Check out my Expo loot (and G rosea breeding q's)

I went to the MD Reptile Expo in Havre de Grace today, and ended up spending a lot more money than I walked in the building with. I got:

1.1 G. rosea of the flame red variety ~4" (MM and likely female) ($15/ea) (WC)








0.1 B. smithi ~2" ($55) (CB)
(at least I hope it is female, I vent sexed it the best I could)



0.0.1 H. maculata ~3" ($30) (WC)



If it was not obvious, my plan is to try breeding the fancy G roseas. However, I read up on it on the boards here, and they seem to be a hard species to get viable sacs from. Also, the male is fully mature, but I do not know how long ago it matured. So, I do not know whether or not its palp things are full. How can I find this out?

Also, I do not think the female is mature. I have a regular G rosea who is over an inch larger than her, who I know is mature. Or at least I am pretty sure she is. How does one know when the females mature? Will my new MM live long enough for his red female to mature?

And what would result from a breeding of the MM with a regular G rosea? Would I get both regular and red phase G rosea babies?


Also, any tips on sexing the H mac? Vent shots came out too blurry to see anything, due to the webbing inside the container.

Hello mate. Don't know if it's the picture quality, but your female G. rosea doesn't look like a red-color-form to me. The MM doesn't look too red either (I've not seen many MM RCFs so I may be wrong on that one).

Mature males will build sperm webs to load their palps. They look like lean-to structures. The male will lie underneath on his back and deposit his sperm on it before crawling on top and loading his palps. They tear them down once they're done, so look for the remains if you don't catch him in the act (he probably is loaded up anyway).

You'll have to wait for someone with a bit of experience in breeding rosies to chime in, but I'm sure I've read that the parents color form plays no part in determining the color of the slings (NCF parents can produce RCF slings and vice-versa) .

Breeding a red-phase rosea to the typcial color will result in a mix of colors. IME, G. rosea has bee the easiest species to breed successfully. I would definitely try him with your mature female, as males' breeding ability decreases rapidly with age.

I am pretty certain they are RCF. I have two regular G rosea, and they look VERY different.

The mature non-RCF female of mine (also, sans the new RCFs, one of my prettiest):



However, I am not sure exactly how to proceed with the breeding. I know MM dont last too long, so I want to breed sooner rather than later. But at the same time I want to make 100% sure that he is ready before I try to proceed. Also, my mature female (non-RCF) has a few decorations in her tank, taking up a lot of space. Would it be beneficial to remove them prior to trying to mate them?

I was thinking that i would do it this way. I will give the male 1-2 weeks to settle in, and about 2-4 days before mating I will feed him some (I have yet to feed any of them, water only). Hopefully, he will be in good condition on that schedule so that when the time comes, the female does not immediately eat him (she has not been fed in a while either). What can I do to prevent this? She is a LOT larger than he is, and a LOT fatter. I am afraid that she could easily crush and eat him. Should I overfeed her more too? Should I make any heat changes prior to mating them?

EDIT: Basically, I am torn between not feeding the male much to increase his longevity, and feeding a decent amount to get his strength up for breeding.

MizM said:

IME, G. rosea has bee the easiest species to breed successfully.

Click to expand...

Sure as long as the female doesn't crunch every single male you put in with her!!!! I fed my girl In two months time 2 mice(hopper size 1 per month), and a medium to adult discoid about 5-7 times a week and she still chomps on any male I've put near her!!

OP> I would try to breed him with both of your females. Worst that can happen is you loose the male. Not very likely though I think my girl is the exception here. Second worst that can happen is you don't get a sack. Which if you don't try you won't get a sack anyway. Good luck with the project.

Score! Nice t's Gambite, especially the H-Mac, I want! The last 2 times I went to HDG there was nothing and I mean NOTHING there for an invert lover. Oh well, maybe next month.

I'd give the G rosea breeding a shot. I've heard the females can be a little man-hungry so be alert! I have no comment on whether that's technically and RCF female or not. She's pretty colorful for a std rosie but pretty dull for a RCF. Your guess is as good as mine.

Feed him normally. He's ready for breeding after he spins his sperm web. You should see remnants of it in his enclosure unless you're lucky enough to witness the entire procedure of palp filling.

During the actual mating, stand by with a spatula, If you see any signs of agression on the female's part, separate them. A willing female WILL spread her fangs wide and display what looks like a threat posture, but will not advance, she will just stand in that posture and wait. It takes a bit of experience to differentiate this posture from agression, but you'll get the hang of it.

Best of luck, I hope you get lots of little RCF babies!

I think the RCF female will look a LOT better after a molt. All of the previous G rosea I have owned looked nasty at her size, but have become beautiful after a molt. (In fact, I have Bennett's molting right now, undergoing the same ugly->beautiful transition).

And Ethan, make sure to go next time. The guy I got the H mac from had one more, and the guy I got the B smithi and G rosea from also had an "Electric Blue Femur" or something like that. I knew it was rare and that I should have gotten it, but I had no more money (it was $55, 2"). So if you go next month and he still has it, make sure to get it; if I dont grab it, I want to know who does.

gambite said:

"Electric Blue Femur"

Click to expand...

WTF is that?

--the nature boy

the nature boy said:

WTF is that?

--the nature boy

Click to expand...

It's a common name, of course!

the nature boy said:

WTF is that?

--the nature boy

Click to expand...

Sounds like some kind of weird "special interest" magazine .

MizM said:

It's a common name, of course!

Click to expand...

Rim shot.

--the nature boy

the nature boy said:

WTF is that?

--the nature boy

Click to expand...

I think that's one of the common names for EUATHLUS PULCHERRIMAKLAASI.

To OP: good luck. I'd to try and breed my rosie, too. She's "standard color form."

Give it a try dude. If your male gets munched I have a sub-adult rcf who should be ready in like, 2 years... lol. Looks like only 1 molt to go.

male is a nice red... but i don't think either one is RCF. i've owned many normal rosea and many RCF rosea. none of them looked nothing like that, not even in premolt. they are a nice deep red usually, and have nice pinks,red, and metallic red after a molt.

http://www.tangledwwweb.com/index_files/Page2192.htm