Breeding rays 101

[bahamaqt00]

Alright so I have been looking into getting some rays in the near future because I think they are awesome but with a even bigger goal of breeding them. I want to know everything about how to get your rays to breed. There isn't much out there on the actual breeding process, only about how to take care of pups after they are born. I know they much be "sexually mature" and that is about it. I will create a list of questions off the top of my head that I have but PLEASE chime in with any and all info to make this possible for me!

-Can anyone show a picture of claspers that are unraveled meaning they are mature vs. ones that are not mature, for the male?
-How do you know when a female ray is mature? Is there a specific size?
-I know you can create hybrids but is there certian types of rays that will not mate together?
-Is it okay if one of the rays is bigger or smaller than the other?
- Or do they have to be pretty much the same size?
-Does lighting have any factor? Are they more likely to breed in the dark?
-Should you have 1 male and 2 females or vice versa? -Is multiple rays in the tank going to slow down the breeding process or does it just give them more choices on who to mate with?
-How do you know they actually "did it"?
- I know they male can get rowdy and chew on the females disc and feet but how do you know he actually got the job done? Do you have to wait a couple months for her to get big and see movement?
-After she is pregnant and about to give birth do you need to try to "help" in any way? Or do you just let the mom do her thing?
-And when she gets big do all the other rays need to be moved from the tank so she isn't so stressed? Or does it depend on if she is getting picked on or not?
-Would a divider in the tank work? And when the pups are born would it be okay to just have them in a divided part of the tank so they're awat from the parents but still in the same water so they don't need to be moved and stressed?
-Does mom need any special care after birth?

Okay sorry for all the questions but if anyone can answer any or all that would be awsome. Share your experiences and how you had the beest luck breeding your rays.

Thank you very much!

 

[Just Toby]

-Can anyone show a picture of claspers that are unraveled meaning they are mature vs. ones that are not mature, for the male?
-How do you know when a female ray is mature? Is there a specific size?
-I know you can create hybrids but is there certian types of rays that will not mate together?
-Is it okay if one of the rays is bigger or smaller than the other?
- Or do they have to be pretty much the same size?
-Does lighting have any factor? Are they more likely to breed in the dark?
-Should you have 1 male and 2 females or vice versa? -Is multiple rays in the tank going to slow down the breeding process or does it just give them more choices on who to mate with?
-How do you know they actually "did it"?
- I know they male can get rowdy and chew on the females disc and feet but how do you know he actually got the job done? Do you have to wait a couple months for her to get big and see movement?
-After she is pregnant and about to give birth do you need to try to "help" in any way? Or do you just let the mom do her thing?
-And when she gets big do all the other rays need to be moved from the tank so she isn't so stressed? Or does it depend on if she is getting picked on or not?
-Would a divider in the tank work? And when the pups are born would it be okay to just have them in a divided part of the tank so they're awat from the parents but still in the same water so they don't need to be moved and stressed?
-Does mom need any special care after birth?

QUOTE]

I have not bred them but I know some of this.

Mum is likely to be mated again as soon as she drops so it may be worth removing the male or dividing him out. If you do want to breed then you are going to need more than 1 tank to do it properly.

Most people keep new pups away from the parents and on a bare bottom for a short period

Personally, once you know she had mated I would move the others or keep them away.

I think ypu are likely to see signs of mating or her getting bigger or her eating more.

You do not know they actually did it - just the same way that I could not tell if you did it last night (well...I might see a smile from you?)

1 male with 2 females is a good choice, it would reduce the stress from the male on any one female.

The ideal is likely to be larger female than male, this is due to her being more robust and just the plain fact that she is more likely to be mature. The males are more likely to pay interest in the females when they are mature as she will release pheromones.

There is no certain way of telling if a female is mature that I know of and size is not reliable due to species and genetics etc...large rays tend to be mature, thats about it.

I do not have pics of unravelled claspers but I am sure some searching on here will show some up

Hope this helps

 

[Arghas]

Like her smile in her avatar? is that how you can tell? I KID I KID haha sorry too tempting.

 

[bahamaqt00]

-Can anyone show a picture of claspers that are unraveled meaning they are mature vs. ones that are not mature, for the male?
-How do you know when a female ray is mature? Is there a specific size?
-I know you can create hybrids but is there certian types of rays that will not mate together?
-Is it okay if one of the rays is bigger or smaller than the other?
- Or do they have to be pretty much the same size?
-Does lighting have any factor? Are they more likely to breed in the dark?
-Should you have 1 male and 2 females or vice versa? -Is multiple rays in the tank going to slow down the breeding process or does it just give them more choices on who to mate with?
-How do you know they actually "did it"?
- I know they male can get rowdy and chew on the females disc and feet but how do you know he actually got the job done? Do you have to wait a couple months for her to get big and see movement?
-After she is pregnant and about to give birth do you need to try to "help" in any way? Or do you just let the mom do her thing?
-And when she gets big do all the other rays need to be moved from the tank so she isn't so stressed? Or does it depend on if she is getting picked on or not?
-Would a divider in the tank work? And when the pups are born would it be okay to just have them in a divided part of the tank so they're awat from the parents but still in the same water so they don't need to be moved and stressed?
-Does mom need any special care after birth?

QUOTE]

I have not bred them but I know some of this.

Mum is likely to be mated again as soon as she drops so it may be worth removing the male or dividing him out. If you do want to breed then you are going to need more than 1 tank to do it properly.

Most people keep new pups away from the parents and on a bare bottom for a short period

Personally, once you know she had mated I would move the others or keep them away.

I think ypu are likely to see signs of mating or her getting bigger or her eating more.

You do not know they actually did it - just the same way that I could not tell if you did it last night (well...I might see a smile from you?)

1 male with 2 females is a good choice, it would reduce the stress from the male on any one female.

The ideal is likely to be larger female than male, this is due to her being more robust and just the plain fact that she is more likely to be mature. The males are more likely to pay interest in the females when they are mature as she will release pheromones.

There is no certain way of telling if a female is mature that I know of and size is not reliable due to species and genetics etc...large rays tend to be mature, thats about it.

I do not have pics of unravelled claspers but I am sure some searching on here will show some up

Hope this helps

Thank you! So my tank is going to be bare bottom anyways so you think I could just divide the pups to a section of the tank? Do you think substrate has anything to do with breeding? (Are they more likely to breed with sand/bare bottom?)

So I would not even know the female was pregnant until I started seeing movement in her?

Thanks for the reply! But I know a lot of you have bred rays! I want to hear your experiences! What worked best for you?

 

[T1KARMANN]

breeding rays is easy and dont let anyone tell you different

1 x male
2 x females
good food
good water
lots of water changes (it simulates rain fail)

job done thats it the rest is just the birds and the bees

 

[bahamaqt00]

breeding rays is easy and dont let anyone tell you different

1 x male
2 x females
good food
good water
lots of water changes (it simulates rain fail)

job done thats it the rest is just the birds and the bees

Well thank you! Do you have any imput on what kinds will breed? Do you have to have the same species or can hybrids breed with other hybrids? Or hybrids with non hybrids?

Thanks

 

[T1KARMANN]

Well thank you! Do you have any imput on what kinds will breed? Do you have to have the same species or can hybrids breed with other hybrids? Or hybrids with non hybrids?

Thanks

im not into hybrids that much and have never bred any

for fast breeding results get motoro

if you want hybrids get a male motoro and the 2 females of the other types of ray you want him to breed with

male motoro are very highly sexed with the only thing on their minds being food and sex

 

[bahamaqt00]

im not into hybrids that much and have never bred any

for fast breeding results get motoro

if you want hybrids get a male motoro and the 2 females of the other types of ray you want him to breed with

male motoro are very highly sexed with the only thing on their minds being food and sex

Hmm typical human male behavior hehe.....

Okay well thank you. So do you think a male motoro hybrid will have the same high sex drive behavior? I am looking into a motoroXhystrix at the moment

 

[T1KARMANN]

i don't know that much about hybrids of any kind as i have never kept any

if you look at the ray and it has more of the look of a motoro rather than a hystrix then i will probably have more motoro genes so should be more like motoro

i maybe wrong

 

[bahamaqt00]

Thank you. And also, what do you consider "good food" I was planning on feeding tilapia, market shrimp and probably earth worms. Does this sound good?