Newbie Breeding project - B.Albiceps

JakeLeg

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 26, 2007
Messages
32
Well I'm about to embark on a part of this hobby I haven't ever tried before... breeding.

At this point I don't know what I don't know and I've done a lot of reading in the forums.

I figured I'd post a little diary and chart my progress (or lack of) for those who are interested. I'd also greatly appreciate any suggestions, ideas, observations from all you veterans out there.

The Male:
I acquired this guy when he was about 2 1/2". I raised him and was a little bummed when about a month ago he molted and had spurs... I think he is a pretty T so I figured why not try and find a female.
I *believe* he has spun his sperm web already and a bit of it is in the picture... (Any opinions about whether this looks like a sperm web would be appreciated.) His eating has dropped off and he only takes food once every 3 weeks or so since his last molt.

The Female:
I just brought her home about 2 weeks ago. I lucked out and found her at a local reptile shop. She had been "not for sale" because she had been bred and produced an egg sack. Unfortunately, the egg sack had been spoiled by flys. She has just molted a week before I bought her... (Good timing!)

The Plan:
So since she just molted I'm trying to get her "bulked up" and breeding size. She isn't eating as aggressively as I hoped and is only taking food about 2x a week. I figured I'd do this for a couple of weeks. Do you think that will be enough or does she need to be really "fattened"?

I have the pair in adjacent enclosures exoterra 12x12x12. It might just be me reading into it but recently the male has been "roaming" including taking a couple of trips to the roof of the enclosure. Do you think he could be picking up her phermones or something? Anyway...

I'll report back when she is bulked up a bit and I am ready to put them together.

The Male is in the first picture... the second and third are of the female.
 

Talkenlate04

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 13, 2006
Messages
8,656
Good luck man I bid you good luck. Brachys are tough little buggers to breed sometimes. Pairings can be easy or very frustrating, but once that is out of the way, its getting them to lay that's the hardest part.
Keep us informed!
 

Hamburglar

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 25, 2007
Messages
585
good luck.. we need some more of those little gems available... I wish I could help but I dont have any experience...
 

P. Novak

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 12, 2005
Messages
6,218
Gorgeous pair, I too wish you good luck. We can definately use more of these in the hobby!
 

Slash

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 21, 2007
Messages
132
Oooohh lucky lucky lucky!!!

Wishing you the best of luck here. Let us know how this goes. :clap: And once you see those slings, I'll be glad to take some of them off your hands. :D
 

JakeLeg

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 26, 2007
Messages
32
Don't count your slings before they are hatched...

LOL... I appreciate the optimism... Im just going to take it one step at a time.


Oooohh lucky lucky lucky!!!

Wishing you the best of luck here. Let us know how this goes. :clap: And once you see those slings, I'll be glad to take some of them off your hands. :D
 

JakeLeg

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 26, 2007
Messages
32
Did it look to you (or anyone) that the webbing in the male cage was a the remnants of a sperm web? (He has spun a feeding mat over it since.)
 

Slash

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 21, 2007
Messages
132
Did it look to you (or anyone) that the webbing in the male cage was a the remnants of a sperm web? (He has spun a feeding mat over it since.)
The upper right corner of the picture maybe? My MM A. moderatum made sperm webs against the side wall and the peat. Whatever it is, its clearly not intact anymore. Emm...he might be charged though if you've seen webs before you fed him.
 

JakeLeg

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 26, 2007
Messages
32
Getting together... First attempt

Yesterday 8/20/07 in the early afternoon I put the male in with the female for the very first time.

Previously this week he had spun another sperm web and she (who is living next door) has begun to roam around her tank. She also has spun a lot of "random" webbing.

He crawled in and walked to about 3 inches from her and froze.
For 3 1/2 hours neither of them moved a hair. After some sage advice from members on archnoboards (thanks Ryan!) I removed him to try again another time.

I offered her food afte I removed him and she took it immediately.

Observations and Questions from a noob...

The little male was "cranky" and wasn't excited about being moved. The end result was more than a few hairs got kicked on me. I'm sensitive to them and ended up with swollen hands and welts on my neck, chest, and stomach. Going forward I will wear gloves and perhaps an apron or something.

Feeding??? Since she took prey immediately and therefore was probably hungry when he was in her enclosure... Would anyone recommend feeding her prior to putting them together so she isn't hungry?

Enclosure obstacles??? In her small exo-terra (12x12x12) enclosure... she has a hide, a decorative piece of wood that she likes to web on, and her water dish. Should I remove this stuff so that all they have in the cage is each other? I thought about when he lifts her and they move around... I could see them bumping and being pinned against this stuff.

I plan to try again in a few days. I am also going to wait until evening before I put them together.
 

Talkenlate04

ArachnoGod
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 13, 2006
Messages
8,656
I would heavily feed the female before there are any introductions and this applies to all species. The more food offered and taken the more the killing urge is ebbed. Then when you re introduce look for some movement from someone, twitching, thumping, slapping, tapping anything to indicate that at least one party knows the other one is there. Brachys can be a big pain in the butt but with patience you will get the results you want.

Also try repeated tries in once evening, if the male is placed in her tank and does some drumming but wanders out of the tank eventually, or drums and when he touches the female he wanders out of the tank, free handle him a little and place him right back in the tank opposite of her. Patience not just a virtue!
 

JakeLeg

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 26, 2007
Messages
32
3rd Time Is The Charm!

I didn't post my failed 2nd attempt because it was just like the first. Full of hairs and welts and they just ignored each other.

But tonight... SUCCESS! (Well at least they went thru the motions!)

What I did differently from the first two times...

For one I did not capture the male in a cup and transfer him... Instead I just put the open exo-terra enclosures together and faced the openings to each other. From the top then I just coaxed the male into the females cage. Much less hair flicking that way and he didn't seem as panicked.

I also gently coaxed them close to each other. She was on a wall and I coaxed her down to the substrate. I gently nudged him to within about 3 inches of her.


What happened next...

Nothing happened for about 20 minutes... I was getting close to seperating them when I noticed he was twitching one of his legs now and then... then he scooted a bit closer and he thumped one leg twice.

Nothing happend for a few minutes and then she raised up and went for him. In an instant they were locked up. He pinned her back fairly vertically and went to work with his pedipalps. They were locked for probably 5 minutes although my sense of time was screwed up.

How did it end?...

Well he was trying to disengage but she kept pulling him in with her legs... this concerned me a bit and I was ready to attempt to seperate them if it looked like she was going to eat him. And I'm glad I was. Again it was all so fast I'm not sure what would have happened but he broke free and she charged at him. I put a block on her and then he seemed to try to climb over her... eventually I got them split up and nobody seemed any worse for the wear. She went into her hide and I coaxed him back into his tank.

What do I do now?...

1. Do I repeat this? If so how long should I wait? Until I see another sperm web?
2. I plan to keep dumping the food to her. Anyone see a problem with that?
3. Cooling down? I read Ryan's post on this in another thread on breeding... Is that something I would do when all the breeding attempts are over?
4. On a down note... How long after this breeding will the male live? I raised him from a sling and sure hate to think of him going. Would he have time to breed other females in case I found another?

Thanks as always for everyone's input and assistance. I've got my fingers crossed on this one. I've also attached a couple of pictures from tonights breeding... Comments are welcome. Hopefully this thread might help other newbies trying breeding for the first time.
 

JakeLeg

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 26, 2007
Messages
32
By the way... I forgot to add something. I also changed the time of day that I put them together... Previously I had done it during the day or early evening. The last time I did it well into the evening (9:00pm).
Not sure if that helped but I figured I'd note it as it was suggested by someone above to try it.
 
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