Help breeding L. mactans ex "mexicanus"

[TN ANTMAN]

I have a big problem right now and need some advice. I have never bred widows before and as of right now I have 4 females and 2 males. They are of two different bloodlines and extremely beautiful. I have a few questions though about about breeding them. First, when do I know the females are ready to breed? The females are one molt ahead of the males. I know that I have to introduce the male into her enclosure and I've tried that several times now but the females always seems to try and attack the male. Both of my males have recently hooked out so I know they are ready for breeding but like I said I just don't know when my females will be. I had two other males but unfortunately have already lost them. I'm hoping I can breed them before these two males decide to go out on me as well then I'll be forced to try and locate and purchase some more. I guess I'm just looking for any advice in breeding them. I would love to be able to produce a few sacks and be able to share them with others. Thank you in advance to anyone who shares their experience in breeding this species. I'll try and post a picture of my 2 favorite females if I can find them LOL. Thanks everyone

 

[pannaking22]

If the females are trying to attack the males that means they aren't mature yet. Power feed them to try to encourage them to molt quickly and then they may be mature. Not sure if this really makes a difference, but you could also move some of the male's webbing over into the females enclosure. I'd heard somewhere that that can make them mature faster and/or make them more receptive to mating once mature. I'm not sure if I buy into any of that, but since it just involves moving some webbing around it's not too difficult.

 

[NYAN]

I agree. if the female attacks the male, wait a few days. Before introducing my males, I would feed the females a nice meal. I also fed the females 2-3x more than the males so they would both be mature around the same time. I’ve found that the male will be receptive pretty immediately if both are mature. Another good tip: be patient. Seriously, I’ve sat for hours watching them do their foreplay without the male doing his thing.