Brachypelma boehmei breeding...

12/12/2000  Raul (Brachypelma boehemi) molted, searching for male.
03/02/2001  I just recieved a male B. boehmei, hopefully I'll breed the two soon.
03/11/2001  I placed the male with the female, and there was a confrontation, but it didn't seem to be the mating I was looking for... Will try again.
03/15/2001  I attempted another mating today, and it went much better - I observed palpal insertion (ewww....) There wasn't much courtship, the male just walked up to Raul and got to work. Initially it seemed as if Raul was trying to scare him off, but he was determined. Eventually he got her fangs hooked, and his palps were flailing away. It took him a long time to get her up in the air, but when he did, he got right down to business. They mated for quite some time, then he backed away. He approached again, but Raul chased him off a few inches, then they both sat there motionless until I got bored and scooped the male up to put him back in his own cage. I'll do at least one more attempt this weekend for good measure. In fact, I don't see any reason why not to keep using this male until he croaks. He's quite lively, but I don't know if he's still young enough to be fertile. Time will tell I suppose...

The mating occured so shortly after they were together, that I wasn't ready with the camera, so I did an horrible job of getting pictures. I promise to try harder next time.

07/25/2001  Female is very fat.

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