows indicates it's spring and time to feed and mate. The added moisture from the rains add the necessary humidity for them to lay a sac and keep that humidity for the duration of the incubation. I believe this is why GBB eggs hatch out so quickly (reaching eggs w/legs stage in 20 days!) - because the humidity is only there for a very short period of time (This is my opinion, not a fact).

So to breed them in captivity you have to do the following:

Start flooding a portion of her burrow - about half - but keep the other side dry, in case she prefers that. I actually sprayed her webbing and flooded the substrate close to her burrow but not in the actual burrow (otherwise she'll lay a sac on sopping wet sub and that's not good). Flooding may be a strong word here - just keep the substrate pretty wet in that area right near her burrow and the other side of her burrow should be dry. She's going to hate it when it's wet!!

After flooding it for about a week, start feeding her everything she will eat! I'd strongly suggest feeding only gut-loaded B.dubias - that's the key IMO to large egg production.

Introduce the male in the second week. You will see a lot of tapping back and forth and you probably won't see any insertions. They do this for hours - that's why I never got any footage of her mating, it took too long! She ate the first male instantly because I didn't flood her burrow so she wasn't ready to mate. Good lesson learned there!!

I suggest, if you don't see her going after the male, leaving him in there with her for a few days. I also suggest a 20 gal long so the male has more room to run if necessary.

After mating (or during mating), keep flooding for about 3 weeks - you'll want it moist still while mating and feeding but once you see her start to gain size, stop flooding and let it dry out a little bit.
Keep feeding her until she stops eating. She should then retreat into her burrow and prepare for the sac.

(Keep in mind, the flooding is only for mating/egg production - do not leave the enclosure wet/damp at any other time. High humidity has been linked to fatalities in some GBBs over a prolonged period).

Time line

Temps: 78-80 degrees during the night and slowly climbs to 82-83 degrees morning to afternoon.

Humidity: 68%-75% (My T room is humidified thru the air not by misting)

06/02/09:

Ate MM on first tap!! (Cage was not soaked)

06/11/09:

1 week prior to this mating I soaked the cage and fed her heavy...I continue to mist her burrow to signal spring. this mating was
non-violent a lot of tapping back & forth but no insertion.

06/12/09:

MM was tapping to female and female would drum back...he attemted to go underneath for a insertion but I never saw him do it...this went on for about 1 Hr. I left the room for a few minutes and found MM on rim of tank, he may have paired up with her.

7/04/09:

Left MM in with female over night...all was well!

7/11/09:

Female was very agressive towards MM, tried to eat him!! Female hadn't been soaked for a week.

8/2/09 - 8/5/09:

Left MM in with female from 8/2/09 - 8/5/09. I did notice tapping/pairing. Female ate MM the morning of 8/5/09

9/20/09-9/25/09:

I noticed Female was digging up old webbing and rearranging her den, I flooded one side of enclosure and feed heavy to ensure she was full before laying.

9/27/09:

Female dug a bowl shape in substrate and is webbing, this suggests a eggsac!

9/28/09:

Made a bowl shaped web in back of enclosure, instead in front where she started, I believe she wanted a drier place.

9/29/09:

Laid sac!!

10/19/09

Pulled sac - with 238 eggs with legs!

10/28/09

molted into 1st instars
Rob thank you so much!
 

mitchrobot

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 12, 2006
Messages
285
great post Rob :clap:

i gotta echo this. my girl has killed more males in the past than i care to think about. it wasnt until this molt cycle that i tried keeping her cage moist first that she finally let a male breed with her, i left him in there for a few days actually. every other time, in a dry setting, she would kill the males almost immediately. some males were total weenies though and just were not worth a darn to begin with
 

spiderworld

Arachnosquire
Joined
Jul 20, 2010
Messages
90
Thanks for the pictures, Di.



I certainly hope you're joking, since anyone with even a small amount of breeding experience would know that tarantulas can't be 'gay'.

Please stop harasing me!do you think im an idiot!? ive had enough of your stupid comments now! whats your prob! and where was your comeback to you not taking people serious that arnt english? give it up! ive been breeding spiders for 15 years! and have over a hundred adults! im one of the biggest suppliers in my country! did you not notice tho 'lol' at the end of my post!

Really!
 
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