GBB breeding frustration!

KJE

Arachnoangel
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 21, 2004
Messages
808
My female GBB that molted around 3 weeks ago is finally not chasing off the males anymore. Today she finally drummed for them.

I have 2 males left here. She fanged one of them in the abdomen about a week ago. I got the bleeding stopped pretty quick so he's fine. I tried him with her again today and she started drumming away while in her hide, but she wouldn't come out of her hide. The male showed no interest and just walked away.

I decided to place male #2 in her enclosure. That was about 3 hours ago. They keep doing the same thing over and over again. She won't come out of her hide and he won't go all the way in.

They have been drumming and playing footsies like crazy. Every time the male decides to go for it the female backs up and doesn't let him lift her. After about 1 hour and 45 minutes of watching them intently with her enclosure open I finally decided I was too tired to watch them anymore. So, I closed the enclosure with him inside and they are currently about 5 feet away from me.

Occassionally, the male will walk away from her hide and come back. He drums the whole time he's doing this. I think he's trying to get her to follow him, but she refuses.

I am afraid to leave him in there when I go to bed. Actually, I'm uncomfortable having him in there with the lid closed. She's just in a large KK.

I think I will put her KK in a 10 gallon aquarium that I have here and leave her KK open so the male can at least have somewhere to run.

This is just so frustrating! I mean, how many times will they do this before they actually mate? He has tried to lift her at least 100 times by now. He tried about every 10 seconds or so.

I just need to tell someone what was going on. Thanks for letting me vent!
 

Brian F.

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 19, 2004
Messages
308
I've been trying to breed the same species and the male runs for his life without even trying to approach the female. I have him "shark tanked" in a large deli cup in the female's enclosure, so I'll try again in a few days. I'm not comfortable leaving the male in her enclosure. Good luch though. Keep us posted.
 

KJE

Arachnoangel
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 21, 2004
Messages
808
She finally ran him away after 4 hours. I'm not sure if there were any successful insertions or not. I plan on trying male #1 with her again in a couple of days.

Good thing I put her KK in the 10 gallon. He was able to run out of her KK without any problems.

I have never used the shark tank method with any species and haven't had a problem yet. I have had a couple of close calls, though.

Brian F - Good luck with your breeding attempts. I hope all goes well!
 

william

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 18, 2006
Messages
146
i have heard that their courtship takes days.good luck
 

Trey

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 20, 2005
Messages
292
Ahhhh, Now why does this sound so familar?
 

Snipes

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 25, 2005
Messages
1,385
Honestly, its enough to convince us to do test tube babies ;)
 

David Burns

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 18, 2003
Messages
1,681
What is desribed above was exactly what happened to me. I would put the pair together and they both seemed interested, with tapping an such, but the female would not let the male lift her. After a hour or 3 she would scare him off. I just kept trying every few days. I fed her well during this time and sprinked water on the substrate simulate rain. At one point he would not go near her and she would not tap anymore. She had stopped eating and I thought she was going to molt. She webbed herself in her hide and now I can see an eggsac in there. Good luck and keep trying.
 

KJE

Arachnoangel
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 21, 2004
Messages
808
I put male #1 back in with her yesterday since he just walked away the day before. She didn't drum or anything. He did try to approach her this time. She chased him away pretty aggressively. I'm hoping that this behaviour means male #2 got the job done.
 

Talkenlate04

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 13, 2006
Messages
8,656
Most of the time when the female was receptive and now her attitude changes to that of a man hater that means your other male sealed the deal and she wants no part in mating anymore. Feed her up then cool her down! Good luck.
 

Mina

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 4, 2005
Messages
2,136
From what I understand, GBB's can be hard to breed, and frequently the female kills the male.
I've never bred them, but what I understand is that you need to cool the female, then warm her up again, feed her very well, and then start introducing the male. I've also heard people say they are very secretive about breeding, so you might not witness any interaction between them. You may just have to let them live together and let the male have more chances to mate with her.
I wish I could help more, but that is all I can remember hearing.
 

KJE

Arachnoangel
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 21, 2004
Messages
808
I had a sac from this female last year, so I know it's possible. Although, last year I actually witnessed the insertions being made. I bred 2 females last year and neither one killed a male. They just slapped him away sometimes. This species seems to be receptive one day and not the next, regardless of whether or not insertions were made. That's one thing that makes this species difficult to breed.
 
Top