Breeding struggles

[Austin1234]

So my trio of bds finally seem to have come of age, right around 2 years old now. and wow what a wake up that was. The male has never been a nipper never seen him hurt anything other than the occasional silver dollar. He non stop started chasing the one female completely ignoring the other 2 (also have a year old albino Pearl female in same tank). Let it go on for about a week or 2 and she started getting chewed up pretty bad, i have another 4x8 with some smaller ray’s I moved her out to recover. Well a week or so later the other female bd became the target and it was the same deal all over again but about a week in she stabbed him and herself so I got another tank setup and moved him out. This was a little bit ago everyone is healed up and happy again. He managed to get under both of them at some point or another but could not get it in that I witnessed. And I never noticed a bunch of sperm in the water so I’m assuming he didn’t figure it out. Will he ever figure it out? How long do you typically let them stay before separating? Will the male chill out and be able to stay in the tank with them once they have successfully been bred? Have re arranged things so I have both females in a tank together and the male in a Different tank next to them. Wanting to put him back in at some point. Any pointers? things to watch for?

 

[danotaylor]

Disclaimer; I have only had rays for about a year so this info is from my limited experience and reading what others have posted/experienced.

My male BD hybrid is very persistent also, but not to the point of open wounds on 2 of the girls, but he chewed on the female marbled and caused tissue damage, not just scrapes. I found the evidence of semen in the tank on 3 occasions but it’s been nearly 100 days since the first evidence and no pups. The other 2 times were a month ago, and a day apart so same female twice or 2 different females I’m not sure yet.
I did find it insightful that the bloke who posted about his line of beautiful mini marbled’s keeps the females separate until they’re 4 yrs old before he breeds them. He mentioned he had healthier pups as a result but I imagine the females are well bigger than the males at that point also and maybe able to resist or endure the harassment a little better.
Another member who breeds rays shared with me via PM that the males become more aggressive when the girls release a hormone into the water signifying readiness to breed. Like a pheromone I guess.
You did the right thing to protect the health of your females by separating. Maybe grow them a little larger over the next 6-12 months and try again.
Keep us posted!

 

[Austin1234]

Ya they have all grew up together from tiny pups and never an issue till I’m guessing the one female started being ready or something cause he acted like the other rays where not even there. After I removed her he didn’t do anything for a week or 2 then the other female must have came into heat or something cause it was like a switch flipped and the chase was on. Both of the females would almost seek him out though and hover above him and do wierd things. Made me think they were wanting it also. But the last female after a while of getting chewed on started stabbing her self with her barb and my male had a stab wound clean through the meat also. It was really wierd to see her stabbing herself spinning circles

 

[M3AN ONE]

just curious what is the size of the male vs the females. Could it be the females are not receptive because males mature faster so if he is not removed he will chase them to death. I currently have 2 12 inch BD one male one female and I am wondering when this will start. His clappers haven't rolled.

 

[Austin1234]

He is on the left and the females involved are the two directly right of him. I don’t know as far as size in inchs never been able to measure. Tiles in my tank are 24” squares this is a pic from a few months ago

 

[danotaylor]

Really nice quality rays mate!
Can you tell if the male's claspers have rolled yet? It looks like a split in the tip of the clasper. Until the clasper has that split opening he is not sexually mature. It looks like this;


Having said that the female second from the right of the male is either arching her back (mine do this after a big meal) or she's preggers. My rays mess with my head in this way arching and getting the hump back over their pelvis like they’re carrying pups, but no results yet for me

 

[Austin1234]

It’s surprisingly hard to get a picture he does not stay still for long at all

 

[Austin1234]

Hopefully this link works wasn’t sure how to post a video on here. So I decided to see how putting him back in would go and even after being netted and moved tanks he went straight to trying this video was within 15 min of being moved in. They both are trying to sting him when he’s lifting. Move him out for a couple more months? Not really sure what to do.