Thought he was a gonner!

[KJE]

I introduced one of my MM GBB's to one of my females today. She was in her hide and of course the rest of the enclosure is covered in web.

The male sat still for a little while. Then he proceeded to enter a tunnel of web toward the female's hide. After a little while I heard an odd noise. I thought for sure the female had bitten him.

I tore a little bit of the web so I could get a better look. Nobody moved. I could see the female on top of the male and one of the male's palps with the embolus extended. It looked like the male was turned over.

I thought for sure he was being eaten by the female since there was no movement at all. I decided to just let her finish him off and placed her back on the tarantula shelf.

About 45 minutes later I decided to check them again. This time I saw the male sitting there with his legs over his carapace like they do when they are hiding. The female was close to him, but not eating him. I decided to touch him with my 12" tweezers to see if he was still alive. To my surprise he ran into her hide.

She wasn't too happy about that, but didn't bite him. She did, however, attack my tweezers when I was trying to get him to come out of her hide. He finally ran out and we cupped him and put him back into his enclosure.

I can't see any evidence of her biting him. So, I'm not sure what that noise was. I have no idea if he made insertions or not. I plan on trying him again in about a week.

BTW, this is not my first breeding experience with GBB. She gave me a sac last year. Of course, only one of the eggs from that sac developed.:wall:

Just thought I would share my experience this time since it was kind of odd.

 

[mikeymo]

some noise durning the mating process, you say? Could be some Barry White? Maybe a tiny bottle of red-wine was opened?

but in all seriousness, i'm glad this story had a happy ending Hopefully you get lucky and get a nice eggsack!

 

[MindUtopia]

Very interesting. I actually have a pair of A. versicolor that have been cohabitating for about two weeks. I've only seen one possible insertion in that time, with the male mostly hanging out on the glass and the female not leaving her web. A few days ago, the male got bold and decided to move right in to her web. He was in there with her for a few days. I check nervously everytime I come home because I'm sure she will have eaten him. Last night he came out, made a new sperm web, loaded up, and went back into her web. They just hang out it there together side by side. It's kinda sweet in a way. I'm just hoping she doesn't eat him before I can get him out to give her a break for a little bit.

 

[KJE]

I'm not sure what the noise was, but it wasn't Barry White. LOL! It sounded like she either bit through his exoskeleton or slapped him really hard. I guess she just slapped him.

Avics tend to cohabitate really well. Especially when they are a mating pair. GBB's are totally different. More times than not the female GBB will attack the male. Sometimes before they even get a chance to mate.

Right now I have 3 MM GBB's that I plan on rotating with my female.

 

[phil jones]

well if she slapped him a typical female LOL only joking any way good luck to you and the happy couple :drool: :} ---- phil