G. pulchra breeding problem

pokie99 · Oct 13, 2015

Hello!
I have a G. pulchra pair. Both the female and the male (mature) are 6" DLS. I've had the female from August last year (she was a bit over 4") and she's molted twice since then (once in every six months). According to some people on the forum (including Poec54) this is close to the max size of the species. So, she must be mature. The male is very strong and large and wants to mate but the female isn't receptive at all. In the first attempt I put the male in the enclosure of the female. A few minutes after that he headed straight to the female which was in her hide. As soon as he made the first attempt to hook her, she attacked him and she may have killed him if I hadn't lifted her up with my stick and hadn't secured her teeth. Even then the male continued trying to get to her furrow but I had to split them because she wasn't in a good position. I know his approach wasn't good then. Today I tried mating them on a neutral territory - on the floor of my bedroom. The female didn't attack the male this time but that's because she was trying to avoid getting close to him. She actually ran away. Every time I directed her back to the male she would turn around and walk in the opposite direction. She was deliberately avoiding him. Do you think she isn't ready? It's a bit suspicious to me that she molts so often. I'll continue trying but would love to hear some advice from the more experienced. Thank you in advance!

BobGrill · Oct 13, 2015

Not sure why you we're trying to direct her back to him. If she doesn't want to mate then you can't force her to. Doing it in the female's enclosure is best. Removing her is only going to stress her out and cause her to not want to mate or increase the likelihood of her killing him.

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pokie99 · Oct 13, 2015

Thanks for the reply! I've heard of people having success even by lifting the female themselves and helping the male. I was advised to try mating them outside the female's enclosure so I tried. The problem is that the female stays mostly in her hide which generally isn't a problem but it will be very hard for the male to access her and also she's always very defensive when someone/something approaches her.

skippydude · Oct 13, 2015

Your female isn't big enough(this species grows to about seven inches). She needs to be closer to six inches DLS to be sexually mature. Mature G pulchras molt cycle will be a year or more too, if she is still molting every six months, she is still growing.

pokie99 · Oct 13, 2015

She IS 6 inches DLS. That's my guess, too. Although I find it strange that she molts so often at this size.

skippydude · Oct 13, 2015

pokie99 said:
She IS 6 inches DLS. That's my guess, too. Although I find it strange that she molts so often at this size.

Too early for me, I thought I read she was 4" lol.

Have you tried dropping the temperature? This species needs to be fooled into thinking winter is coming to get them interested in breeding and you'll have to make it rain on her to convince her it is spring time to trick her into dropping a sac once she is gravid.

G pulchra is one of the most difficult species to breed, that's why they cost so much.

pokie99 · Oct 13, 2015

It's 22 degrees C in the room. I think the male should be more diplomatic. It was clear in the first atttempt that she didn't want to mate. But maybe if he had tapped a little before climbing on top of her (yes, he did it). She was cornered in her burrow and I think thar that's one of the reasons she attacked him. About a month earlier, I put the two enclosures next to each other and in a few hours the male and the female were against the walls of their enclosures, centimeters away from each other. It was as if they were glued to the walls or two magnets attracting each other.

cold blood · Oct 13, 2015

I assume she molted in August by your description...has she been well fed since that last molt? He should be around for a while, I'd just keep pairing briefly on occasion until you can find her in a receptive mood. If she's not quickly interested (drumming), I'd pull him right back out.

If she's not interested, there's likely a reason. I'd try Skippy's suggestion.

pokie99 · Oct 14, 2015

You were almost right. She molted in may. She's been well fed in order not to eat the male. I don't know if she's due to a molt soon but I don't think so. I'm planning on putting the male in a small box in the female's enclosure. This way she can get used to him and won't be so surprised when he approaches her. The enclosure's pretty big but with two 6" tararantulas in it there isn't a lot of space to move. I think that the male should start drumming to lure her out of the hide. She constantly stays in it and will attack if she gets cornered. Not to mention that it's below ground level so it will be very difficult for the male to reach her furrow.

cold blood · Oct 14, 2015

Well if you say she's molted every 6 months, and she sticks to that schedule (obviously they don't always do that), and its been 5 months since last molt and been well fed....she could just be too close to the next molt.....although that is a ridiculously fast molting schedule for an adult female.

I'm not a fan of the whole pot hide. It doesn't allow it to create a burrow or do much of anything. A halved pot allows for the t to deepen or alter the area or even burrow a bit beneath the hide, allowing for more room to hide in. A whole pot's just a flat, smooth dead end...and not even a deep one.

pokie99 · Oct 14, 2015

cold blood said:
Well if you say she's molted every 6 months, and she sticks to that schedule (obviously they don't always do that), and its been 5 months since last molt and been well fed....she could just be too close to the next molt.....although that is a ridiculously fast molting schedule for an adult female.

I'm not a fan of the whole pot hide. It doesn't allow it to create a burrow or do much of anything. A halved pot allows for the t to deepen or alter the area or even burrow a bit beneath the hide, allowing for more room to hide in. A whole pot's just a flat, smooth dead end...and not even a deep one.

I agree with you. I also DON'T like these types of hides at all. The pot's old from when she was smaller. I just didn't have anything else to put her in. I have some tree barks collected from the woods but I can't boil them so I'm not sure if they're the best choice for her because there might be some organisms that could harm the eggs. They are only washed with soap and hot water from the shower. I'll try to figure out something else - even if it's ugly. Should I try to mate them in the meantime?

---------- Post added 10-14-2015 at 03:43 AM ----------

P.S. I will be very happy if she molts in about a month but there was a big period of 2 - 3 months when I didn't feed her very much. I was also on a trip for 1,5 months and she didn't eat at all during that period.

Poec54 · Oct 14, 2015

skippydude said:
Your female isn't big enough(this species grows to about seven inches).

From what I've seen, pulchra is a 6" species, with occasional individuals growing a little larger.

Exoskeleton Invertebrates · Oct 14, 2015

pokie99 said:
I agree with you. I also DON'T like these types of hides at all. The pot's old from when she was smaller. I just didn't have anything else to put her in. I have some tree barks collected from the woods but I can't boil them so I'm not sure if they're the best choice for her because there might be some organisms that could harm the eggs. They are only washed with soap and hot water from the shower. I'll try to figure out something else - even if it's ugly. Should I try to mate them in the meantime?

---------- Post added 10-14-2015 at 03:43 AM ----------

P.S. I will be very happy if she molts in about a month but there was a big period of 2 - 3 months when I didn't feed her very much. I was also on a trip for 1,5 months and she didn't eat at all during that period.

Since your female molted 5 months ago she may not want to mate. My advise is keep the male enclosure next to her wait until she molts again. By having the male's enclosure next to her enclosure it might speed up the process for her to molt again sooner. Keep the male alive and healthy. Be patient and you will prevail.

cold blood · Oct 14, 2015

pokie99 said:
I agree with you. I also DON'T like these types of hides at all. The pot's old from when she was smaller. I just didn't have anything else to put her in. I have some tree barks collected from the woods but I can't boil them so I'm not sure if they're the best choice for her because there might be some organisms that could harm the eggs.

Just crack the pot in half, now you have 2 good hides instead of one poor one:wink:

Do not boil the wood, rinse and clean yes, but don't boil it, this will only serve to maximize the moisture within the wood, which is a recipe for molds. Better to bake them, I place them on a cookie sheet and bake them at 275-300 for 30-45 min....long enough to dry them thoroughly, but not so long that it makes the wood brittle. I use wood like this almost exclusively without issue...I do prefer drift wood though as it seems less inclined to mold, fresh wood is a no no IME. I also let the wood sit for a while in a dry place before using.

pokie99 · Oct 15, 2015

Poec54 said:
From what I've seen, pulchra is a 6" species, with occasional individuals growing a little larger.

You've already told me that. I don't have a lot of experience but I've seen other tarantulas from this species. They were either juveniles or mature females. I've seen and know about three mature females. They are all larger than mine. I'm not questioning your statement but just sharing my experience. As I said, she's molted twice in my care (6 months apart) and has grown from a bit over 4" to 6". This means that maybe she's still growing.

---------- Post added 10-14-2015 at 11:50 PM ----------

jose said:
Since your female molted 5 months ago she may not want to mate. My advise is keep the male enclosure next to her wait until she molts again. By having the male's enclosure next to her enclosure it might speed up the process for her to molt again sooner. Keep the male alive and healthy. Be patient and you will prevail.

Thank you for the advice. Should I try a couple times more? Winter's coming soon and I'll put her in a colder room. I don't know if she'll molt then. Should I power feed her so she can molt in the spring? And last question: I've been told that feeding males too much will speed up the processes in their organism and they die sooner this way. Is this true?

---------- Post added 10-14-2015 at 11:56 PM ----------

cold blood said:
Just crack the pot in half, now you have 2 good hides instead of one poor one:wink:

Do not boil the wood, rinse and clean yes, but don't boil it, this will only serve to maximize the moisture within the wood, which is a recipe for molds. Better to bake them, I place them on a cookie sheet and bake them at 275-300 for 30-45 min....long enough to dry them thoroughly, but not so long that it makes the wood brittle. I use wood like this almost exclusively without issue...I do prefer drift wood though as it seems less inclined to mold, fresh wood is a no no IME. I also let the wood sit for a while in a dry place before using.

I just gave boiling as an example. My parents won't let me heat wood in any way. I usually just wash it well, dry it under the summer sun and put it in the enclosure. I don't keep the moisture level very high so I haven't had any problems.
I also don't know how to break clay in half. It usually shreds into smaller pieces which can't serve as anything. I'll find something else instead.
P.S. I also let the wood dry for a month or more before using.

Exoskeleton Invertebrates · Oct 16, 2015

If she's not willing to mate right now I wouldn't bother of pairing them, unless once having both male and female enclosures side by side and all of the sudden you hear/notice tapping coming from the female only than I would pair them. Otherwise I would wait until she molts and yes feed the hell out of her as much as she can eat.

The other factor is how long has your male being matured? If he has been mature for a long time now than you have a decision to make wether to keep on trying to mate them.

If you decide to wait until your female molts again to pair them, for now I would just feed your male gradually not to much not to little. You want to keep the male happy and satisfied for what life he has left.

Hope for the best on whatever action you decide to take.

pokie99 · Oct 16, 2015

I put the male in a small box in the female's enclosure. He's been there for 24 hours. I haven't seen a reaction but she doesn't look bothered which I think is a good sign. She mostly stays in her burrow but she walks close to the male sometimes. I haven't seen a reaction but I don't check them often. I'll try to pair them a couple of times more.

I gave the female some crickets but she refused to eat. She usually does that and molts two months later but she may also just not want to eat at the moment. The problem is that I'm going to put her in a cold place from November for the winter and I don't know if she'll molt then.

The male matured about a month ago. He's more than six years old and is very large and strong.

Angel Minkov · Oct 16, 2015

As you don't have another male, I would recommend only controlled pairings, without cohabs

Doesn't matter how big the male is, the female can snap him in half, as she's twice his size (as far as I remember). Also, there are rare cases in which males have eaten the females if they don't want to mate. Good luck

pokie99 · Oct 16, 2015

Thank you! But you've understood me wrong. I wouldn't try a cohab - especially with G. pulchra. The male is in a box inside the female's enclosure. They are both the same size - 6". Also, he was very keen to mate the first time. The problem was with the female.

Angel Minkov · Oct 16, 2015

If the female does not want to mate, I would wait a week or two and try again. Maybe something in the conditions is not right? And also, is the male's box open? It would kind of be the same thing as cohabbing if it is. I would only attempt controlled pairings, as already stated, to not risk losing the male (or minimize the risk) and ending up with an unpaired female, as that's the last thing you would want.

G. pulchra breeding problem

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