# Grammostola Pulchripes/Aureostriata mating



## ShouldIBeDamned (Aug 24, 2008)

Today was the first attempt at mating this pair and my first ever attempt at breeding any kind of animal. I was pretty nervous but thankfully Teeny came round to help me out!

The male matured around the 17th January and the female moulted just under 2 weeks ago. She has not eaten since and showed no interest so we decided he wouldn't be at risk of being attacked straight away. The male has been eating lately and has made two sperm webs since I got him which was at the beginning of February. The two tanks have been side by side for the past two days and at a temperature of around 20C.

For the mating we put the tanks on the floor, carefully tubbed the male and gently ushered him into the females tank (approx 10 gallon). He was quite lively but not overly aggressive right from the start and almost straight away went over to the females hide. He began drumming, and the second time he did it he received a response from the female. The female then came out of her hide and the male hooked her up almost straight away. They spent a good minute or so connected and we're pretty sure there was an insertion.

When they disconnected there was a fairly lengthy pause after which the female showed some aggression and if Teeny had not separated them I do think she would have attacked him, however the fact that he is a lot bigger than her makes me think this was purely self defence.

Once the male was back in his tank he immediately began to clean his pedipalps and has been doing so for the past hour or so. The female went straight over to her water bowl and had quite a long drink and is now sat by her hide.

I will now wait and see if the male makes another sperm web, although I am undecided as to whether I will mate them again as I have another female lined up to send him to and don't want to risk him being attacked here if he has already done the job.

Here are some pictures of the event!



















Female after:










Male having a clean after:











Update: 6/5/2010
Placed male into the females tank today but he showed no interest and the female appeared on the defensive so removed the male. She is eating extremely well and is starting to plump so there is a good chance she is already gravid.

Update: 19/7/10
Molted out


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